If the new generation of baseball bosses is talking about the process, it’s good if your eyes shine.
Sometimes these Ivy League products can sound more like McKinsey consultants than staff, with their organizational textbooks and strict data systems and willingness to question every assumption about the game.
In the best organizations, however, things process. And today, Chaim Bloom deserves a lot of credit for the process that led to him reclaiming the Red Sox MVP this winter – Alex Cora.
Highlights: Renfroe, Dalbec beat Sox to seventh straight win
Bloom admitted that he did not start with Cora in mind with his management. The wounds due to Cora’s suspension, which helped torpedo the 2020 season before it started, were too fresh. Given the green light by ownership to appoint his own husband, Bloom has shown the flexibility of thinking by considering Cora at all.
The Red Sox interviewed qualified banking coaches, from James Rowson of Miami to Don Kelly of Pittsburgh to Carlos Mendoza of the Yankees. Despite Cora’s story, nothing could be further from the truth, especially not even if Phillies’ coach, Sam Fuld, was a legal finalist.
It was only when Bloom and general manager Brian O’Halloran flew to Puerto Rico in October for a face-to-face in an airplane hangar that the new baseball official could really see that Cora would regain his old job. Cora immediately addressed Bloom’s concerns and showed sincere remorse for his central role in the Astros scandal-stealing scandal.
Until the moment Bloom chose Cora, some members of the organization still believed he would choose Fuld. Even Cora had his doubts. When he was officially reinstated in early November, many believed he had been forced into baseball operations by ownership. Bloom denied this and knew that few people would believe him, but several team sources supported him.
Cora was renting Bloom. The process worked. And today, the Red Sox are reaping the rewards.
On Tuesday, they won their seventh consecutive series in a way that once again had the driver’s fingerprints everywhere in his pocket. The Red Sox, in miserable Minnesota conditions, which included snowstorms, overcame a 2-0 deficit to secure a 4-2 victory and maintain their status as the hottest team in baseball.
Cora pushed all the right buttons again, mixing his outfield alignment for the ninth time in ten games, composing a bottom line of the sequence that ran into three runs, and making a small gesture that made for a great performance of first baseman Bobby Dalbec unlocked. .
“Last year it was hard to watch, it was hard for those who were here,” Cora said. “It’s still early, but they can see the talent we have and what we do, it’s fun for them again. Baseball is fun again.”
Cora deserves every honor he has received to help them rediscover that joy. NESN’s cameras caught him punching Dalbec on Tuesday after a flight to the right field, and broadcaster Jerry Remy was everywhere. Despite playing virtually every day, Dalbec enjoyed the finish line more than a spectator as a contributor, hitting just .120 with 10 hits in 28 record appearances.
However, Cora realizes how important it is to drive the ball the other way around, and he lets Dalbec know. The big first baseman rewarded the confidence with the even double to the right in the fifth and the pull pass in the eighth right field corner. We may have easily missed it, but that’s a small way Cora influenced the game.
Tomase: JD Martinez went from undesirable to indispensable
He had a similar effect on the second driller, Christian Arroyo, who was 2 for 3 with a few runs and also started an excellent doubles when he shot in the middle. In the 10th over against the Rays last week, Arroyo managed to move Enrique Hernández to third place by achieving an 0-2 pitch on the right. He returns to the dugout for a high five conga series, led by Cora’s. The message was simple – you gave yourself up and made a productive layout. Although the run failed, Arroyo did his job.
“There’s a reason you get three strikes,” Arroyo said. “If I have to give up an innings, if I have to give up four innings as long as we win the game, I don’t really care. That’s my mentality.”
It comes from Cora, who also helped Rafael Devers follow a cruel opening weekend on his way to homers in his last four games. It comes from Cora, who gave JD Martinez the kick in the pants he needed in late spring to turn on the afterburners during his historic good start. It comes from Cora, who jumped veterans Marwin Gonzalez and Hernández across the field while managing to keep every member of the bench and bullpen busy.
Manager as MVP? You better believe it. The Red Sox are not 7-3 without him, and for that they can thank a process that may not have started with Cora as the choice, but ended with Bloom being convinced he made the right call.