Red Sox Legend Calls Alex Cora, Rob Thomson 'Victims of Their Success'

While things are starting to calm down across the league, the Boston Red Sox's firing of Alex Cora remains among the biggest stories out there in baseball.

The struggling Philadelphia Phillies followed suit and fired their own manager on Tuesday in Rob Thomson. While that was the case, Cora's name was mentioned even with another team firing their manager. That is because the Phillies offered their manager job to Cora, but he turned it down, for the time being, to spend time with his family.

Even with another manager being fired, the Cora news is still being felt around baseball in various ways. Cora took to X on Tuesday to say goodbye and thank you to Red Sox Nation. Now, he's moving on and the Red Sox already have played three games since his firing and have gone 2-1.

Alex Cora Chatter Won't Stop

Apr 20, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora signs a hat for a fan prior to a game against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

While a few days have passed, opinions and takes are still coming in. For example, Red Sox legend Pedro Martínez took to X and said that he believes both Cora and Thomson are "victims of their success."

"Alex Cora and Rob Thomson are both victims of their success," Martínez wrote. "They did so well and both organizations gave so much to them to handle, that when things stopped clicking, they were the ones to blame."

Cora was the manager for the Red Sox for eight seasons. This idea of being "victims of their success" isn't wrong, by any means. Cora won a World Series title in his first season as a manager and quickly became known around the league as one of the best managers out there. That's why he was brought back after not managing in 2020 after the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal came to light. In his first year back with Boston, the club went 92-70 after a bad 2020 campaign without him. He had so much success, that anything other than contending was viewed negatively. It also didn't help when Boston altered its payroll strategy and started spending less, but that's a different story.

Overall, Cora was a success in Boston, despite how things ended between the two sides. He helped lead the club to another banner and went 620-541 in the manager's seat overall with the club.

The Phillies missed out on him this time around. But whenever Cora decides to manage again, Philadelphia — or any team for that matter — is going to be fortunate to have him in their dugout.

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