Dave Dombrowski and his connection to Alex Cora
Dave Dombrowski took over the helm with the Boston Red Sox shortly after being dismissed by the Detroit Tigers after 14 seasons and five playoff appearances. That was following the 2015 season. The Red Sox won division titles in both 2016 and 2017 under Dombrowski, but were eliminated early in the postseason – where have we heard that before?
At that point, he fired manager John Farrell and hired Alex Cora, who had served as the bench coach of the Houston Astros. Cora was an up-and-coming name in managerial circles. Dombrowski hired him over more experienced candidates because he liked his communication skills and his modern approach to the game of baseball.
In 2018, Cora led the Sox to 108 wins, a franchise record, and a World Series championship. The hiring was hailed as genius by many around baseball. Dombrowski was named the MLB Executive of the Year, partly for his hiring of Cora, but primarily for acquiring Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce during the season. Both players came up big in the postseason for Boston.
The Red Sox fell to 84-78 in 2019 and the season, along with differences with Boston’s ownership, cost Dombrowski his job even though Boston won the World Series just a season earlier. Also, the cheating scandal carried out by the Houston Astros that helped them to win the World Series in 2017 came to light. In January of 2020, the Red Sox and Cora reached a mutual decision for he and the team to part ways because of his involvement in the Astros cheating scandal. Three months later, Cora was suspended for the 2020 season.
The Red Sox Video Scandal
It should be noted too, that Cora had his hands slapped in 2018 when a Red Sox replay room operator concocted and carried out a scheme to steal signs from opponents. While Cora was not directly implicated, as the team’s manager, he was cited for a lack of oversite that allowed the scheme to be carried out. In their report, MLB criticized him for failing to enforce or communicate league rules to players. It also added to the perception of Cora as a cheater because of his direct or indirect involvement in two sign-stealing/cheating scandals in back-to-back seasons. The scandal also cast some shade on Dombrowski for his hiring of a tainted manager in Cora and the 2018 video scandal with the Red Sox.
After serving his suspension, Cora was rehired by the Red Sox and led them to an AL championship in 2021. His results as the team’s manager were mixed from 2022-2025 and after a bad start to the 2026 season, he and members of his coaching staff were fired by Boston. Cora was replaced by Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy.
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Cora’s Managerial Questions
While Cora is credited with getting the Red Sox to a World Series championship in 2018 and then taking them to an American League championship in 2021, there were some lean years in Boston under his leadership as well. Cora has been criticized for his handling of the bullpen in Boston and also for an inability to get the most out of the rosters he was given to work with in Boston.
Over the past few seasons in Boston, Cora was blamed for fostering a soft, “toxic positivity” environment that lacked accountability for poor performance. Many of Rob Thomson‘s critics blamed him for not holding players accountable for poor performances as well. Those were exactly the type of criticisms that Cora faced.
Over the last three seasons, the Sox winning percentage fell to .487 under Cora. His managerial decisions were especially suspect in close, high-pressure games over the past couple of seasons. Some viewed him as having a self-righteous demeanor with team executives and players, and noted a disconnect between his camp and the new front-office regime in Boston. It was that final point that became the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to his firing on Saturday night.
Dombrowski and Cora’s Weekend Discussions
At his press conference on Tuesday, Dombrowski stated that Cora called him Saturday night after his firing. As to why, Dombrowski said that Cora sees him as a “mentor” and had “never been through something like this (firing) before.”
Dombrowski also admitted to calling Cora on Sunday and essentially telling him that if he wanted the Phillies job, he would fire Thomson even though the decision to do that had reportedly not been reached yet. Thankfully for Phillies fans, Cora declined because he wanted to spend time with his family.
It remains to be seen what will happen down the road. Many baseball pundits believe that the job will still be open for Cora following the season. However, if Don Mattingly were to somehow get the Phillies back to the playoffs and win a postseason series or two, it would be difficult to replace him if he wanted to remain in the job.
Those baseball pundits are also supposing that the choice of the next manager will be up to Dombrowski. If the Phillies do not rebound from their early season malaise, then Dombrowski could again find himself out of a job.
The bottom line
Alex Cora is not the guy to run the Phillies. While his connection to the video cheating scandal was tangential at best, he was gauged by some to be among the ring leaders of the Astros “trash can scandal.” That kind of stink stays with a player or manager for a long time.
There will be no shortage of candidates for the Phillies job if Mattingly either doesn’t want to keep it or isn’t offered the opportunity to keep it.
Of course, there are likely to be other opportunities that open for managers and there are plenty of baseball executives who are willing to overlook the “discretions” that Cora had earlier in his career. Will they also overlook the disconnect between him and his players and between him and the Red Sox front office? No matter which reason you want to use, the Phillies should be the ones saying “no, thank you” to Cora next time.
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