Getting you ready for the World Baseball Classic
The restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel in Santo Domingo wasn't open for business on Dec. 14. But this was a day all about making exceptions, and serving appetizers and El Presidente to some notable late-afternoon patrons in the vacant space was part of that.
Then came the other exception: A historic contract offer to one of the parties at the table.
Rafael Devers served as the center attention Wednesday Fenway Park, surrounded by his agents to his right, and the Red Sox brass - Tom Werner, Chaim Bloom and Sam Kennedy - parked to his left. The 26-year-old third baseman appeared relaxed, answering a few questions filtered through translator Daveson Perez before heading off into his new world as Red Sox centerpiece for the next 11 years.
Twenty-eight days prior, Devers was also the reason for the get-together in the Dominican Republic's capital city, with many of the same particulars in attendance.
Yet, despite the solitude and refreshments, that meet-up wasn't quite as relaxing. It was discomfort Alex Cora wasn't going to miss out on.
"I was talking to (Cora''s fiance) Angelica, and I said, 'I want to be there just to hear when somebody tells you that you're gonna make all this money,'" the Red Sox manager said with a chuckle. "And his reaction was great. It was priceless. His eyes got as big as when he sees a fastball right in the middle. And I was right next to him. I was like, ‘Chill, bro.’"
"All this money" was what the day had been leading to. But there had to be a willingness to get on that plane and actually say words that had never been offered by a Red Sox executive. Hint: It was a sentence that began with a number which started with "three" and was followed by "hundred million".
But in this case, the message was more than just the number. That could have been done over the phone, through an email or, if you really wanted to go old school, faxed. For Devers, the punctuation for the offer was who came along to help deliver it.
"It's a long progression," said Red Sox chairman Tom Werner of the path to Devers' new 11-year extension. "If there was an important event, it was our commitment to get this done. John flew down to Santo Domingo to just demonstrate our desire. We'd been having meetings with Raffy before that and then there were a lot of conversations after that."
"John" was, of course, Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who two weeks later would be roundly booed while strolling through Fenway Park during the Winter Classic, with no public knowledge of his recent trip to the Dominican Republic.
After the Xander Bogaerts farewell, Henry and the other members of the Red Sox' ownership group had been put in the fans' crosshairs, with their emotional and financial investment in this team being questioned. It's why Devers represented a crossroads.
As it turned out, Henry took the path few saw coming. He resurfaced the shock-and-awe Red Sox.
The plane was loaded up. Team president Sam Kennedy. Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom. General manager Brian O'Halloran. Assistant GM Eddie Romero. And once the plan touched down, the group would be greeted and then led by two Red Sox employees who work out of the D.R., Javier Hernandez and Martin Rodriguez. Cora, who was having lunch with Sox pitcher Bryan Bello earlier in the day, met them at the hotel.
And then there was Henry.
"The fact that John was was on there, I think it was very important for him," Cora said.
It wasn't the first time Henry had joined the Red Sox caravan to woo a player, having jetted down to Jon Lester's house seven years before. But many were wondering if that approach, and those days, had come and gone.
Sure, the Red Sox had made a formal offer to Devers even before the end of the postseason, and were fully aware the third baseman's price tag was going up and up and up thanks to this spirited free agent market. But how was ownership going to handle what had seemingly become the franchise's last chance to fend off a fan base's growing sense of apathy?
In this new world of doing things - which is still undeniably part of this front office's fabric - this was old school ownership.
Serve up the big market contract and chase it with an owner-induced attaboy.
This wasn't the solution to what ails these Red Sox. But the idea that Henry and Co. can still open up a closed restaurant and instruct their chief decision-maker to present a jaw-dropping offer ... that's at least something. Does it make up for the loss of Bogaerts? No. But in this tidal wave of seemingly missing the mark, it was a $331 million baby step.
And, evidently, it didn't even take Fenway Park-full of boos to kick such things into gear.
"If the narrative is that might have had an impact on our decision, of course that's kind of implausible. We've been trying to sign Raffy for a long time," said Werner of the idea the Red Sox were driven to complete a deal with Devers after the inhospitable Winter Classic greeting. "Owners get booed. That's part of the deal. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. We're here today because Raffy wanted to make a long-term agreement and relationship with the Red Sox. We're happy that we didn't have to hold our breath throughout the season and have further negotiations next year, so today's a good day."
Now they need a few more.