The Red Sox already made their call on Alex Cora back in April, handing the job to Chad Tracy and eventually removing the interim label from his title. Cora has remained on the outside looking in ever since, and for Boston, the latest twist in his coaching future is the kind that can turn a bad day into a full-blown nightmare.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported that Cora told the Phillies he plans to take the 2027 season off. That alone shut down the idea of an immediate reunion in Philadelphia, even though the Phillies had tried to get him back in the dugout right after Boston let him go. But Jon Heyman of the New York Post floated a far more uncomfortable possibility for the Red Sox, citing someone close to Cora and saying the Yankees would be the team most likely to pull him back in - though Heyman added that it is unlikely right now.
For Boston, that’s the nightmare version of this story. If Cora were managing in the National League, the Red Sox could live with it.
Even if he had success with the Phillies, it would spark some second-guessing, but it would stay in the background. Put him in the Yankees dugout, though, and suddenly every season series, every playoff path, every matchup between Boston and New York gets a whole new layer of noise.
The Red Sox and Yankees play 13 times in the regular season, and they’ve met in the postseason in two straight years. Boston has already taken losses to New York in the playoffs in 2026 and 2025, and the idea of Cora standing on the other side only makes that sting sharper.
That’s why Red Sox fans should be hoping this stays just a rumor and that the Yankees keep Aaron Boone in place. Boston has enough on its plate this offseason without spending any time thinking about who might be in charge in New York.
In Other News...
Red Sox May Be Nearing A Painful Triston Casas Decision
Triston Casas path has gone from promising to precarious in a hurry, and the Red Sox now appear to be weighing a decision that would have once seemed hard to imagine. After a 2025 season marred by a ruptured patellar tendon, Casas was again sidelined in 2026 by an intercostal strain in April and a wrist injury in July that required surgery, leaving him without a game appearance all year. With Willson Contreras now occupying the first base job and other roster spots already spoken for, Bostons depth chart has changed enough that Casas no longer fits as neatly as he once did.
The bigger issue is what the organization believes it can reasonably count on going forward. Injuries have stacked up, productivity remains uncertain, and the Red Sox are facing the kind of roster squeeze that forces uncomfortable calls on players who still carry name value but no longer offer much certainty. All signs point toward Boston non-tendering Casas for 2027, a move that would close a frustrating chapter for a player whose future once looked far more secure. [Read more 🡒]
Sam Kennedy Just Fueled A Red Sox Debate Fans Hate
At the Red Sox end-of-season press conference on Oct. 5, team CEO and president Sam Kennedy pointed to the positive atmosphere at Fenway Park this year, a familiar note from a franchise that has spent recent seasons trying to keep the ballpark full and the fan base engaged. The message fit a larger pattern in Boston, where the club has leaned on the strength of the Fenway experience even as the roster has been reshaped by high-profile trades and the departure of key free agents.
For a lot of Red Sox fans, that is exactly where the debate starts. The organization has managed to maintain interest and keep games selling out without consistently fielding a deep playoff team, and the recent roster moves have only sharpened the suspicion that financial caution is driving too much of the decision-making. Kennedys comments may have been meant to highlight a success, but in Boston they also underscored the tension between preserving the business side of the franchise and building a club that can truly contend again. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Judge's Frustration Gives Red Sox Fans One More Reason To Smile
The Yankees season ended in familiar October disappointment, and Aaron Judge did not try to sugarcoat it after Tampa Bay completed the sweep in the American League Division Series. The Yankees captain said the loss only sharpened the need to confront the teams weaknesses, a blunt assessment from the face of the franchise after another postseason exit that left New York searching for answers.
For Red Sox fans, Judges frustration is the latest reminder that the divisions biggest rival is feeling the pressure to fix what went wrong. He also made clear that he signed back on in New York with a championship standard in mind, which only adds more weight to the winter ahead as the Yankees decide how aggressively they want to reshape the roster and restore their status as annual contenders. [Read more 🡒]