Red Sox's Alex Cora Gets Hot Seat Evaluation From MLB Insider

Expectations are always high for the Boston Red Sox, so the team failing to deliver on those expectations will typically result in calls for heads to roll.

Just 24 games into the season, you can certainly scour the internet to find doomers begging for the Red Sox to fire chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and/or manager Alex Cora. That's how ugly this team has looked on the field at times during its 9-15 start.

Still, for Cora in particular, there's likely a decent amount of slack remaining before a firing is in the cards. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic illustrated that point on Thursday.

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Rosenthal's take on Cora's job security

On his "Fair Territory" podcast, Rosenthal expressed his opinion that Cora was relatively safe from the hot seat at the moment in comparison to managers of other slumping teams, like Rob Thomson of the Philadelphia Phillies and Carlos Mendoza of the New York Mets.

"Cora is in the second year of a three-year, $21.75 million contract," Rosenthal said. "That alone gives him some security. He would be owed $10 million or so if they fired him right now. And they gave him that contract because they believe in him.

"So I don't expect him to be on the same kind of hot seat."

Rosenthal did go on to suggest, however, that Breslow's job security could be in question if Boston missed the playoffs this season. And even if Cora's risk factor isn't as high, he'd surely love to leave no doubt by turning things around and making sure this team gets back to October.

If there's a saving grace for all Red Sox parties involved, it's that the top of the American League hasn't run away from the pack yet. Granted, the Red Sox have spotted the New York Yankees a six-game lead at the top of the division entering Thursday, but that's not yet insurmountable.

Cora will always have a level of credibility in Boston that comes with winning a World Series, even if it was eight years ago at this point. That's not to say he wouldn't eventually be fired, but that resume, plus the extension, puts him in a position to weather a few storms.

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