Red Sox manager Alex Cora agrees with MLB Commissioner on free agent deadline: 'We need news'

Red Sox manager Alex Cora watches workouts during spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora agrees with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred that he’d like to see a deadline for signing free agents.

“We need news,” Cora said, speaking about the subject at the team’s spring training site. “The offseason was boring for the business, for the game. There’s a lot of good players out there. They should be getting ready for this season. Obviously, that’s a big subject with the commissioner and the players association, but from my end, more action is a lot better.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora watches workouts of starting pitchers during spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Manfred brought up the subject of a deadline for free-agent signings earlier this week.

“We would prefer to have a free-agent signing period, ideally probably in December with a deadline that drove people to make their deals, get things settled. We actually made proposals to that effect, to the MLBPA. They were not warmly received,” Manfred said, referring to a mid-agreement proposal in 2019.

There are some big names currently unsigned. Pitchers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are looking for a team, and Cody Bellinger and DH J.D. Martinez are some of the dozens still out there in free agency.

Cora knows the players association is against a deadline, but believes it would be better to generate excitement for the game.

“I used to be in the union. I understand their point, but we need something,” he said. “No news is not good for the business. As a baseball fan, I do believe the best deadline was 2021 because we had the lockout. The last two hours of that day was crazy. That’s where Texas made their money. They won a World Series because they got two big guys over there. They did a good job.”

MLB locked out the players in December 2020 and a labor agreement wasn’t reached until early March of ’21, forcing a flurry of free agent signings in a few days.

That spring the Rangers signed free-agent shortstop Corey Seager ($325 million, 10 years) and second baseman Marcus Semien ($175 million, 7 years).

They went on to win the first World Series in franchise history last fall.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb