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Alex Cora made his weekly appearance on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria on Thursday and gave his input on the Red Sox' quiet trade deadline after the team decided not to make a deal on Wednesday.
Glenn Ordway asked Cora if he was concerned about the uneasy feeling inside Fenway Park on Wednesday night and about his team's reaction to the lack of moves.
“No, I’m not concerned, and we haven’t talked about it actually," Cora said. "I don’t know if we’re going to do it today or tomorrow, there’s a lot of stuff going on, but I do feel that we’re very talented. We know where we’re at. We know where we’re at in the division, we know where we’re at with the wild card, one thing we know is that we’re very talented, and the team knows it. We played great last week, Sunday wasn’t great, two competitive games against the Rays, it hasn’t been as crisp as last week. We know where we’re at schedule-wise and what we can do, and that’s the message that Dave sent yesterday to the group."
Despite significant bullpen concerns that have caused the team all sorts of problems all season, the 4 p.m. deadline crossed without a move.
"I’m going to talk to them a little bit about it and we’ll go from there," said Cora. "But I do believe that talent-wise we’re up there, I know there’s teams that did an outstanding job, Houston they got Greinke, there’s other teams that made moves, and, whatever. Okay. Cool. I do feel with Cashner earlier in the month and us pitching better, that’s the key for us, if we do that we’ll be in good shape.”
The bullpen wasn't really to blame for Wednesday night's loss to the Rays but pitching was certainly a problem, with Rick Porcello giving up six runs in 5 2/3 innings of work, while Heath Hembree gave up two more in relief in an 8-5 loss.
Cora and Dombrowski have maintained that the team would've been willing to make a deal at the right price — the right price never really materializing — and the second-year manager said it would've been a business decision had a move been possible.
“It’s hard all-around. We get attached to players, but at the same time you understand that we have a job to do, not only for this year but we have to be good for the next 3-4 years, in my case, whatever I have left in my contract," Cora said. "I think my experience, obviously at a smaller scale in winter ball, guys that I actually play with, that you have to trade or release, during the WBC as a GM, it gives me a different perspective than as a manager. As a manager you’re look okay, let’s do this, let’s try to get better, and then all of sudden it’s ‘No, no, no, not that guy.’ At the end, we have a job to do, and whatever the decision is made, you respect it because (Dombrowski)'s done it for 40 years, he’s not lucky to be here. He’s a good one.”