I stood by the decision to move Devers because it seemingly got rotten in the club house and the fact that no one seemed upset spoke volumes to me. However, I do believe Cora and Breslow needed to be grownups and botched the handling of that situation from a transparency and managing emotions standpoint. We all know Devers was a little bit of a child when it came to his emotions, and they expected him to be a grown up which he never has been one. Cora needed to be better with that and “manage” it and he didn’t.
Cora also struggled all season with mismanaging lineups, situational hitting with players, defensive blunders that didn’t seem to get enough attention to fix, as well as the lack of feel with the rotation and pen. This series magnified it, Game 1 he pulled the right strings, Game 2 he went all in (which I appreciated because we knew Sox could only win in 2) but he failed to have a grasp on Whitlock, as well as the bunt attempt with Rafaela and it cost us the series.
The reality is Cora is a probably top 5 manager in baseball, but he needs a specific type of team to shine and it’s not this one. He needs 90% mix of talent and competency, with a 10% sprinkle of dynamic ability and positional versatility. Francona managed vet teams and teams with mixes of stars and youth and knew how to get the most of them. Cora can only get the most of teams that don’t need tons of development, and the issue is the Sox are still a developing team 5 years into the rebuild that Chaim started.
I think it’s time for Cora to find a new home and let the Sox get a manager who will get the most out of the roster that’s constructed. But, I also believe we need a new GM and President in addition to the Manager, and we probably won’t get any!
I like the majority of these points but I disagree with one piece. Cora simply can’t be a top 5 manager if he needs a certain type of team to excel and if you’re lax with accountability. That’s a pretty big limitation. And I’m not talking about how you can only polish a turd so much. I mean I guess if given a good situation Cora is a person less likely to fuck up a good thing than many managers. But I simply can’t elevate a manager if he struggles with accountability.
My point on him being a top 5 manager was a continuation to a point I’ve said on some of our shows, where him being that high is more of an indictment on the state of managers in the sport. I think analytics has ruined the role of manager in baseball. I will give Cora credit that he exercises more feel of the game versus most of the analytics robots that dominate the role in the sport. But, he doesn’t make poor decisions when trying to exercise, and he still leans too analytical versus logic and doesn’t know how to develop kids and treats them like platoon players, hence our title Platoon Dynasty on the show.
I mean I get that but I just disagree that it gets him to a top 5 spot. Or even top 10. I think it’s a lot like a chef that can cook in a high end kitchen and develop great flavors with a lot of creativity but doesn’t care for food safety and cross contaminates and allows poor cleaning practices. 🤷🏻♂️
I agree with you. I just don’t know nor watch enough of each manager to definitively say there are 10 better than Cora. I personally don’t think he’s a good manager, that’s why I say probably with possible objectiveness removing any bias from me. But, he also just got out managed by Aaron Boone who couldn’t out manage my pet turtle. 🤷🏻♂️
I want to pick at/add to one of your points. Situational hitting which is expand to hitting in general. The 2000’s Red Sox teams all the way into at least 2013 all really excelled at hitting. Pitching and defense and baserunning would be up or down depending but this team was always scary even with a losing record because they knew and preached taking great AB’s, even if ultimately you strike out. It was organization, from top to bottom.
I think so many times that really opened up the entire game for the Red Sox. I think of it like having a good run game in the NFL. Pitcher labored for 31 pitches in the 2nd inning? Let’s drag the next half of the inning out. Get guys on base with tough at bats puts pressure on the defense and pitcher. See a lot of pitches? Who needs a third time through the order when you saw every pitch 3+ times in the first at bat.
Those teams were so good about making at bats set up the whole game. Where is that now? Where is really any organizational philosophy other than platoon every game. I just haven’t seen any sort of team game philosophy since probably 2018.
I agree with that. The Red Sox had great hitters for years but Theo was really the first one to implement an organizational philosophy throughout the system. He wanted guys to take a lot of pitches and be selectively aggressive. This led to a lot of high OBP guys who could mash as well. We still had that in 2018, but that team was dismantled and rebuilt with mostly replacement level players. Roman is the first hitter I've seen in this current rebuild who gives a professional plate appearance every time.
