Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Comments on Future at Spring Training Press Conference
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora spoke to the media to kick off Spring Training on Tuesday, eventually going into detail on his future with the club.
Cora, who first earned the manager post in Boston in 2018, was asked about his longevity in the game. The 48-year-old former player was candid about his plans, evening drawing out a tangible timeline for how long he could stay with the Red Sox.
"I'm not gonna manage 10 more years, I'll tell you that," Cora said. "I don't see myself being like Tito (Francona) or Tony (LaRussa), you know? I got two boys, I got a daughter that – she's a junior in college. So there's more in life than baseball, to be honest with you."
Cora said he envisions himself doing "other stuff" in baseball, just with his family and back home in Puerto Rico.
After playing for six MLB teams from 1998 to 2011, Cora got into coaching in 2016. Cora was a bench coach for the Houston Astros for two seasons, winning a World Series in his first year with the club.
Cora led the Red Sox to a World Series championship of their own in 2018, but he was suspended for 2020 due to a sign-stealing scandal during his time with the Astros. Upon his return to Boston in 2021, Cora immediately led the team back to the ALCS.
The past two seasons haven't gone quite as smoothly for Boston, however, as they finished last in the AL East in both 2022 and 2023.
Cora's frustrations were routinely on display through the Sox's struggles, which he said led to a strong talking to from his mother last fall. The manager owned his mistakes, while also attributing them to some mixture of complacency and fatigue.
"I read (Pep) Guardiola's book and he said that when you spend more than five or six years in one place, it can take a toll on you," Cora said. "And I think I got hit last year with that. I'm glad that I recognize that, and I think the pictures and videos, they recognize that."
Cora rattled off the sources of his building stress, admitting that he wasn't enjoying his time in the dugout as much as he should have.
"It's not easy, man," Cora said. "Dealing with the media, dealing with players, the front office, the pressure of winning – it's not easy. It should be fun, and sometimes it's not."
Cora is now entering the final year of his contract with the Red Sox. He said in his press conference, as explicitly as possible, that it didn't bother him, and that Boston remains his home.
Given his other comments, though, it remains to be seen just how much longer Cora plans to don a Red Sox uniform.
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