If you were looking for Chaim Bloom to tip his hand when it comes to where Alex Cora might fit into the Red Sox’ future you were out of luck Sunday.
Speaking with the media via a Zoom call following the announcement that Ron Roenicke wouldn’t be returning as manager for the 2021 season, the Red Sox’ Chief Baseball Officer consistently refused to offer any specifics when asked about whether or not Bloom viewed Cora as a managerial candidate.
"With respect to Alex and I know this is a question I got a couple times during the season and I think you guys know where I stand on Alex, but I know I didn’t get into very much detail about it during the season," Bloom said. "That was really because out of respect to Ron. I thought that Ron deserved to be evaluated without anybody looking over his shoulder. So i know that’s not the case anymore but I still don’t really want to get into any detail on my thoughts on Alex. I don’t want to say anything about Alex that I haven’t already said to Alex and obviously I haven’t spoken to Alex. So there will be a time where I can get into more detail on Alex and his situation and my thoughts on it, but that time isn’t now so I’m hoping everybody will respect that."
If Cora is a candidate to replace Roenicke, the Red Sox are not allowed to talk with the former Sox manager until after the completion of the World Series due to his current one-year suspension for his role in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal.
When asked if his stance regarding Cora had remained the same since discussing the topic on WEEI in May -- when Bloom detailed that the parting of the ways with the former manager had solely to do with how the Houston transgression might impact the 2020 Red Sox -- the Sox chief decision-maker reiterated nothing had changed.
"I just don’t want to get into more detail on it just because I think to do so … Again, I don’t want to get into the business … Someone like Alex, who is very important to this organization … I don’t want to get into the business of saying a lot of things about him that I haven’t had a chance to say to him," Bloom said. "So I don’t want to get into any more detail that that. But yeah, I’m standing by that."
The one bit of information that Bloom did pass along was the acknowledgment that familiarity with the team and the organization might come into play.
"I think that’s fair to say but I think there are things I think we would value," Bloom noted. "A good way to look at this is to value all the positives of some of these experiences and certainly prior managerial experiences is a good thing to have had. There are other experiences that people can bring to the table that are also positives. I would say the same thing for connections to the organization where I think that is generally a positive thing but you have to factor that in amidst all the other positives somebody might have."
