Alex Cora and the Red Sox are in agreement new contract: $7M-plus per year over 3 yrs

[joe dokes]

I think that we're both very close to being on the same page here, but there was no lack of leaks. Cora himself "leaked" that there was no movement on a contract three weeks ago. That's straight from his mouth. From there you can form an opinion on whether he will or will not be back which is what the media did. When you combine this with the history-based assumption, I don't think that it's a bridge too far to say that Cora wouldn't be back.

I think our gap is that I didn't see "no movement" as much as "no talking." I think those are different.

Actually, the @donutogre post above said what I was trying to. (More specifically, he did the work I didn't.) Speaking only for me, it was Flemming's tweet that sort of crystallized it. If he or anyone else had simply said, "it would be pretty surprising if 'not talking' turned into 'coming back' because it usually doesn't," that would be pretty par for the reporting course. But all of the reporting on this lately made it sound like there was something new to report when it was just more feels based on the same info.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Great article by Cotillo detailing how things went down. Cora just decided recently that this is where his family was comfortable in Boston and a deal came together quickly. Before that, he was committed to waiting until the end of the year to address his future. So yes, all of the reporting on him was accurate up until this point.

https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/07/after-months-of-telling-red-sox-to-get-greedy-alex-cora-does-the-opposite-chris-cotillo.html

 

[ookami7m]

Any highlights for those of us outside the paywall?

 

[Tuor]

Great article by Cotillo detailing how things went down. Cora just decided recently that this is where his family was comfortable in Boston and a deal came together quickly. Before that, he was committed to waiting until the end of the year to address his future. So yes, all of the reporting on him was accurate up until this point.

https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/07/after-months-of-telling-red-sox-to-get-greedy-alex-cora-does-the-opposite-chris-cotillo.html

I can’t agree that the reporting was correct. The “reporting” has been all about how this was practically certain not to happen. It did happen, and so those who said it was certainly not going to happen were wrong. I expect many in the media to backtrack in an understandable attempt to preserve their reputations, but it doesn’t change the fact that the dominant media narrative, fed by Cotillo and others, about what Cora was going to do was simply wrong. I shall carry on viewing their speculations with skepticism.

 

[RedOctober3829]

I can’t agree that the reporting was correct. The “reporting” has been all about how this was practically certain not to happen. It did happen, and so those who said it was certainly not going to happen were wrong. I expect many in the media to backtrack in an understandable attempt to preserve their reputations, but it doesn’t change the fact that the dominant media narrative, fed by Cotillo and others, about what Cora was going to do was simply wrong. I shall carry on viewing their speculations with skepticism.

Based on information that Cora himself said at the time, yes the reporting was correct. It wasn’t a narrative at all. Every time Cora was given the opportunity to comment, he gave no indication he was interested in conducting contract negotiations during the season. He simply changed his mind and a deal got done. Simple as that. Things change.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Based on information that Cora himself said at the time, yes the reporting was correct. It wasn’t a narrative at all. Every time Cora was given the opportunity to comment, he gave no indication he was interested in conducting contract negotiations during the season. He simply changed his mind and a deal got done. Simple as that. Things change.

That's the Pitino Principle. Things were true until they weren't

 

[RedOctober3829]

Any highlights for those of us outside the paywall?

I can’t. I read it before it went behind the paywall

 

[Tuor]

Based on information that Cora himself said at the time, yes the reporting was correct. It wasn’t a narrative at all. Every time Cora was given the opportunity to comment, he gave no indication he was interested in conducting contract negotiations during the season. He simply changed his mind and a deal got done. Simple as that. Things change.

Agree to disagree. There was indeed a whole narrative constructed and repeated many places about what Cora’s plans and thinking were, based on speculation founded upon the fact that he hadn’t signed an extension. I agree that there was a change — hence, the confident reports that he was determined to try the free-agency waters at the end of the year were incorrect. The only thing to report was that he had not been signed. The rest was speculation, and speculation that all turned out to be wrong. Which is fine — they could own that and move on.

 

[joe dokes]

Based on information that Cora himself said at the time, yes the reporting was correct. It wasn’t a narrative at all. Every time Cora was given the opportunity to comment, he gave no indication he was interested in conducting contract negotiations during the season. He simply changed his mind and a deal got done. Simple as that. Things change.

So do you just refuse to acknowledge the difference between "he's gone," and "they aren't talking during the season?" Or do you think they're the same?

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

So do you just refuse to acknowledge the difference between "he's gone," and "they aren't talking during the season?" Or do you think they're the same?

Honest question: on Tuesday if you were asked whether you thought—based on all the information you had up until that time—Cora was coming back to the Red Sox, what percentage would you have given?

Mine would have been probably 25-30%.

 

[simplicio]

How much of that was based on your assumption that ownership wouldn't pay him a reasonable amount of money?

I'd have said 55-60% myself. He seems to have been really into his job this year and the window is finally opening, so I'd have pitted that against the allure of highest bidder (which could have been the Sox!) around 50%, with family considerations tipping the balance.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

How much of that was based on your assumption that ownership wouldn't pay him a reasonable amount of money?

I'd have said 55-60% myself. He seems to have been really into his job this year and the window is finally opening, so I'd have pitted that against the allure of highest bidder (which could have been the Sox!) around 50%, with family considerations tipping the balance.

I think that if he left, it would have been because of the money, yes. Because it usually always is (not just in terms of the Red Sox). And combine the recent past (the Sox, for the most part, aren’t emptying out the wallet for talent) with a new POBO maybe wanting “his guy” and Cora not being signed that added up to some pessimism on my way of thinking.

Your optimism “won” the day and I’m glad for that. I truly am. But it’s hard to say on Tuesday that Cora was definitely or even looking like he was coming back. The only shred of optimism that I saw is that Cora was re-energized, the team was playing and well and maybe that might push him back to wanting to return and maybe it would that would spurn the FO into acting.

Of course the other POV is that other teams saw how well the Sox were playing, that got them salivating and Cora knew that so, like Mo Vaughn once said, “every day the price goes up.”

Again, I’m ecstatic about the signing and glad that he’s here. But this wasn’t a slam dunk. I’d call it a Peyton Pritchard Hail Mary three at the buzzer. Psyched that it went in but wasn’t really expecting it at all.

 

[joe dokes]

Honest question: on Tuesday if you were asked whether you thought—based on all the information you had up until that time—Cora was coming back to the Red Sox, what percentage would you have given?

Mine would have been probably 25-30%.

On Tuesday, given where the team was, and how they performed, and how the future looked, I would have been over 50%. Unlike with a longer-term GM-MGR combo, the wait-and-see approach of the "new" team made a lot of sense to me, rather than necessarily being a harbinger of good-bye.

(again, to me, the only information I had was that they said they were not going to talk during the season and that they weren't talking. That view is what compelled me to Fark Flemmings tweet, which like all the other speculation, was based on nothing other than those two things -- said they weren't going to talk; and weren't talking). The reports weren't even "industry sources say" sourced.

 

[sezwho]

Honest question: on Tuesday if you were asked whether you thought—based on all the information you had up until that time—Cora was coming back to the Red Sox, what percentage would you have given?

Mine would have been probably 25-30%.

I might have taken the over there, just because the year is going the way it is. However, I would have gone WAAAYYYY under on a midseason extension.

Figured, as per the broadly reported narratives, that he would test FA and see whats what.

Things changed: they Sox team arrived early, the Sox ownership were open to a competitive salary, and Bobs your uncle...

 

[cannonball 1729]

Why didn't he get last year's team to play like this year's team?

He kinda did, though, didn't he? The Sox were 55-47 on this date last year. Then all of the arms blew out and Cora had to navigate August and September without a pitching staff.

Meanwhile, today, they're....also 55-47.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

He kinda did, though, didn't he? The Sox were 55-47 on this date last year. Then all of the arms blew out and Cora had to navigate August and September without a pitching staff.

Meanwhile, today, they're....also 55-47.

So basically, Managers are only as good as their players. Which is pretty much what I believe.

 

[HfxBob]

So basically, Managers are only as good as their players. Which is pretty much what I believe.

I think managers can have a positive or negative impact in a number of ways, though most of it is stuff that the average fan wouldn't even be aware of.

I think Cora has a positive impact in that players seem to like him and want to win for him, he utilizes the roster to the full, he handles the pitching changes well, he comes to games prepared with all the analytics, but he also responds to what's going on in that particular game, when to be aggressive and sometimes, yes, when to throw in the towel.

All that said, there are going to be stretches where the team is just going bad and the manager can't do anything about it. Their impact is real but it's also limited.

 

[Sin Duda]

I can't quantify Manager value, but I know I'd much rather have Cora than Boone.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

I can't quantify Manager value, but I know I'd much rather have Cora than Boone.

Boone does seem to handle the NY media well.

 

[Van Everyman]

Dupe

 

[Van Everyman]

Pete Abraham

@PeteAbe
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Alex Cora won his 500th game last night. He sent a text to David Price, who was the winning pitcher in Cora's first victory. "500 is great. My favorite one is No. 1," Cora said.

 

[Montana Fan]

Pete Abraham
@PeteAbe
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Alex Cora won his 500th game last night. He sent a text to David Price, who was the winning pitcher in Cora's first victory. "500 is great. My favorite one is No. 1," Cora said.

That’s a thoughtful, detail oriented man. LIKE!