Alex Cora opens up about leaving the Red Sox

Alex Cora had no idea it was going to end up like this. How could he?

This was the guy the Red Sox had made one of the most well-compensated managers in baseball back in July 2024. This was the manager whom the team had put its trust behind to accomplish its well-stated goal of returning to life as a World Series organization. But here he is, living a life nobody thought would come. One that most recently included running the Chicago Marathon in 4 hours, 29 minutes. One that has him reflecting on a life-altering six months.

It's the kind of reflection Cora is offering for the first time publicly since his dismissal from the Red Sox back on April 25, appearing on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast to take a glimpse into the past, present and future.

It was a journey that, a few days before sitting down for the conversation, Cora had plenty of time to think about while running through the streets of Chicago, particularly recalling the irony that came with his spring training meeting with the Red Sox on Day 1 of what was supposed to be his eighth season as manager for the organization.

"It was about the ups and downs of the marathon," Cora recalled on the BIB podcast regarding the messaging of the mid-February get-together. "We're gonna be the up and down in the seasons. But at the end, we were gonna accomplish our goal. We have to finish it. We have to cross the line. And throughout Chicago, I remembered that video and that meeting a lot, a lot. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon."

But in the 2026 season, Cora and half of his coaching staff had barely crossed the starting line before their race was over. It was why he went to the World Cup. It was why he took his family to Europe. And it was why he, instead of navigating his way through postseason baseball, shifted his focus to finishing another kind of marathon.

Now, he is turning the page. But not before recapping some unforgettable chapters, such as a simple car ride a few months after being called up to meet with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, team president Sam Kennedy and principal owner John Henry.

"So we're staying at the house. We gotta go by Fenway. (The driver) is taking us," said Cora, remembering the day he joined his fiancée, Angelica Feliciano, and his twin boys to experience the World Cup viewing party at Boston City Hall. "He's with me up front. Angelica is in the back, and the boys on the way back, and we're going by Fenway. All of a sudden it's very quiet. And we look back and one of the boys was crying. And Angelica turns around, and he tries to hide. And she's like, 'No, no, no, no. No, you cry because we lived here for six, seven years. This is part of our life. And we will always remember Fenway. We will always love the Red Sox.

"I mean, it's just reality. Life is life, and you have to love every moment of it. We'll never trade this summer. This summer was special, very special, and hopefully we can get some more. Some more like this one."

But it is the path to achieve those memories that is paved with questions, answers, and even some lingering uncertainty.

THE DECISION DAY

Much of the story regarding the Red Sox letting go of Cora, along with hitting coaches Pete Fatse, Dillon Lawson, and Joe Cronin, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, and third-base coach Kyle Hudson, while reassigning Jason Varitek, has been well documented. But some of the partiulars hadn't been brought to light, such as the team meeting Cora held the day before that Saturday night chaos.

"We actually had a team meeting that Friday. And the message was like I know it's early, but we've got to pick it up," Cora recalled. He added, "We talked about preparation. Rookies seeking help. Veterans helping rookies. Everybody working together. It was for us to get going, and I knew we would. But we needed to start doing. I didn't see it. We can use the WBC as an excuse because there were a lot of guys there and we didn't have a regular spring training, but we knew that was going to happen. So we had the meeting.

"The cool thing about Saturday (the 25th), was that they moved that game up because it was supposed to rain. So it was moved up to 12:30, I want to say. And usually you don't do much on the field. Everybody was on the field. And I was like, 'OK, here we go. We're gonna be OK.'"

And that afternoon, the Red Sox were OK, beating the Orioles 17-1 to improve to 10-17. All was right in the world for Cora, until a few hours after the game.

"I was like, 'OK, they got the message. Now we go,'" Cora remembered. "And then we hop on the bus. We're feeling good. I'm actually scheduling a coaches' dinner. And I got a text when we got to the Four Seasons from Breslow. It said, 'I'm here with Sam and John. Let's meet in this room.' At that point, I knew what was going to happen. ... I mean, he wasn't on the trip. When you fly in with the owner and the CEO there's only one thing that was going to happen. Well, there's two things that can happen. You get fired. Or they're going to give you an extension, and I wasn't getting an extension. So I call my mom. I call Angelica. I called his (brother) Joey and I told him I'm gonna get fired.

"When I got the text, I knew. I'm going to get fired."

While the message in the meeting was exactly what Cora had prepared himself for, it didn't mean there were any expectations about how he would react. ("There were a lot of emotions, a lot of things that, probably, I still believe I needed to say; there are others that, if I had that day back, I would probably stay away from.") And it would be the one piece of the puzzle the former Red Sox manager didn't see coming - the firing of the coaches - which elicited the most pushback.

"Like I said before, and I say it again and I'll double down, the thing that really upset me that Saturday was that other guys paid the price," he said. "Not only the coaches, but the players paid the price because you have got to take away a whole group from an equation and it's gonna take time.

"We live in an industry that we dissect everything. And I think the thing that people love to talk about when a player is hot for a small. period time, it's a small sample size. So if we're going to talk small sample size, then that was a small sample size. But they made the decision. I think you know getting rid of the coaches for me was kind of like shoot, ... if they were looking for a new voice then you know, I was the voice. Get rid of me. But at the end, (Breslow) is the one that runs the organization, the baseball part of it. Let's be honest, if you make this decision, you had doubts about the program. And he pulled the trigger. You have got to give him credit to him. There was conviction behind this. But from my end, on the personal standpoint, the thing that really upset me was that the coaches."

THE WHY AND THE WHAT NOW

When it comes to exactly what led to this jumping-off point in Baltimore that Saturday night, Cora is direct. For him, it isn't all that complicated.

"We can talk all we want about that and extensions and all that, but I honestly feel like we got fired, or I got fired, because we didn't pitch," he said.

Up until that Saturday, the element of the team's success that was supposed to be built on had gotten off to a rough start, posting the fifth-worst ERA in baseball, with the starters posting an ERA of 5.08 (4th-worst in MLB).

"I think the proof was there right they made some adjustments," Cora said regarding the Red Sox's pitching staff, which had the second-best ERA in baseball over the following three months. "They pitched better and that was the reason they made it to the playoffs, like we set up to do in the offseason. I always said it right: as long as we pitch, we're gonna be OK. That's that was my word. We have to pitch and we didn't pitch. They (ultimately) pitched and they played good defense. They got timely hitting for an extended period of time. And that's the reason they made it to the playoffs."

Not too long after the decision came down, there were the phone conversations with Dave Dombrowski.

The Phillies team president had always been a confidant and advisor for Cora, even after the two went their separate ways from Boston in 2019. So, what was said time?

"I'll keep it to myself, I think," Cora said of the calls with Dombrowski, who, just a few days after the Red Sox decision to put Chad Tracy in the manager's seat, admitted he attempted to hire his former manager to become his current manager with the Phillies.

"We talk a lot. We do," Cora added. "We keep talking. We're still talking. He gave me a chance in 2017. He bet on me and then (Cora's one-year suspension happened) in '19. But throughout the years. We've been in touch.

"One of the first people that I called was him. Basically, I needed some guidance, right? And I don't think one thing had to do with the other. Like they were in a situation that probably was going to happen regardless ... Sometimes pride comes into play early on. But then. ... He's like, 'OK, you know, we gotta make sure we do the right thing. You have to make sure. You take care of your people ... At that point I kind of like regrouped. ... My family needed me. ... It put everything in perspective. I needed my family. ... I love baseball. I will always be attached to the game. But these are the people that I really care about. There are a few people that care about me. And I will tell you what, man, it's been amazing. It has been fun."

And while reports state that Cora declined Dombrowski's offer to manage the Phillies for a second time, after Philadelphia's exit from this postseason, it evidently doesn't mean the 51-year-old is ruling out entertaining the idea of managing in 2027.

"I don't know man. We have to wait and see," he said when asked about his view of potentially managing next season. "We still got one more year (on his contract with the Red Sox, which is great. If we decide as a family that's the route we want to take we'll do it. It'll be cool to go through the process. If I decide I want to go through the process and somebody gives us a chance, you know to interview it'll be good for them to hear it, how I see it. My values as a manager, everything that goes with it. And go from there and they make a decision. ... I'm not 100 sure I want to do it. I love baseball. I do. I love my boys, but I'm I love coaching other kids. That's what we're doing now. As a group, we got a good group and I'm learning a lot a lot patience. Especially a lot of patience."

But before he completely puts the Red Sox in the rearview mirror, Cora wanted to relay one more message:

"I'll say it again and I tell the fans, the people in the organization and everybody that is involved with the Red Sox: Don't you ever take Fenway Park for granted. It's a special place and we saw it this year. We went from 'Sell the team!' chants, to airplanes wanting Breslow to get fired, to probably one of the funnest summers in the history of the franchise. It happens like that and It happens quick. So enjoy the organization. Love them, hate them, agree, or disagree at the end. You guys love the Red Sox and keep rooting for them and keep making that place very special."