Sean McAdam: Red Sox’ Alex Cora went from first-year winner to survivor; Eventually, though, time ran out for him

As a dugout rookie in 2018, Alex Cora led the Red Sox to a franchise record 108 wins and a World Series triumph, quickly earning him a reputation as one of the best managers in the game. Not even a cheating scandal that predated his time in Boston but wasn’t made public until after his second season with the Red Sox, could fully dim his star. The Red Sox re-hired him after he served a one-year suspension from Major League Baseball and only 20 months ago, they made him one of the highest-paid managers in the history of the game with a three-year contract extension.

But after 2018, Cora had limited success in leading his team to postseason glory. The Sox missed the postseason in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and even when they snapped a four-year playoff drought last October, lasted only three games in the wild-card round. In that sense, he was a victim of the impossibly high standard he set in his first season.

Cora, along with much of his coaching staff, was fired Saturday evening, hours after his club snapped a four-game losing streak with a 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. But in the estimation of chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, team president Sam Kennedy and ownership, that wasn’t enough to erase the stink of a 10-17 start to the season, one which began almost exactly a month ago with high expectations. He leaves as the third-winningest manager in team history with 620 victories, behind only Joe Cronin (1,071) and Terry Francona (744).

But with just two playoff series wins since 2018 — including a one-game wild card playoff — Cora never came close to the success he enjoyed at the start. One of Cora’s skills off the field was his ability to manage up well. He survived while president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was fired 11 months after the 2018 World Series and he remained with the team when chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was also dismissed with the Sox en route to a second straight last-place finish.