The Red Sox may have their first move of the trade deadline season brewing, but not one for a player.
ESPN reported shortly before the start of the Red Sox game in Colorado on Wednesday afternoon that the club is “engaged” with manager Alex Cora on a new contract that is reportedly in the range of three years and worth $21.75 million.
News: The Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have engaged in recent talks on a contract extension, and there is momentum toward a deal, sources tell me and @Buster_ESPN. After months of silence regarding Cora’s lame-duck status, a multiyear contract is a real possibility.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 24, 2024
The timing of the news is interesting not only given that the trade deadline looms on Tuesday, but that Cora has been adamant all season he won’t discuss his contract until after the last game.
As recently as three weeks ago, Cora said he would not engage in contract talks mid-season.
“We decided before the season that we’re not going to talk about my contract,” Cora said on July 9. “We haven’t talked about my situation because they respect where I’m at and I respect where they’re at. My contract situation will be talked [about] after the last out, hopefully, of the World Series.”
In that span of time, something seems to have changed. The reported figures of the deal would fall shy of the Chicago Cubs record five-year, $40 million deal for manager Craig Counsell this winter.
The 48-year-old Cora was hired by the Red Sox in 2018, suspended in 2020 by MLB for his part in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, then re-hired in 2021 by Boston as manager. He has been at the helm since.
The Red Sox retained Cora at the end of last season even as they fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and hired Craig Breslow in his place. But Cora, who recently moved into fourth place all-time in franchise history in wins, entered 2024 in the final year of his contract with his future unknown.
At various points through this season when asked about returning as manager next season, Cora has demurred, but the news Wednesday marks a significant change in course.
The Red Sox, who battled a slew of injuries in the first half, forcing several rookies into prominent roles, have been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season at 54-46 and one game back of the third American League wild card spot at the start of Wednesday.
If the extension does become finalized it also figures to be an indicator that the Red Sox are more solidly in the buyer’s market as the deadline draws near.
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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
