Before the start of the 2024 season, Alex Cora seemed to almost relish the prospect of impending free agency.
He had seen Craig Counsell score a record-setting five-year, $40 million deal with the Chicago Cubs last winter, and figured he might be in line for a similar payday. After all, Cora has a World Series win on his résumé, while Counsell did not. When pressed in spring training, Cora wouldn’t even commit to wanting to return to the Red Sox dugout in 2025.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow watch live batting practice. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Was that strategic or defiant?
At the same time, Craig Breslow, new to the position of chief baseball officer last fall, felt little urgency to address Cora’s managerial future.
“Those conversations will take place between Alex and me when the time is right,” said Breslow at last November’s GM Meetings. “He is preparing for the 2024 season; I’m preparing for a 2024 season. Beyond that, I don’t think it makes a ton of sense to speak to.”
Yet somehow, in recent days and weeks, the two came together on an extension that will make Cora the game’s second-highest paid manager behind Counsell — a three-year, $21.75 million deal that was announced Wednesday, minutes after the Sox absorbed their worst loss of the season in Denver.
What changed?
Slowly, Breslow and Cora have built a relationship in the last seven or eight months. It began over the winter during the team’s roster construction, continued in the more relaxed atmosphere of spring training, and flourished further as the season progressed.
There was no way to speed up the learning curve that needed to be navigated. Cora needed to know that his input would not only be solicited, but valued when it came to personnel. Breslow, for his part, needed time to learn how to best communicate with Cora, and be convinced that he and the manager could work together.
Could Cora implement Breslow’s vision? Were the two on the same page philosophically?
The more Breslow watched, the more he gained fresh respect for Cora’s ability to relate to players and earn their trust. Breslow saw the buy-in that Cora was getting from the players, many of whom spoke far more positively on the team’s prospects for 2024 than seemed warranted. From his first address to the full squad in February, when Cora told his players that they were being underestimated, through a rough April that saw the team revert back to some issues from a year ago, Cora didn’t waver in his positive approach.
Cora showed patience with the likes of Ceddanne Rafaela and David Hamilton, both of whom struggled mightily in the opening weeks of the season.
And when devastating injuries hit the club — to Lucas Giolito in spring training, and later, to Trevor Story in the first week of the regular season — Cora was resolute. He had a message for the players, which he repeated to the media: He made it clear that while the loss of such key players was, indeed, devastating, the team couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity. By tackling the issue head-on, Cora made sure that wouldn’t be the case.
He also saw how Cora was quick to adapt to the new pitching program, which Breslow, with the help of pitching coach Andrew Bailey and director of pitching Justin Willard, designed.
Under the program, Tanner Houck has grown into an All-Star and a legitimate front-of-the-rotation starter. Not far behind is Kutter Crawford, who has become both more durable and more dominant.
Finally, Breslow watched Cora oversee the continued improvement and maturation of Rafaela, David Hamilton, and Jarren Duran.
It’s an accepted fact of modern baseball that some player development now takes place at the big league level. Players get to the majors faster than ever, but often without being finished products. Additionally, thanks to analytics and pitching labs, the quality of pitching is often far better in the big leagues when compared to Triple A. Even the most talented prospects are going to meet with some failure, and with his strong communication skills and teaching ability, Cora is better equipped than most to smooth the transition.
Even as ownership and upper management vow that they will again be willing to spend big on necessary free agents when the times comes, it’s clear that much of the organization’s future will rely on contributions from homegrown players: not just those who’ve already begun their big league careers (Houck, Crawford, Duran, Rafaela, Brayan Bello), but also, those who’ve yet to arrive (Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel, Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Braden Montgomery).
Cora offers steadiness, direction and continuity.
As for the manager, he got what he sought, too.
First, he saw an executive with whom he could work and who welcomed his thoughts. It didn’t hurt that the on-field improvement shown by the team this year will likely result in a more aggressive approach to spending — starting this winter. After experiencing back-to-back last-place finishes in 2022 and 2023, Cora needed to know he wouldn’t be trapped in a cycle of low-payroll losing seasons.
Secondly, he got the payday he believed he deserved. Cora has made it known that he has little interest in managing forever, and this year represented his best case to cash in. His new contract doesn’t match Craig Counsell’s in length, but it’s close when it comes to average annual salary: Counsell will make $750,000 more annually, but he had to go through the uncertainty of free agency to find it.
In the process, Counsell, who has deep Wisconsin roots, had to move his family to achieve his industry-leading contract. Cora does not. His daughter has a year remaining at Boston College, and both his partner Angelica and their twin grade-school sons enjoy Boston. Now, they get to remain here.
Cora, then, got the best of both worlds: he tripled his salary, while staying in a place where he and his family were already comfortable.
