The Red Sox have no plans to move on from either chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom or manager Alex Cora this winter, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Monday.
“I am very comfortable saying Chaim and Alex will be back,” Rosenthal said. “And I am very comfortable saying there is a strong belief in the direction of the franchise from our ownership group. That direction is continuing to build for the future, but also continuing to invest at the major-league level.”
Coming into play on Monday with a record of 62-66, the last-place Red Sox currently sit 16 games back of the Yankees for first place in the American League East and seven games back of the Blue Jays for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.
This comes less than a year after Boston was only two games away from a World Series berth. So to say the 2022 season has been a disappointment would be an understatement.
“To be looking up at the American League East at this point of the year is painful and frustrating,” said Kennedy. “And frankly we deserve the criticism we’re getting. We’ve got to own that. It’s on us. But we’ve been around here a long time and we’re prepared to turn things around quickly here as we head into [2023].”
While both Bloom and Cora have been subjected to their fair share of criticism in recent weeks, neither are in contractual jeopardy. As noted by Rosenthal, the Red Sox exercised Cora’s club option for the 2023 and 2024 seasons back in November.
Bloom, meanwhile, was named Boston’s chief baseball officer in October 2019 and is now in the third year “of a long-term deal of at least four years,” according to Rosenthal.
Injuries have hindered the Red Sox throughout the season. Free agency will be a major focal point in the off-season. J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, Tommy Pham, Enrique Hernandez, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, Matt Strahm, and Kevin Plawecki are all eligible to hit the open market this winter. Xander Bogaerts could join them if he elects to opt out of his contract.
Star third baseman Rafael Devers has emerged as one of the top young hitters in the American League but is only club control through the end of the 2023 season. Per Rosenthal, Red Sox officials “continue to say they want to retain both Bogaerts and Devers, homegrown talents who have proven they can succeed in Boston.”
With only $91.97 million committed to the 2023 payroll at the moment, Kennedy believes the Red Sox can use their financial flexibility and prospect capital to get back on track and return to more competitive baseball next year.
“I see us continuing to invest across the entire organization, at the major-league level, throughout our baseball operations. This group is hungry for another World Series championship,” Kennedy Said. “The whole group is outstanding. I know we’re in a tough spot right now. But we have a lot of flexibility going into this off-season. I’m really excited to see what we’re going to do with that flexibility and the resources we have.”
(Picture of Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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