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Red Sox praise Alex Cora

The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and several coaches amid the team’s slow start to the season.

Boston fired Cora after the team’s 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, and the team then won again on Sunday to pick up a series win over Baltimore. Although the Red Sox fired Cora, team president Sam Kennedy called the former manager one of the best in franchise history.

“Alex will go down as one of the best managers in Red Sox history,” Kennedy said. “Incredible track record. And as I said at the outset, you know, he leaves a great legacy in Boston, and we’re very grateful.”

It’s surprising praise for a manager the Red Sox felt wasn’t good enough and fired midseason. Yet, Cora did accomplish a lot in Boston, as he led the Red Sox to a World Series in 2018 in his first year as the team’s manager.

Cora had two stints as the Red Sox manager after his suspension for the Houston Astros sign-stealing. In total, Cora was Boston’s manager for parts of eight seasons and went 620-541 and only made the playoffs three times, including winning the World Series in 2018.

Craig Breslow Details Reason for Firing Cora

Boston fired Cora early into the 2026 MLB season, as the Red Sox hope the team can salvage the season and make a run to the playoffs.

The Red Sox are 11-17, last in the AL East, but Boston’s Chief Baseball Officer said it was a move to try to make a run this season.

“By acting today, it gives us 135 games ahead of us,” Breslow said. “So we’ve got almost a full season’s worth of run to take advantage of this fresh start and ultimately to compete for a division and a deep postseason run in the way that we talked about it and envisioned and believed heading into spring training.”

Breslow, meanwhile, also took accountability for Cora being fired, as he said he built a tough roster to manage.

“Ultimately, the accountability for the roster falls on me,” Breslow said. And this was a challenging roster to manage, just given the position player group. That’s something that I acknowledge, and I acknowledged it with Alex talking to him yesterday.”

The Red Sox will begin a three-game road series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.

Red Sox Players Frustrated With Cora Firing

Boston’s firing of Cora and other coaches came as a surprise to the players.

The Red Sox management never talked to players before making the decision, and Roman Anthony admitted he was surprised by it.

“I don’t think anyone really expected it,” Anthony said of the decision. He said he preferred to let a veteran describe the specifics of the meeting. At the end of the day, when we take the field, it’s on us. It’s not AC’s job to go out there and do the things that we’re expecting to do as players. So, I mean, it’s nobody’s fault but ours.”

Veteran shortstop Trevor Story, meanwhile, had high praise for Cora and the coaches.

“Some of the best coaches in the world,” Story added.

He added that the coaches “didn’t get a fair shot.”

Boston named Chad Tracy the interim manager.