John Tomase weighs in on ‘nightmare scenario’ where the Red Sox could lose manager Alex Cora to the New York Yankees, and whether or not John Henry would feel betrayed.
While Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow remains non-committal, manager Alex Cora has made it crystal clear where he stands on the "buy or sell" trade deadline debate.
Cora hopes the front office will invest in this year's club, which has greatly exceeded expectations to this point. Now 10 games over .500 (50-40), the Red Sox are in a playoff spot and sneaking up on the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the American League standings.
Despite Boston's surge, there doesn't seem to be much belief that Breslow and Co. will make any significant trade deadline additions. After the last two disappointing deadlines under Chaim Bloom, many expect more of the same from a Red Sox leadership group that has shown little interest in anything but the organization's farm system.
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Cora, however, isn't buying the notion that Red Sox brass prefers to sell. He shut down that idea while discussing his team's current situation on WEEI's Jones & Mego with Arcand.
"I had a conversation with Craig two days ago, three days ago. This whole thing with ownership and the front office, they want to lose so we can trade people and improve the future of the organization, I think it's wrong," Cora said on Wednesday.
"We just gotta be patient. We put ourselves in a great position. Ten games over .500 I think is very important. Now, it's about winning this series, winning the next one, and see what's going on. You look around the league, we've been probably one of the best teams in the big leagues the last month and a half. Obviously, we're going to go through a stretch that we're going to lose three out of five, but I don't see this team going through that seven-game losing streak, five-game losing streak.
"We believe in what we're doing here. Now we just gotta be patient and let's see what happens in the upcoming weeks."
On a recent episode of MassLive's Fenway Rundown podcast, Breslow suggested Boston would pick a buy/sell lane rather than a combination of the two approaches. It would be difficult to justify selling if the club continues to play the way it has over the last month and a half. The Red Sox are tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the best record in MLB since May 19 (28-16).
If the Red Sox decide to buy, Breslow identified starting pitching and right-handed hitting as the team's two most pressing needs.
Boston's performance over the next couple of weeks will be pivotal. After its three-game series vs. the Oakland A's, it will welcome the Kansas City Royals to Fenway Park for a three-game set with significant Wild Card implications. The Royals enter Wednesday 1.5 games behind the Red Sox for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.
From there, the Red Sox will have series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners before the trade deadline on July 30. How they fare during the challenging slate will likely determine which lane Breslow and the front office take.
