The signing of Alex Bregman two weeks ago was met with near universal acclaim in Red Sox Nation, from fans and media alike. Some of the good vibes appeared to dissipate a few days later, though, when star slugger Rafael Devers defiantly declared that he had no intentions of moving off third base, which also happens to be Bregman’s best position.
Then came outspoken first baseman Triston Casas steering right into controversy by telling reporters that he believes Devers should play third and Bregman should play second. Was there a clubhouse divide? Would other players be picking sides?
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show Tuesday live from Fort Myers, Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained why he’s not worried about that. Listen to the full interview above.
“As far as the clubhouse, I'm not worried,” Cora said. “They're grown men, and we have adults in the room now. We do. And you see the way they talk. Actually, Alex is working with Raffy at third base. The first thing he did was telling him about one point, about glove presentation, all that. And Raffy, he got it right away. … You have to be around him [Bregman] to understand what he brings to the equation. A lot of people talk about Pedroia – very similar, but not as loud. But this guy, he's a baseball rat. His baseball IQ is up there.
“He's going to challenge everybody in this room, from the front office to the analyst, to Alex, to the coaches. Everybody's been challenged, and he's such a great teammate. Eight playoffs in a row, right? That doesn't happen because you're just good. There's more into the equation, and he's taking care of the clubhouse. That same day that Raffy had his press conference, I had 20 players at my house for a barbecue. Raffy was part of it, and he was hanging out with everybody. So, we should be OK. We should be OK.”
That said, Cora did acknowledge that some guys may not be happy about some decisions that he and the front office will make between now and opening day on March 27, while also noting that the Red Sox need to be a better defensive team than they were last season.
“The thing here is, like, there's other stuff going on here,” Cora said. “It's not third base, it's not DH, it's second base too, right? And there's some guys in that clubhouse that they're fighting for a spot. You got [David] Hamilton, you got [Vaughn] Grissom, you got [Kristian] Campbell, you got guys that have a shot to make this team. And from there, we will make decisions. … So, I think it's early to decide who's going to be where because of the other part of it. Whenever we have to make decisions, we will. But one thing’s for sure, it’s going to be an exciting team. It's going to be a good one.
“We have to be better defensively. Offensively, I think we are on point right now. … So, going back to the question, decisions will be made in a few weeks, and there's going to be people upset. There's going to be people are going to be sent down, and they're going to be upset at the manager and Craig [Breslow]. But that's the good thing about having good players. Three years ago, we didn't have this conversation.”