Though Alex Cora wouldn’t comment directly about Alex Bregman, whose signing with the Red Sox is not yet official, he did open up about his relationship with the two-time All-Star dating back to their days together on the 2017 Houston Astros.
Specifically Cora spoke about how everyone from that team has paid a price for their role in the sign-stealing scandal that tarnished the club’s World Series title, and how one person in particular has shouldered a particularly heavy burden.
“(Carlos Beltran) should be a Hall of Famer already,” Cora said. “He should be managing too.”
At the time Cora was serving as Houston’s bench coach, and Beltran was in the final year of his 20-year MLB career. Beltran emerged as a crucial clubhouse mentor for the young Astros, whose core included Bregman, then only 23 years old and in his second big league season. The Astros won the World Series, sending Beltran off into the sunset a champion.
But in early 2020 news of the scandal broke and the consequences were far reaching. Astros manager A.J. Hinch and Cora, who by then was entering his third season managing the Red Sox, were each suspended and fired for their involvement in the scheme. Beltran, who had recently been hired to manage the New York Mets, was the only player named and also lost his job before he’d even reached his first spring training.
No other player was punished as a result of the scandal, but members of the 2017 Astros have drawn boos and scorn from opposing fans for the last five years since.
“With all those guys we went through a lot, we’re still going through a lot,” Cora said. “We made a mistake in ’17 and some of us paid the price and we’re back in baseball, we got a second chance. A.J. got a second chance. I did too.”
Though Beltran has remained on the outside looking in as far as managerial opportunities, his Hall of Fame candidacy appears to be gaining steam. This year he gained 38 votes to reach 70.3% in his third year on the ballot, just 19 votes short of earning induction. With no standouts set to join the ballot next winter, Beltran will be the favorite to earn a spot in Cooperstown as part of the Class of 2026.
And as far as Cora is concerned, that honor would be long overdue.
Following the news that the Red Sox were signing Bregman, an Instagram story posted by Linda Henry went viral depicting Red Sox principal owner John Henry smoking a cigar in a pose reminiscent of Celtics legend Red Auerbach. Asked about the post, Cora offered a somewhat unconvincing assessment: “He was upset about the non-call on (Liverpool striker) Mo Salah in minute 95 yesterday, it should have been a penalty. And obviously Everton took the ball the other way and they scored and drawed that game, so that’s the reason he was smoking his cigar.” … Garrett Crochet was hitting 97 mph on the radar gun during his bullpen session on Thursday. … Rafael Devers was back in Fort Myers on Thursday ahead of next Monday’s report date for position players.