The Boston Red Sox Tuesday, November 10, 2020 * The Boston Globe Alex Cora’s reintroduction press conference will focus heavily on his past rather than the future Alex Speier As he prepares for his reintroduction as Red Sox manager on Tuesday, Alex Cora stands three years, four days, and 180 degrees removed from the position he occupied on Nov. 6, 2017. Then, the Red Sox introduced Cora as their new manager at a Fenway Park press conference. Questions that day revolved around the degree to which his managerial inexperience represented an impediment to his otherwise glowing candidacy. “I don’t think experience is going to be an obstacle for me,” Cora said. On Tuesday, questions about experience and obstacles will assume a very different form. Cora is now a known in Boston and throughout the Red Sox organization. His 2018 title offers evidence of his capacity for excellence in a demanding job. A lack of familiarity with his job description isn’t an issue. To the contrary, experience and history were the traits that separated the 45-year-old from every other candidate whom the Red Sox considered in their managerial search. His previous time as a manager — and more specifically, as the Red Sox manager — proved too compelling for the team not to rehire him. Yet it is also his past experiences for which Cora must now answer at the press conference on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. While the enthusiasm for his return throughout the organization and a large — but not universal — portion of the fan base is considerable, Cora’s public reappearance will focus heavily on his past rather than the future. The press conference will mark Cora’s first broad availability to discuss the 2017 Astros’ sign- stealing scandal that prompted him to vacate his role as Red Sox manager in January and eventually led Major League Baseball to suspend him for the entirety of the 2020 season. And while MLB, in a subsequent investigation, determined that Cora did not know about the Red Sox’ use of in-game video to decipher opposing teams’ sign sequences, the former and new Red Sox manager will nonetheless have to discuss what transpired — and why he should not be accountable for something that MLB viewed as a punishable offense that occurred on his team. In many ways, Tuesday will be less about Cora’s selection as Red Sox manager as it will be for the opportunity to address questions that were left both unasked and unanswered when he left the team in January. The session will be less about Cora’s substantial qualifications for the job and more focused on why his past misdeeds were not disqualifying. The event will be as much — perhaps more — an opportunity for public contrition than a coronation, a striking contrast to the event at which Cora was introduced three years ago. THEN: What did Cora learn on the way to winning the World Series as bench coach of the 2017 Astros? NOW: As bench coach of the 2017 Astros, how involved was Cora in the scheme to steal signs and communicate them from behind the dugout by banging on a trash can? THEN: How much did Cora grow from spending a year in a dugout in 2017? NOW: How did Cora change from spending a season away from the game in 2020? THEN: What did Cora think the Red Sox needed to step forward as a championship contender in 2018? NOW: How much did the 2018 Red Sox rely on illegal practices en route to a title, and how much did Cora know about them? THEN: What convinced president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that Cora was the right person for the job? NOW: Was Cora truly the choice of Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom? THEN: What message does it send for the organization — dogged by a racist history, and convulsed in the middle of the 2017 season by racist acts that occurred in the stands — to hire its first minority manager? NOW: What message does it send for the organization to hire someone so prominently associated with the 2017 Astros cheating scandal? Inevitably, the press conference will present uncomfortable moments for Cora, Bloom, and the Red Sox. The unavoidable format will make the tenor even more awkward thanks to the emotional distance that arises from communicating through screens on a Zoom conference rather than in person. In many ways, Tuesday will represent the continuation of a year in which so much has been backward- looking as a result of the departures of Cora and Mookie Betts. Yet for all of that potential awkwardness, perhaps more than any introduction, the event represents the necessary point of departure for Cora’s second stint as a Red Sox manager and a significant opportunity to shape the start of his next run. If he and the Red Sox appear thoughtful, genuine, and contrite about the past, then Tuesday may truly serve as the beginning of Cora’s second chance and an opportunity for the team to begin looking forward toward its future. * The Boston Herald Alex Cora should feel immense pressure in his return as Red Sox manager Jason Mastrodonato Alex Cora likely got his job back because of his success as the Red Sox manager in 2018. But as far as his future goes, we might as well forget about the ’18 season. Cora, who will be re-introduced as Red Sox manager Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. ET, is likely to have a short leash this time around. The pressure will be on him from Day 1 to not only turn around a Red Sox team that posted its worst winning percentage in 54 years, but also prove quickly that he’s a capable manager for the next chapter of Red Sox history, one that requires both the patience to teach a new wave of pitching talent and an urgency to demand results quickly for a team desperate to shed its losing stink. So, forget about 2018. Why? Because while the historic ’18 season won’t be forgotten around New England anytime soon, it remains just enough to get Cora back to even on the accounting books of managerial points. Designated the mastermind of the 2017 Astros’ sign-stealing scheme, one of the worst public cheating scandals baseball has endured, Cora’s accomplishments in Boston a year later are just good enough to convince the sport to forgive, forget and hand him a second chance. They won’t be good enough to erase another disappointing season like 2019. And they’re certainly not enough to keep him above water if the Sox engage in any funny behavior under his leadership in the near future. His contract is a two-year deal through 2022. And according to an industry source, it’s not until after the completion of the 2022 season that the Red Sox will have to decide if Cora is the manager of the future and pick up a two-year option that’ll pay him through 2024, or if his second chance didn’t pan out. In that case, it’s fair to wonder if Cora has just one year to make his mark. The 2021 season could prove that the cheating is behind him, he actually did learn his lesson and still finds a way to lead a team back into contention. If he does put the team back into the playoffs, the Red Sox would be wise to pick up the option immediately after 2021, or renegotiate his contract to lock him into a long-term deal. Otherwise they’ll let their beloved manager become a lame-duck skipper with a dark cloud lingering over his head and a lot of questions from the media entering 2022. If Cora can’t get it done in 2021, the pressure will escalate to get the team off to a good start in 2022 or Cora will likely wave goodbye. There’s little incentive for the Sox to keep him around if his contract is due to expire anyway and it’s not working by June 2022. That gives him about 18 months, give or take, to work his Cora magic and get the Red Sox back on track. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is in a perfect spot now, having re-hired a manager who was beloved by Bloom’s bosses at the top of the Red Sox’ masthead and giving the fanbase a much-needed spark of interest after TV ratings were down an MLB-high 59% in 2020. Bloom should have no reason to give Cora a long leash. This is his first chance at building a masterpiece. It’s his first chance as the lead architect of a franchise he’s been shaping for the future. But it’s his second chance to hire a manager. If both Ron Roenicke and Cora flame out, Bloom will likely only get one shot to bring in his own guy. And while the Rays are in agreement with Bloom to restrict his hiring of any Tampa Bay employees for his first two years in Boston, according to Boston Sports Journal, that restriction is expected to end after 2021, giving Bloom a chance to hire the well-regarded Rays’ bench coach Matt Quatraro, if Cora isn’t getting the job done. The last time Cora was managing the Red Sox, it wasn’t a fun team to watch. We expect Cora to bring a different sense of urgency to the Red Sox this year than he did in 2019, when he largely stopped being critical of his players in public, supported them through a disappointing season and was late to make important adjustments to a pitching strategy that had been clearly sniffed out by the opposition.