Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Major League Baseball teams have until 6 p.m. Eastern Time this Thursday to complete any moves they want to make before the trade deadline. Naturally, as happens every year around this time, rumors are running wild about who is going to get traded and where. As a result, baseball reporters are in a race to see who can break news about potential trades first. And, according to Alex Cora, in an effort to win that race they sometimes just make stuff up.
Cora, the manager of the Boston Red Sox, spent much of his time while suspended for electronic sign stealing in 2020 working for ESPN. So he has a unique perspective when it comes to all of the reports and rumors swirling around this month about his and other team’s players. He also uses that knowledge to help his players deal with all of the speculation.
“Don’t read too much,” Cora told the media on Sunday. “I can tell them stories about ESPN in the green room, how people made s— up. Trades. I can tell them that. Don’t believe everything they say. It’s hard because that’s what rules the world, right? You get into any social platform, and if you’re looking for baseball, then your feed is going to be filled full of baseball stories. There’s a lot of people that are very responsible with their trades, rumors, and their contacts. Others, they’re not.
“So, just block it. Just go out there and play,” Cora added. “We’ve got a job to do tonight. We have the Twins, and then we got Thursday off, which I think is perfect. Thursday off, hide if you want to hide, and see what happens.”
When asked to be clear that he was saying that people at ESPN made up trades, Alex Cora replied with a chuckle, “I got stories, man. I don’t want to bury people.”
Despite Alex Cora not actually singling any reporters out, when Fox News spoke to a source “familiar with the matter,” they said ESPN stands by its reporting.