After breaking out his best Bill Belichick “we’re onto Cincinnati” impression this past week, Alex Cora proceeded to take a page out of Tom Brady’s book.
He talked about his contract situation… while managing to say nothing at all in the process.
Boston’s fifth-winningest manager in franchise history addressed the elephant in the room: his uncertain status as the manager of the Boston Red Sox beyond 2024.
“We’re not talking about contracts during the season,” Cora told reporters before Friday’s game against Detroit. “Out of respect to the organization and the players, and the season, we're not going to talk about contracts. We’ll play it out and then whatever is decided is decided.”
In summary, Cora is saying “it is what it is.”
Cora then repeated a line he’s used in the past about not being “selfish” by negotiating his contract mid-season, and he was quick to acknowledge the elephant that isn’t in the room… his Red Sox teams of late haven’t been great.
“We finished last the last two years and we're playing under .500 baseball,” he said. “My situation will be taken care of in the future, whatever the organization decides or whatever I decide to do.”
Cora said in an interview with WEEI’s Jones and Mego with Arcand program back in late March that the team had not approached him about an extension.
“For some reason, you know, there’s a very calm sense of where I’m at,” Cora told them. “I love what I’m doing right now, I enjoy everything that is going on with the Red Sox, but at the same time, man, I’m at the aquarium with my family, too.”
As I wrote earlier this week, is that “calm sense” just Cora reading the writing on the wall? We know he doesn’t want to manage forever, and the general consensus continues to be that he and the team he led to 108 wins and a World Series title in 2018 will go their separate ways after this season.
Cora did address his relationship with the individuals who will ultimately make that decision, his bosses Craig Breslow and Sam Kennedy.
“We both know we're growing as a partnership,” Cora said. “And it's been really good, but at the same time, the future is the future.”
“But at the same time, the future is the future” … what is that supposed to mean? Consider it the latest shot in the year-long back-and-froth tennis volley of lukewarm public comments for Breslow and Cora that aren’t overly negative, but aren’t particularly reassuring, either.
On his relationship with Kennedy, who actually had the gall to go on the radio this week and say the Red Sox are overachieving (which, while probably true, is not what fans want to hear), Cora also downplayed any potential friction points.
“We’re good. First of all, there's nothing going on between us. He’s my guy,” Cora said. “He’s been great for the organization. And second, we’re a .500 team, or an under-.500 team.”
Yoshida, Casas, O’Neill updates
We got some good news on the injury front over the weekend as designated hitter Masataka Yoshida took batting practice before Saturday’s game at Fenway Park.
Yoshida has been on the shelf with a thumb injury since the end of April. The 30-year-old said through a team interpreter that he was “able to hit pain free.” Cora added that Yoshida should be able to participate in BP on a daily basis now.
On Triston Casas, the news was less encouraging. Casas admitted that he is still experiencing pain, telling WEEI that his rib cage is still “sore to the touch.” The 24-year-old first baseman is eligible to return from his stint on the 60-day injured list as early as June 21.
That was the date Casas had originally told reporters he was targeting to return to action, which would mark just over three months out of action due to torn cartilage in the area of his left rib cage.
“It’s tough to gauge right now and it’s really just a day-by-day feel-as-we-go kind of basis,” Casas told WEEI this week.
As for Tyler O’Neill, who landed on the 10-day injured list with right knee inflammation, he believes he isn’t likely to miss additional time on the injury list during a stay that dates back retroactively to May 26th.
“I feel like I’ve made the necessary moves to be in a good spot, come back healthy,” O’Neill told reporters. “I like where I’m at right now.”
And this all comes on the heels of the news that Garrett Whitlock underwent surgery to insert an internal brace to repair his right UCL ligament injury, which the team said occurred Thursday and was deemed successful…
Around the AL East
Now that we’ve reached June, we’ll start to keep more of a weekly eye on what’s happening around the AL East…
The Yankees keep chugging along with a major league-leading 41-19 record with wins in three straight and 15 of their last 19 games overall. New York entered Sunday with a two-game lead atop the division over Baltimore, which has also been on a good run of late with a three-game win streak of its own and victories in eight of its last nine.
At 37-19, the Orioles sit six games clear atop the AL wild card race. Kansas City currently holds the second spot and is two games ahead of Minnesota, which sits 2 1/2 games ahead of Boston for the AL’s last playoff spot.
It’s looking like the Rays and Blue Jays aren’t teams the Red Sox are going to have to worry much about. Fourth-place Tampa Bay dropped to 28-31 with its ninth loss in 10 games on Saturday, while last-place Toronto is 27-30 despite a winning 6-4 stretch over its last 10.
New York and Baltimore have clearly separated themselves as the creme de la creme of the AL East, which isn’t all too surprising. I am a little surprised at the Rays’ inability to get themselves up off the mat so far this season. They’re usually well built to manage the rigors of the regular season before ultimately falling apart in the postseason due to a lack of star power.
And as for the Jays, well… maybe this will help Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shake loose for the Red Sox (or, yes, much more likely, somebody else. But I refuse to give up on that dream just yet!).
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.