It’s been understood that the installation of Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer of the Red Sox has played a role in Alex Cora being a lame duck manager this season. Sam Kennedy is now making abundantly clear that the decision on Cora’s future in the organization will come down to Breslow.
Cora is in the final year of his contract, and there weren’t discussions about an extension over the offseason. That came as a bit of a surprise, given that Cora has proven he can win in Boston and is regarded as one of the better managers in the game.
However, Cora has handled it well, keeping his focus on this season instead of the future. But the reality is that most people in Breslow’s role like to have “their guy,” and Breslow inherited Cora from Chaim Bloom.
Kennedy indicated to Gresh & Fauria ahead of the Red Sox home opener that Breslow will get to pick his guy – whether that’s Cora or someone else.
“When we made the change, the very difficult change with Chaim Bloom, and we brought in Criag Breslow, it’s critical that our chief baseball officer, our head of baseball operations, has the authority to make that decision," Kennedy said. "I don’t want to put it all on Bres, but we are putting it on Bres. It’s his decision. He will make that decision, and ultimately Alex will make that decision.
“The two of them need to have some time working together. It’s different, they were players together, they have a good relationship, their families know each other. But they need to see not only an offseason, spring training and the season. … They need some time together to see what that relationship looks like.”
Even though Kennedy emphasized that the decision would come down to Breslow, it’s not as though he and the rest of the team brass won’t have a voice in the process.
“Those two individuals need to be on the same page," Kennedy said. "They need to trust each other. And that’s not my call as CEO of the organization, it’s not John Henry, Tom Werner. We’re going to have our feelings, we’re going to be very, very involved in the discussion, but ultimately it’s Craig Breslow’s decision. So, the timing was such that it was difficult. You wish Alex had more term left on his contract, timing was very difficult."