Alex Cora isn’t taking the firing of Charlie Montoyo lightly.
The Toronto Blue Jays shocked the Major League Baseball world when they parted ways with their manager Wednesday. Toronto was 2-8 in its last 10 games before letting Montoyo go and fourth in the American League East standings.
Cora knew expectations were high for the Blue Jays especially when they have players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Kevin Gausman, and he sees Montoyo’s firing as a “wake-up call” not just for him, but for every other manager in the big leagues.
“I don’t want to say disappointed because I’m not in the front office and I don’t work for the Jays, but on a personal standpoint, yeah, I think he was doing a great job,” Cora told reporters, per MassLive. “It’s a wake-up call for everybody. I always say, when you sign that contract, there’s two things you can do, right? I mean, three (including suspension) in my sense. Either you retire or get fired. In this case, he’s out of a job but he’s a good baseball man. I know he enjoys the game, he likes to teach the game. Hopefully, he can get a job sooner rather than later.
“… They want to be hands-on in everything. I’m not saying that’s the case in Toronto. I don’t know. It’s just one of those that it’s hard to understand.”
The AL East long has been one of MLB’s most competitive divisions and it’s clear the Blue Jays believed Montoyo wasn’t the right man for the job anymore.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, look to salvage a win from their series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in the finale. First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 7:10 p.m. ET and you can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 6 p.m.
