Each year, The Athletic conducts an anonymous poll of MLB players, asking questions about whom they feel is the most overrated, the player they least like to face, and everything in between.
One of the questions posed in this year’s survey was, “Which manager, aside from your own, would you most like to play for?”
The question received 121 responses, and Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was seventh on the list, receiving six votes.
There are a variety of reasons why players would like to play for Cora. The Red Sox manager is bilingual, which allows him to communicate effectively with most of his team. He’s also a former player, but was never a star. He knows the grind of being a major leaguer and what it takes to try to stick in the league.
Former Red Sox and current Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona was second on the list as well, only trailing the Texas Rangers’ Bruce Bochy in votes. One player described Francona as “a young grandpa.”
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The Red Sox organization as a whole was near the top of the list for teams with good reputations among players. Fifteen players responded that the organization had a good reputation, while zero responded that they had a bad one. For comparison, the New York Yankees received 40 “good” responses and three “bad” responses.
Jarren Duran and Aroldis Chapman were also mentioned in the survey under the “player you most like to watch” and “pitcher you’d least like to face” categories, respectively.
