Spring is a time when, well… hope springs eternal.
As the Red Sox officially turn the page on an underwhelming at best, utterly disastrous at worst offseason with the start of spring training on Wednesday in Fort Myers, the team’s baseball leadership sounds really confident in the product they’re about to put on the field.
At least, they want you to think they're really confident…
In their initial meetings with the media on Tuesday, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora both tried their best to strike a positive tone. Instead, the two couldn’t help but let the truth slip out within the context of their guarded answers.
“I think this is going to be a very competitive team,” said Breslow, who mostly stared down and avoided eye contact during this particular response. “I think it’s going to be a team that’s going to see its players take a meaningful step forward. You know, there’s a really exciting young core of players that we are really, really excited about (and) I think that fans are going to fall in love with.”
In the same breath, however, Breslow acknowledges that this Red Sox team is far from a finished product.
“What we have in front of us is an opportunity to continue to look for ways to improve the long and short term outlook of the team,” Breslow said.
He added, “In the major league, the priority has to be on wins.”
Very impressive politician speak, Craig. You might as well throw your hat in the ring for the 2024 presidential election with that kind of verbal tight roping…
Cora struck a similar tone of optimism, saying the start of spring training offers the team a chance to “reset, (get) recharged, re-energize and attack the season the right way. “
The 48-year-old former World Series-winning manager acknowledged that this won’t be the first time he’s having to deal with a new and inexperienced boss who's learning on the fly (see Bloom, Chaim). On the initial hand he’s been dealt by Breslow, Cora pointed out some positives before quickly turning the spotlight back on a roster devoid of high-end talent.
“I’ve been through this path before, working with somebody new,” Cora said. “We’ve done some good things as far as like getting more pitching, you know, and as a coaching staff, we have to challenge ourself to make these guys better. But at the end of the day, we cannot get into them, right? They have to make decisions on the field.”
Translation: “We all see what he’s giving me to work with, right? OK, just making sure you know this isn’t gonna be my fault…”
It’s clear that, much like last season under Bloom, Cora’s hands are going to be tied by a John Henry-led ownership group that isn’t as committed to winning as it once was.
(By the way, where was our good buddy John on Tuesday? Certainly the owner of the team would be present to address reporters when they’re beginning another season as he’s done many a time in years past? Yeah right… but hey, at least we didn’t have to hear from Sam Kennedy!)
Cora’s hands might be even more tied than usual, though, as Breslow may have accidentally let it slip that he will be the one pulling the strings on a day-to-day basis.
“My role is to write the lineup,” Breslow said with a smile before backtracking a tad. "It’s to, you know, provide the resources and information that we can so that our staff who knows the players most intimately can do that.”
If Breslow is going to be more hands on in deciding who’s playing and who isn’t, that could very well be a recipe for an expedited departure for Cora…
Cora uncertain on managerial future
All we know for certain regarding Cora’s future in Boston is that he will manage the Red Sox to begin the 2024 season.
But he sure isn’t talking like someone who is going — or even wants — to be here much longer.
“I’m not gonna manage 10 more years, I can tell you that,” Cora said. “I don’t see myself being like Tito (Francona) or Tony (La Russa). I got two boys, I got a daughter that she’s a junior in college, so there’s more in life than baseball to be honest with you.”
Win or lose this year, Cora’s tenure as Red Sox manager should be considered a success. Frankly, how could it not after being at the helm for the single greatest season in franchise history in 2018? Yes, there’s been some controversy sprinkled throughout, but his failure to turn chicken you-know-what into chicken salad shouldn’t be held against him.
And it sounds like the latter is really starting to wear on him…
“You know, this is a tough business,” Cora candidly admitted. “It’s not easy man, like dealing with the media, dealing with players, the front office, the pressure of winning is not easy. It should be fun, and sometimes it’s not. I envision myself doing other stuff in the game, with the family, back home in Puerto Rico, so that’s where (we’re) at.”
Breslow gave more of a glowing endorsement of Cora than he did initially — but he also made sure to once again point out that Cora is the manager this year… nothing more.
“I’m excited that Alex is going to be the manager of the 2024 Red Sox,” Breslow said. “I’ve seen him now interact with players and his staff. Great connector of people. I think we share a ton of alignment with respect to how we want to promote development of our players and the type of culture we want to create.”
Fairly or unfairly, Cora will wind up getting much of the praise or taking much of the blame for the Red Sox’s performance this coming season. If their season starts off slowly and is D.O.A., the finger pointing and calls for Cora’s job will only get louder.
To which Cora countered, “I don’t want this season to be about me. You know, this is about the Boston Red Sox and how we need to bounce back to be better, to play in October.”
Of his sincerity, I have no doubt. Cora is a guy who loves managing the Red Sox… that is, when the team he’s given to manage is one capable of playing winning baseball and contending for World Series championships.
“I love it here. I appreciated everything that this organization has done with me and my family,” he said. “Now, hopefully this is the story of a team that nobody gave a chance to win it and we can hoist that trophy at the end of October and just gotta be patient with the process, keep getting better and see what we got.”
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.