How much blame should Alex Cora get for another second-half Red Sox swoon?
According to FanGraphs, the Red Sox's playoff odds have dropped to 12.3% after they added a fourth game to their losing streak with a 7-2 loss against the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
The Sox may not be officially dead yet, but the priest is likely on his way up to the room to administer the last rites.
It was only a short while ago that Sox optimism was riding high following an overperforming first half and the extension given to manager Alex Cora. But now the Red Sox are facing another year of a post-deadline meltdown.
Chaim Bloom was most blamed for Boston’s second-half woes, but now that he’s been replaced, should Cora be held responsible for another end-of-year collapse?
“We all blamed the front office every year for the swoons in the second half,” Chris Curtis said Wednesday on The Greg Hill Show.
“Now this year, Cora gets a three-year, $21 million extension, they bring in a couple relievers, and once again Cora's team is falling apart. I mean, I’m sorry, if this is Bill Belichick, if this is Joe Mazzula, if this is [Jim] Montgomery, it’s on the coach.”
Is Curtis right that there’s a double standard in the Boston market when it comes to blaming Cora? Is the Sox manager being held to a different standard by fans and the media?
“It can’t be,” Greg Hill said, defending Cora. “It’s on the arms, it’s the bullpen arms. He can’t go in and perform arm replacement surgery.”
As of Aug. 29, the Red Sox had 27 blown saves on the season, ranking second behind a historically bad Chicago White Sox team.
“I don't know what [Cora’s] supposed to do when they don't have the arms to finish these games,” Hill said.
Still, Curtis believed that Cora was getting shielded from blame for the team’s issues.
“Next year, when they’re 10 games over .500 in the first half, nobody should credit Cora,” Curtis said.
“It’s either or: either he doesn’t get credit when they win, or he gets credit when they win and blame when they lose.”
Jermaine Wiggins compared Cora to his predecessor, John Farrell. Over each manager’s first five seasons with the Red Sox, Cora had a 60-70 record in September, and Farrell had an 80-52 record.
“If you’re going to give Cora credit, which he’s done a good job with this team, especially in the first half of the seasons, you got to then say, ‘Well, when the team falls apart in the second half of the season, some of that has to be on the manager,’” Wiggy said.
“He's done a great job, but he gets the biggest pass…even the great Bill Belichick we were crushing for missing the playoffs, what, two years in a row.”
The Red Sox will look to avoid a sweep in Queens when they play the Mets at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday night.
