Boston Red Sox best decision was bringing back Alex Cora

There is good news for the Boston Red Sox in 2021 amidst all the “sustainability” fluff, belt-tightening, and all the rest. Clearly, it’s that Manager Alex Cora is back. A simply marvelous decision.

It’s the best news that the Red Sox have made during their entire non-hot stove offseason of acquiring mid-level players. They actually did something right, they hired back their 2018 World Series-winning manager.

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Naysayers will point to the mistakes Cora made in using outside-the-rules measures to advance his teams. Point well-taken. He broke the rules and he essentially lost his job and had to sit out a year on the sidelines of Major League Baseball.

No complaints here about that as there were none from Cora. He paid the price. Period. It’s behind him and behind the team.

The good news though is that this great manager, and by all accounts wonderful person (though I have never met the man), is back on the Red Sox bench and this writer couldn’t be happier.

Cora’s presence alone means more wins for this team. It appears that the Red Sox ownership has checked out.

The team’s personnel decision-making and overall demeanor in 2020 were unbecoming a big market MLB team. It showed up big-time in the standings. A complete embarrassment.

And little has changed this offseason.

But, back to Cora, he’s one thing they did that was a really good decision. Actually, a great decision. It was so good that it seems hard to fathom that it actually came from this management team. (No offense to Chaim Bloom.)

Perhaps under the circumstances, the Boston Red Sox could secure Cora’s services for less than market value. That’s a cynical viewpoint, but frankly, don’t put it past the bean counters who own the Red Sox.

If so, then their world view somehow propelled them amazingly into a proper and sound decision for a change, and that is a good thing.

Cora is a terrific manager and the talent is not only in his on-field ability to get the most out of his players. It runs far deeper than that.

What makes Alex Cora a great manager for the Boston Red Sox.

Cora appears to be a man who legitimately cares about his players. His team. His city. He seems to be able to motivate and teach his players to exact the utmost from their talents.

That is not just due to technical skills, it’s due to personality, caring, and sincerity. Those are not qualities that can be taught at an MLB coaching school. They are innate and Cora possesses them in abundance.

It has already appeared to a limited extent in this offseason, but expect it more in the future. Cora will be a magnet as a manager for players who want to play for a person of his character.

If and when the purse strings of the current ownership open again, or (preferably) they sell the club to an owner who will act like a big market team owner, players will flock to Boston to play under Cora.

So that’s the good news. Cora is back, and whatever hopes the Red Sox have this season rest on his ability to get the most out of the questionable assemblage of players provided to him.

Things don’t look great at present. So don’t expect miracles.

But if there is anyone who can produce success out of this assemblage of players, it’s Cora on the bench. For once, they got a decision right.