Mark DeRosa Reacts to Red Sox Firing Manager Alex Cora

After a 10-17 start, Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry made the final decision - alongside general manager Craig Breslow - to fire manager Alex Cora.

Cora was in his eighth season with the organization and in the second year of a three-year extension worth more than $21 million. Boston remains obligated to pay the remaining salary unless he takes another job elsewhere - a real possibility given his reputation as one of the more respected managers in the game, as noted by Ken Rosenthal.

Reaction around the league has been swift, including comments from Mark DeRosa, Team USA's manager in the World Baseball Classic and an analyst for MLB Network.

"It doesn't," DeRosa said when asked if the move makes the Red Sox better. "It was just dysfunction… Listen, we don't truly know. I think the world wants to think they know what happened. Alex Cora makes out like a bandit for me. He gets out of a potentially dysfunctional situation right now. There's obviously a disconnect with the way Craig Breslow and their front office want to run this team.”

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DeRosa went into further detail on the controversial roster construction decisions, along with moves such as not re-signing Alex Bregman, that Boston chose not to make this past offseason

"They do not want to run it like that. They want to be a wild-card team and beat you at the margins. It's not go out and win the day,” DeRosa added. “The whole world thought they should've brought back Alex Bregman and they don't do it… I love a lot of guys in this lineup, but how are we scoring runs collectively? That's the problem here.

"I just think, for me, I look at Alex Cora - if I'm him, it feels like they did him a favor. They've got to pay him, what, $10-11 million over the next year and a half to go plan his next move. Where is he going to go win his next World Series?"

Taking over for Cora is Chad Tracy, who had been managing the team's Triple-A affiliate in Worcester. He picked up a win in his debut on Sunday, improving the Red Sox to 11-17 entering Monday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 6:20 PM.