Boston Red Sox
“People are going to take it however they want.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t mince words when asked about the reaction to a comment he made to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal over the weekend that made the rounds on social media.
During Saturday’s broadcast between the Red Sox and Cardinals, Rosenthal elaborated on the changing dynamic across MLB when it comes to teams signing younger players to lengthy contracts years before they hit free agency.
It was a fitting topic, given that the Red Sox signed Roman Anthony to an eight-year, $130 million contract last August after playing less than 50 games against MLB competition.
Even with that gamble in terms of rewarding a player with both term and a sizable pay raise without much of a track record, it can oftentimes pay off for a team if that younger player realizes his potential over the next decade of baseball.
However, Rosenthal offered up a possible retort — via Cora — to the argument that those long-term deals always benefit teams instead of the blue-chip prospect.
“But Alex Cora was talking to us about this today and he said the dynamic changes, though,” Rosenthal said. “It changes when you have a number of players under those kinds of deals. And that’s what the concern can be for some of these teams.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday ahead of Boston’s game against the Twins, Cora didn’t hold back when asked about his comments, which he says have been taken out of context as a possible criticism of the practice by major-league clubs.
“You know what? I think it’s f****** bull**** to be honest with you,” Cora said pregame, per MassLive’s Chris Smith. “There’s conversations about the Red Sox, there’s conversations about the industry. I was an ex-player, and it’s a lot different compared to what’s in the past. So I know the dynamics of the business right now and … this is what we’re working for. It’s not that … now it’s harder or not harder.
“It’s the dynamics of the business. It’s a great business model. It is. Because you wanna keep your pieces as long as possible, as young as possible, and develop them. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad product, or it’s a bad roster or it’s a bad team. … It’s a different structure than in the past. And you have to deal with other stuff. It doesn’t make it harder. It doesn’t make it harder or ‘Oh, it’s so uncomfortable now to manage in the big leagues.’ No, it’s just different because there’s a lot of young people here that you have to keep teaching the game.”
The Red Sox have an extended track record of trying to bridge the gap on long-term deals on players in order to avoid a heftier payout years down the road when they’re in their prime years — including contract extensions for both Anthony and Kristian Campbell during the 2025 season.
Other players who followed a similar trajectory as Anthony include Brayan Bello — who signed a six-year, $55 million deal with Boston in 2024 after just 39 total starts with the team — and Ceddanne Rafaela, who inked an eight-year, $50 million deal in April 2024 ahead of his first full year in the big leagues.
Cora pushed back against a question around whether Rosenthal should have added more context to his mid-game report.
“People are going to take it however they want,” Cora told Smith and other reporters. “And I respect that. Like I’ve always said, when I’m here in front of the cameras, I’m very honest. It’s not gray with me. It’s black and white, and people respect what I say, they like what I say, or they disagree.
“I don’t watch the games, but [Rosenthal] doesn’t have time, man. I’ve been on TV,” Cora added. “I know how it works. And sometimes, the inning is five pitches, and you don’t have time to elaborate, and then you have to move on. So I’m not uncomfortable with what I said. I know what I said. I know Ken is doing a job, and I don’t think there was [anything] controversial to what I said.”
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