I stood by the decision to move Devers because it seemingly got rotten in the club house and the fact that no one seemed upset spoke volumes to me. However, I do believe Cora and Breslow needed to be grownups and botched the handling of that situation from a transparency and managing emotions standpoint. We all know Devers was a little bit of a child when it came to his emotions, and they expected him to be a grown up which he never has been one. Cora needed to be better with that and “manage” it and he didn’t.
Cora also struggled all season with mismanaging lineups, situational hitting with players, defensive blunders that didn’t seem to get enough attention to fix, as well as the lack of feel with the rotation and pen. This series magnified it, Game 1 he pulled the right strings, Game 2 he went all in (which I appreciated because we knew Sox could only win in 2) but he failed to have a grasp on Whitlock, as well as the bunt attempt with Rafaela and it cost us the series.
The reality is Cora is a probably top 5 manager in baseball, but he needs a specific type of team to shine and it’s not this one. He needs 90% mix of talent and competency, with a 10% sprinkle of dynamic ability and positional versatility. Francona managed vet teams and teams with mixes of stars and youth and knew how to get the most of them. Cora can only get the most of teams that don’t need tons of development, and the issue is the Sox are still a developing team 5 years into the rebuild that Chaim started.
I think it’s time for Cora to find a new home and let the Sox get a manager who will get the most out of the roster that’s constructed. But, I also believe we need a new GM and President in addition to the Manager, and we probably won’t get any!
I like the majority of these points but I disagree with one piece. Cora simply can’t be a top 5 manager if he needs a certain type of team to excel and if you’re lax with accountability. That’s a pretty big limitation. And I’m not talking about how you can only polish a turd so much. I mean I guess if given a good situation Cora is a person less likely to fuck up a good thing than many managers. But I simply can’t elevate a manager if he struggles with accountability.
My point on him being a top 5 manager was a continuation to a point I’ve said on some of our shows, where him being that high is more of an indictment on the state of managers in the sport. I think analytics has ruined the role of manager in baseball. I will give Cora credit that he exercises more feel of the game versus most of the analytics robots that dominate the role in the sport. But, he doesn’t make poor decisions when trying to exercise, and he still leans too analytical versus logic and doesn’t know how to develop kids and treats them like platoon players, hence our title Platoon Dynasty on the show.
I mean I get that but I just disagree that it gets him to a top 5 spot. Or even top 10. I think it’s a lot like a chef that can cook in a high end kitchen and develop great flavors with a lot of creativity but doesn’t care for food safety and cross contaminates and allows poor cleaning practices. 🤷🏻♂️
I agree with you. I just don’t know nor watch enough of each manager to definitively say there are 10 better than Cora. I personally don’t think he’s a good manager, that’s why I say probably with possible objectiveness removing any bias from me. But, he also just got out managed by Aaron Boone who couldn’t out manage my pet turtle. 🤷🏻♂️
I want to pick at/add to one of your points. Situational hitting which is expand to hitting in general. The 2000’s Red Sox teams all the way into at least 2013 all really excelled at hitting. Pitching and defense and baserunning would be up or down depending but this team was always scary even with a losing record because they knew and preached taking great AB’s, even if ultimately you strike out. It was organization, from top to bottom.
I think so many times that really opened up the entire game for the Red Sox. I think of it like having a good run game in the NFL. Pitcher labored for 31 pitches in the 2nd inning? Let’s drag the next half of the inning out. Get guys on base with tough at bats puts pressure on the defense and pitcher. See a lot of pitches? Who needs a third time through the order when you saw every pitch 3+ times in the first at bat.
Those teams were so good about making at bats set up the whole game. Where is that now? Where is really any organizational philosophy other than platoon every game. I just haven’t seen any sort of team game philosophy since probably 2018.
I agree with that. The Red Sox had great hitters for years but Theo was really the first one to implement an organizational philosophy throughout the system. He wanted guys to take a lot of pitches and be selectively aggressive. This led to a lot of high OBP guys who could mash as well. We still had that in 2018, but that team was dismantled and rebuilt with mostly replacement level players. Roman is the first hitter I've seen in this current rebuild who gives a professional plate appearance every time.