Alex Cora Opens Up About Plan Had Red Sox Extension Not Worked Out

Alex Cora's future hung over the Red Sox for most of this season until the manager signed a three-year contract extension to stay with Boston in late July.

But what would Cora have done if he and the Red Sox couldn't have agreed to terms on a new deal and the 48-year-old became a coaching free agent this offseason?

Cora provided an answer to that question to The Boston Globe's Alex Speier as the Red Sox skipper said there was a good chance he would have put his managerial cap aside for the 2025 season and gone back to working in the media while returning home to his native Puerto Rico.

"It was real. It wasn't fake," Cora told Speier of his alternate plan.

Cora had previous experience working in the media world, so it certainly seems like it would have been a realistic option. He worked for ESPN as an analyst for over three years before getting into coaching.

And while Cora, who amassed over 500 wins in six seasons with the Red Sox, is viewed by many in baseball as a top-tier manager, he's unsure how many suitors he would have attracted on the open market.

"I'm very realistic about my situation," Cora said. "I don't know who really likes me, (doesn't) like me because of what happened in the past or who I am or how they think or how they envision the managerial job. I have no idea.

"Shoot, before I got this job (with the Red Sox after the 2017 season), five teams or six teams (with whom he interviewed) said no. And in '21, there were two teams (with openings) that said no. They didn't even want to interview me. I honestly feel like (the outcome) probably (would have been) go home for a year and see what happens."

But Cora is happy with how it all played out and that he will be with Boston for at least the next three seasons.

"This is home for us," Cora said. "I'm glad we're going to do it for three more years and then we'll see what happens."