There's been a lot of speculation lately that with Orioles third baseman Manny Machado on the trading block the Red Sox might dangle a piece like Rafael Devers in an offer.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained on Dale & Keefe Wednesday that the 21-year-old third baseman hasn't concerned himself too much with the rumors.
"I don't know if Raffy knows about what's going on. All he knows is that he's locked in and he's working hard at his craft. You can see those adjustments at the plate," Cora said.
The manager did explain that when it comes to trade rumors, he's glad to offer his experience.
"I was lucky enough to work at a network where we covered that stuff. It's like when you're cooking pasta, you know how it is, you grab the noodles and you throw them at the wall," Cora said. "Some of them stick and some of them don't stick. I think that's the way it works honestly."
Other than comparing trade rumors to cooking pasta, Cora discussed his centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. Bradley's slash line of .182/.279/.297 isn't anything to write home about, but his manager said that he likes what he's seen from his outfielder recently.
"Right now as far as his approach, we're very pleased," Cora said. "There's no more toe-tap, there's no more leg kick. He's very consistent getting the foot down and staying inside of the ball. We like what we see at the plate."
Considering how good he is defensively, Cora believes centerfield still belongs to Bradley.
"You guys know what [Bradley] does in the outfield. He's one of the best outfielders in the big leagues," Cora said. "He shuts down the running game and cuts down balls in the gap. He's outstanding in the outfield so for him to hit nine for this team and play defense the way he is…right now he's the perfect guy."
Following are more highlights from the interview. For more Red Sox news, visit the team page.
On Devers' defense: "It all depends on how you look at it. You can go to the errors and say he's struggling or you can do to defensive runs saved and he's average. He's going to make his errors but his range to the left and the right is up there with the best, he has a great arm and a good sense of the game. I'm very pleased with the way he's playing third base. Errors are just errors, I think errors were a big deal in the 80's and the 90's but I don't think they're a big deal now. I think there's more to the equation now and we're very pleased with the numbers we have."
On Chris Sale: "Obviously he's been going deep into ballgames and he hasn't gotten lucky in the win column. But he's controlling what he can control and it's giving us a chance to win. He's been outstanding, you look at the numbers it's seven innings, eight innings – he went deep into the ballgame in Baltimore the other day that we needed. We're very pleased with the way he's going and every time he's out there I know we're trying to score runs, it just hasn't happened yet."
On Hanley Ramirez still not signed: "Yeah I'm surprised. He's a guy despite his struggles and where he fit in our roster – with our versatility and all that – there's still baseball left in Hanley Ramirez. I'm very surprised."
