Alex Cora Sheds Light on his Future with the Red Sox

It might only be the start of spring training, but questions are already swirling about where Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora will be in 2025. Cora's contract expires at the conclusion of this season, and with his future with the Red Sox in limbo, he is already answering questions about what he envisions in his future. Well, "answering questions" may be misleading, as Cora apparently is not interested in addressing the elephant in the room right now:

In his five seasons at the helm of the Red Sox, Cora has collected a 440-370 record. His tenure as Boston's manager has been split into two stints. Following his implication in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal following the 2019 season, he and the club mutually agreed to part ways. Cora was Houston's bench coach during the period in which the team stole opposing signs. At this stage, the Red Sox were also investigated by the league for their own sign stealing scandal.

Ultimately, Cora was suspended for the 2020 season by commissioner Rob Manfred for his role in the Astros' scandal, but he managed to remain in the good graces of Boston ownership and was re-hired as the team's manager on Nov. 6, 2020.

Cora won a World Series in his inaugural season with the club in 2018, but the last two seasons have seen last-place American League East finishes and identical records 78-84 in both 2022 and 2023.

Cora turned 48 in October, and he spoke Tuesday about the physical and mental toll that the grind of an MLB season took on him, while noting that he has been more intentional about prioritizing his health this time around:

"I felt awful physically last year. I felt awful health-wise, energy-wise. It was bad. I cannot let a game dictate who I am as a person or what I have to do. "

- Red Sox manager Alex Cora

Even if Cora does return to the Red Sox in 2025, he doesn't appear to have much interest in being a "baseball lifer", and has expressed a desire to spend more time with his family and devote his time and energy to his personal life:

"'I'm not going to manage 10 more years, I'll tell you that,' he said. 'I don't see myself being like Tito [Francona] or Tony [La Russa]. I've got two [6-year-old] boys, I've got a daughter who's a junior in college. There's more in life than baseball. This is a tough business.'"

- Alex Cora

Francona managed for 23 seasons before calling it quits last season at 64. La Russa managed until he was 77 years old, after 37 seasons as an MLB skipper.

In the end, it could be entirely up to Alex Cora whether he returns as Boston's manager in 2025. His comments don't suggest a manager who is all in on a future with the team (or even in baseball in general), and at some point Red Sox ownership might be better served to get ahead of this, assuming that they still remember that they own the team. For now though, it sounds like the ball is in Alex Cora's court.

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