Alex Cora ran his first half-marathon Sunday. The Red Sox manager was one of more than 6,700 runners to complete the Boston Athletic Association’s Boston Half under crystal clear blue skies, finishing the 13.1-mile course in  2 hours, 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Not bad for a newcomer to distance running.

A bigger concern for Cora (and Boston fans) is the marathon that lies ahead for the Red Sox in 2025. After watching the Sox miss the playoffs for a third straight year, fans want action. They want to see the club spend money and become a contender again.

There have been numerous reports that the Sox are engaged in signing a big-name free agent this offseason. That would be a refreshing change from the last few seasons, when the Sox did not sign any top tier players.

At the end of last season, Cora said 2024 would be the “last struggle” for the Sox, indicating that he believes the franchise will be positioned to contend this coming season. He reiterated that belief when I spoke with him last week.

“How can we make the big league club better?” Cora said when asked about his plan for the coming season. “81-81 is not acceptable in our city, our environment. We’ve had a lot of development, but it’s time to put everything behind you and compete.”

“By the time we get to Dallas (site MLB Winter Meetings in early December) I hope we can get something done.”

Cora made it clear that pitching is the team’s top priority this offseason.

“We saw it in October,” he said. ” The No. 1 dude. The alpha dog. They’re very important.”

The manager said it’s not just about adding an arm or two to the top of the rotation. They need to boost both talent and depth.

“We blew 31 saves last season,” Cora said.  “If we had blown five or six fewer saves where would be have been?”

The Sox missed the playoffs by five games. A five- or six-game swing could’ve got them back in the postseason for the first time since 2021.

PITCHING HELP

There are plenty of free agent pitchers available this winter, a class that got deeper when it was announced recently that Roki Sasaki will be posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League.

Sasaki just turned 23 last week and hits 100 mph with his fastball. He has a mix of youth and velocity seldom seen from Japanese pitchers hitting free agency. He will not be an unrestricted free agent, meaning he will essentially choose from similar offers.

The Yankees, Mets and Dodgers will be the frontrunners for Sasaki, but the Red Sox feel they have a chance of landing him because of their infrastructure. The Red Sox confirmed that Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow flew to Japan to see Sasaki in person last season, an indication of how serious they are about their chances.

Designated hitter Masataka Yoshida was Sasaki’s teammate in Japan. Could he help the recruiting process? At 6-foot-2, the right-handed Sasaki posted a 2.02 ERA over four seasons in Japan. His splitter and slider are considered plus-pitches.

If Cora and the Red Sox are serious about bolstering the pitching staff, Sasaki would be a nice place to start. They just need to convince him to move from the Far East to the AL East.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN.