Wһy Alex Corа’s deсіsіon to re-uр wіtһ Red Sox looks even better now

Imagine a world in which Alex Cora didn’t sign an extension with the Red Sox in July. If he decided, as many thought he eventually would, to make a big bet on himself and see what managerial free agency looked like. If he tried to leverage the Sox with a long, played-out process in which he flirted with other big-market teams. If he was adamant about making history one-upping Craig Counsell and setting the record for the biggest managerial contract ever.

If Alex Cora decided to test managerial free agency this fall, it likely would have backfired on him. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)AP

All of that would have backfired on Cora, whose decision earnestly discuss a deal with the Red Sox — and then sign one shortly before the trade deadline — looks even better with the benefit of hindsight. The hypothetical big-market scenarios in which he’d leave the Red Sox to be the savior in another big city would have never developed, anyway. Put simply, Cora avoided a game of musical chairs that he well might have lost.

Cora’s new three-year deal (reported to be worth more than $7 million annually) didn’t just represent the Red Sox and new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow making a commitment to him. It was perhaps more significant that, after months of the industry being convinced Cora was leaving town, that the manager wanted to be back in Boston. It was either the worst-kept secret in baseball (or, maybe, a shrewd negotiating tactic) that Cora wanted to follow in Counsell’s footsteps and see if a team would pay up for a well-regarded manager with a ring in his back pocket. If things fell apart in New York, Los Angeles or another place with a good team, Cora would have been interested in swooping in to save the day.

But with the postseason all but played out, those scenarios simply don’t exist. The Yankees and Dodgers, with loaded rosters and hungry fan bases, were thought to be the two prime landing spots for Cora if a late-season collapse or early playoff exit ruined one of their seasons. Obviously, neither Aaron Boone nor Dave Roberts are going anywhere with both clubs in the World Series. The Mets, under first-year manager Carlos Mendoza, were big underachievers for most of the year and uber-aggressive owner Steve Cohen might have decided to act decisively and aggressively. But they, too, gained steam late, getting to the playoffs and making a run to Game 6 of the NLCS, meaning Mendoza is more than safe.

Without a contract in hand, Cora would have faced one of the more bleak managerial markets in recent history. In addition to the Red Sox, who’d be looking for a manager if Cora left, the list of teams with an opening would be short and uninspiring. Cora would have the White Sox, Reds and Marlins in front of him, which is not necessarily a Murderer’s Row of big-market teams close to a championship window. In all likelihood, Cora would have taken a year off, likely doing some media for ESPN for another outlet. That clearly wasn’t his first choice.

If there’s a wild card in all of this, it’s the Phillies, who coming off a second straight disappointing postseason run, might have thought long and hard about turning Rob Thomson into this year’s David Ross and Cora into this year’s Counsell. In fact, rival executives believe Philadelphia, all along, was the greatest outside threat to land Cora considering Dave Dombrowski’s affinity for him and the mutual admiration between the two men forged during their two-year partnership in Boston. Cora has made his affinity for Dombrowski and his aggressive style well-known in the years since Dombrowski was fired in Boston. In that vein, it’s almost certain that if Philadelphia called, Cora would have listened.

That, of course, won’t transpire, but it’s plausible that the Phillies would have tried for Cora instead of extending Thomson (through 2026) had Cora been available. The parallels between Thomson now and John Farrell seven years ago are real and Dombrowski knows that better than anyone. In this case, though, Cora and the Red Sox made the decision for the Phillies.

It’s a decision, almost exactly three months later, that looks even better for everyone involved. The Red Sox have the manager they wanted and believe will guide them into their next real run of winning. Cora’s in a place where he — and perhaps, more importantly, his family — are comfortable. And he isn’t facing the uncertainty of a market that never developed into the rich, exciting one he might have envisioned for himself at the beginning of the season.