FORT MYERS, Fla. -- This year, Alex Cora has more responsibilities than he would during a normal spring training. With the business of baseball booming after MLB’s lockout was lifted last week, Cora is working as both the Red Sox’ manager and one of their lead recruiters in talks with free agents.
While the Yankees (Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony Rizzo) and Blue Jays (Matt Chapman) have each made major moves this week, Boston has taken a more measured approached. The Red Sox added lefty relievers Matt Strahm and Jake Diekman early in the week and brought back first baseman Travis Shaw on a minor-league deal Friday. Beyond that, the Sox haven’t made any major moves. Rumored targets Kyle Schwarber (Phillies), Seiya Suzuki (Cubs), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers) and Collin McHugh (Braves) have signed elsewhere this week.
That doesn’t mean the Red Sox are done.
“We’re still working. We’re still talking to people. We’re still recruiting, which is important,” Cora said Friday morning. “We’ll see. I do believe we’re going to add but we’ve just got to be patient, like I’ve said before.”
Earlier this week, Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said it was important to not be reactive to moves around the league and instead remain focused on what his own team could do next. That hasn’t stopped Cora, who always enjoys keeping up on rumors and news throughout the league, from scoreboard watching on the transaction front.
“I know everything that is going on,” Cora said.
Since the end of last season, the Red Sox have revamped much of their pitching staff, signing five free-agent pitchers (Diekman, Rich Hill, James Paxton, Strahm and Michael Wacha) and losing Eduardo Rodriguez, Adam Ottavino, Martín Pérez and Garrett Richards in free agency. On the positional side, the club swapped Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr. and two prospects while losing Schwarber and José Iglesias. Outfield, second base and the bullpen are still clear areas of need, and the Sox may add a rotation arm in the wake of Chris Sale’s rib cage injury. Though Cora is hopeful the team will keep adding pieces, he still believes the roster in front of him is a good one.
“I think we’ve got a good baseball team,” he said. “I think pitching-wise, we’re good and the offense, like I always say, we’re always going to hit. Right now, if we have to roll a lineup out there, I feel very comfortable. It’s very similar to the lineup we had in the playoffs.
“I do feel like we have a good team,” he continued. “Obviously, there’s a few things we need to find out about the bullpen. If tomorrow is Opening Day, yeah, I feel okay with it.”
In the days since the lockout ended last Thursday, Cora has spent countless hours on the phone, not only with free agents but also with Boston’s own players (team employees were unable to communicate with players during the work stoppage). The days at JetBlue Park are longer, too. On Thursday, Cora left the ballpark hours after Boston’s game against the Twins ended instead of immediately after his media session, like in previous years.
Cora said he doesn’t believe the Red Sox have fallen behind their chief divisional competitors in New York, Toronto and Tampa Bay. Some key players from those teams, like Robbie Ray, Marcus Semien, Gio Urshela, Gáry Sanchez and Nelson Cruz, have left the division since the end of last year.
“It all depends on how you see it,” he said. “You can add, but there’s other players who impacted the division who are somewhere else, like they’re in the AL West. At the end, it starts April 7. We’re pretty comfortable we’re going to be able to compete.”
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