Red Sox principal owner John Henry made news this week when, in a rare interview, he told The Financial Times that he believes fans have unrealistic expectations.
“Because fans expect championships almost annually, they easily become frustrated and are not going to buy into what the odds actually are: one in 20 or one in 30,” Henry said.
Making his weekly appearance on WEEI’s Jones & Mego with Arcand on Tuesday, Boston manager Alex Cora disagreed with that assertion. (Listen to the full interview above.)
“No. I think every fanbase has the right to dream big,” Cora said. “Every team has the right to dream big, and that’s what we’re doing, right? There’s a reason during Zoom calls in the offseason I told these guys, not too many people around us are going to believe what we're going to try to accomplish, but we have to do everything possible to make it happen, and it's to win the World Series. I like John. He's been amazing to me. There's certain things that we agree on. There's certain things that we don't agree on.”
Cora added that he does believe Henry wants to add to the four World Series that the Red Sox have won since he bought the team in 2002.
“The fact that he wants to win, I know that. I know that for a fact,” Cora said. “When he goes to my office, he starts asking me about, what are we doing here? Are we getting better in this spot, like roster-wise? How's Bres [chief baseball officer Craig Breslow] doing? How's the organization doing? I'm very honest about it, and he likes the answers.
“…I understand where he's coming from, but agree to disagree in a sense. The fanbase here, they really care. They care about the Red Sox. That's why they keep talking about the Red Sox all the time, regardless of the record. And we're going to try to do everything possible to make our dream come true.”