Could Dodgers Replace Dave Roberts With Alex Cora After This Season?
Stop. Now, re-read that headline.
I know what you are thinking, how is this even possible?
According to Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, Alex Cora could join the Los Angeles Dodgers when he becomes a free agent at the end of this season. He could also end up with the New York Yankees or Philadelphia Phillies.
Cotillo believes that if the Dodgers don’t make it past the Division Series this series, it will be time for the front office to ask if enough is enough. Manager Dave Roberts can only survive so many seasons stopping shy of the World Series with a roster built to win it and if he doesn’t win this year, then it could be time for a change.
But, will the Dodgers and their fan base welcome a cheater?
Cora was part of the Houston Astros trash can-banging fiasco that cost the Dodgers the 2017 World Series. He was punished for his role in it when Major League Baseball banned him for one year.
While he was banned, he was replaced by current Dodgers assistant Ron Roenicke. However, let’s not forget this last detail — Cora played for the Dodgers (1998-04), where he was teammates with Roberts.
It’s a tangled web with Cora and his connections in Los Angeles but hiring him would be a huge mistake. This club is in the business of baseball, selling tickets and support of the fans makes the money. Hiring someone from the team that cheated the Dodgers out of a World Series could be detrimental. The fans certainly wouldn’t support him.
He can’t even deny his involvement because he apologized to then-Dodgers Kenley Jansen, Kiké Hernández, and Justin Turner when they played for Cora in Boston.
“I’m going to be 100% honest with you — I just felt like I wanted to cry at that moment when he said that,” Jansen told WEEI-FM (93.7) in Boston in June 2023. “I felt like a weight came off, by him stepping up and saying we f— up as the whole group.”
Roberts has had his struggles but look at what he did with Yohan Ramirez. He created a viral moment and took the reliever from zero to hero. He is the player’s manager and is well respected within the clubhouse.
Then, there is Cora, who was named as one of the main people behind the planning and execution of the scheme during his season with the Astros. He was fired by the Red Sox the day after the report and then rehired after serving his suspension.
Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
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Roberts should be replaced NOW!! How much money was spent on this team that was supposed to be a super team and is mediocre at best
What other manager has taken his team to the playoffs every single season?
All of you Dave Roberts haters that think he should be fired if they don’t make it past the division round again are missing a much more glaring issue in my opinion.
They are really not built to win it all as currently constructed. The reason I think they struggle in October is that they don’t have enough clutch hitters in lineup or on the bench. They only see other teams’ top 2 or maybe 3 pitchers in a short series and they struggle against good pitching. There are only about 3 innings opposing pitchers need to really bear down for as it is right now. Way too many holes in lineup. And if 1-4 are cold, it’s over. The pitching is NOT the problem in most cases.
PRIME, You hit it right on the head.
As bad as Robert”s postseason record is, if he is fired, he should NOT be replaced by Alex Cora. Cora and the rest of Trashtros aren’t sorry for what they done,just sorry they got caught.
Big mistake. Roberts is the winningest manager in Dodger history. I for one appreciate that he wins more in the regular season than anybody else. People think they are a failure if they don’t win the playoffs. But it takes everything to be aligned to win in the postseason. Last year they went into the playoffs with only one starter they had at the beginning of the season, an injured CK, who failed to make it out of the first inning. Plus a rookie and a fat old has-been. Their star hitters failed to show up. Not Roberts’ fault at all.
Look, I agree with some of what you say. But you contradict yourself by giving Roberts credit for being “the winningest manager in Dodger history”, yet conclude with their playoff failures as, “Not Roberts’ fault at all.” if he gets credit for success (winning), then isn’t it only fair that he gets at least SOME of the blame for their failures? I mean, the 3 pitching examples you cite could be looked at this way: Start a rookie in game 1 instead of the highest pressure of a MUST WIN game 2. Not starting a compromised CK at all, but definitely NOT leaving him in for 6 runs and a 162.0 *yea, you read that right) ERA. And not leaving Lynn in for 4 HRs in one inning for the first time in MLB playoff history. After 2, he should have been pulled. After 3, leaving him in was an obscene failure by Roberts.
100 wins for 4 full seasons in a row for the first time in MLB history is impressive. But that comes with expectations. Those expectations are doing more than going 3 – 10 in their last 3 playoff series dating back to the 2021 NLCS vs. ATL. Those expectations are doing more than losing your last 6 playoff games.
I agree 100% that Cora is not the answer, but neither is Roberts. He is utterly lost when the team struggles. We’re seeing it right now over their last 23 games (11 – 12 against very average teams other than NYY) and we’ve seen it for 3 straight years in the playoffs. You can’t have it both ways, but that’s the argument you’re making.