The Red Sox, Alex Cora, and Spring Training
This spring is going to be a massive test for the dynamic manager as he has a lot to prove to not just his bosses but to Red Sox Nation. He has to prove that 2018 wasn’t a first-year fluke and that he truly is as good as we think and hope he is. Cora must prove that he can do this without any weird dark clouds hovering over the team as had followed him in 2017 and 2018. It may sound a bit hyperbolic but this spring and overall season may be the biggest of his career.
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In his last spring training, it felt like he was trying to do what was right for his team but he may have sacrificed the team to do so if that makes sense. It’s a bit relieving that he’s already spoken out about these past mistakes and seems to be trying to correct them ahead of 2021.
Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox have built a team that should be much better than the one we saw in 2020, but will they contend? If you listened to anything that the owners have said over the last six months you’d surely think so, but everyone else got better too. Bloom and his team have done a wonderful job of flipping players they don’t want for strong prospects while signing good players at reasonable salaries. They’re building for the future and this season has a good possibility of being the first chapter of that story.
I doubt they’ll finish in the bottom of the barrel again as that’d take a serious stumble out of the gate, but anything can happen. When all is said and done how this season plays out will all stem from how things are being run down in Fort Myers. If Cora has his guys ready and rocking for Opening Day then we very well could have a contender on our hands, and the odds say the playoffs aren’t a longshot. Everything builds from the foundation that is being laid at JetBlue Park and if it’s a good one, I think October baseball could be back in Boston in 2021.