Boston Red Sox: Alex Cora's great expectations for 2018

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Boston Red Sox newly christened Alex Cora has a hefty task in front of him with an extensive list of expectations. Here’s a meeting that I presume Cora, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and Owner John Henry having.

It’s the middle of February 2018 in Fort Myers, Florida. The Boston Red Sox are at their spring training facilities in the early days of spring training. At this point, everything is fresh and new. The guys are seeing each other for the first time in a while. They joke and mess around with the guys that they’ll be going to battle with every day throughout the dog days of summer and hopefully into the chilly days of October. The sun beats down on their faces, setting a picturesque backdrop for a beautiful, early spring’s day.

Life is good.

But in a little corner office of JetBlue Park, the mood is much different. The same sun shines through a window. However, the mood cast is much different. It comes to represent the oncoming train of the 2018 baseball season and all the expectations that go with it.

Red Sox owner John Henry, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and new manager Alex Cora sit at a round table in the office: Henry on one side, Dombrowski, and Cora on the other.

For Henry, he’s been here before. New manager, new year, he’s done it. In 2004, with Terry Francona in his first year at the helm, the Red Sox won their first World Series championship in 86 years. Henry hopes to have the same good fortune this season.

For Dombrowski, it’s a unique experience. He’s been wheeling and dealing with this team since the late summer days of 2015. But for the first time, he has his manager rather than the inheritance of the previous administration.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – MARCH 7: (L – R) Thomas C. Werner, Chairman, John W. Henry, Principal Owner, and Dave Dumbrowski, President of Baseball Operations of the Boston Red Sox sit in the dugout prior to the spring training game against the Washington Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 7, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Red Sox defeated the Nationals 5-3. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

Boston Red Sox: Alex Cora has much to prove

For Cora, it’s a year to prove himself. Despite winning a World Series with the Houston Astros in 2017, he did it as a bench coach and not from the manager’s position. 2018 is the first scene in a chapter of life that Cora hopes is his longest — even longer than his 14-year playing career. He hopes to add his second ring as a member of the Red Sox. Management will later reveal that they hope it’s much sooner rather than later.

Henry sits up in his chair after some playful small-talk among the three. He reaches for his Liverpool lapel that sits on his suit. He removes it, leaving just the Red Sox lapel fastened onto.

“Gentlemen,” Henry states. “I’m all in on this season. You better be too”.

In the twenty or minutes or so that follow, Henry outlines what he expects of the team that he has his money on. Everything follows the theme of being all in on 2018.

To begin, Henry looks at Dombrowski.

“Dave, you know the deal,” Henry exclaims. “You are to do whatever it is to help this team win now. Give Alex here the best lineup to put on the field”.

Dombrowski nods and agrees to be the typical “Dealin’ Dave” that Major League Baseball has come to know.

“Sounds good, John,” says Dombrowski. “But what about the farm system? Do I have full permission to utilize it to improve the 2018 roster?”

“Win,” says Henry. “Whatever it takes. So long as we’re competitive, I’m content”.

Henry then turns his attention to the new guy in the room: the new manager. He knows that the expectations for Cora will be much more specific. They’re more unique, as this is Cora’s first time managing. It’s all a learning experience.

Henry begins with an old expectation that he’s given to every manager, player, and staffer for his Red Sox since he bought the team: beat the Yankees.

In his eyes, it’s an arms race — an arms race that the Yankees won on paper in the previous offseason by trading for the game’s biggest power hitter and putting him next to the game’s other best power hitter.

“It will most certainly be a heftier task than most years,” states Henry. “But I have full faith that this team can compete. We’re more balanced; our pitching is flat-out better. It’s you and new pitching coach Dana Levangie’s job to figure a way to get the heart of their lineup out. Once that happens, you’ll be able to beat them”.

Henry has come to realize that a culture needs to be formed in the clubhouse.

HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Bill Belichick, Tom Brady /

The Boston Red Sox need to embrace the Patriot way.

In a city that has Bill Belichick and the “Patriot way,” and Brad Stevens and Bruce Cassidy leading incredibly successful youth movements, Cora and the Red Sox must find a spot in there somewhere. Henry knows this and wonders what they will be recognized for.

“Secondly, we need a definitive culture,” Henry tells Cora. “You were a strong character guy in your day. You influenced and mentored countless young players. Hell, you did it here. Do it again. It may seem obvious but build the culture around winning and mental toughness. This team has won in the past two years but only in the regular season. I want regular season wins that lead to postseason success”.

Even Dombrowski raises an eyebrow at how in-depth his boss goes about culture.

“We can’t win based solely on talent,” Henry says to Cora. “Find a theme among all the guys that incorporates their talent and build the culture off of that.”

Cora listens intently. As Henry talks to him, he thinks of the cultures inside the two World Series-winning locker rooms he was in with the 2007 Boston Red Sox and most recently the 2017 Houston Astros. The 2017 Astros were struck with tragedy in Hurricane Harvey and were playing for something bigger than themselves. The 2007 Boston Red Sox were just flat-out better than everyone else. Cora knows he can’t (and doesn’t want to) duplicate those two.

He thinks of the 2004 Boston Red Sox: the lovable idiots who were never to be counted out. Cora realizes that the team he inherited is full of bright, young baseball minds, not idiots.

Cross that one off the list of possible cultures.

BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 09: The Houston Astros celebrate defeating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 in game four of the American League Division Series at Fenway Park on October 9, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Houston Astros advance to the American League Championship Series. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Creating a culutre with the Boston Red Sox

He thinks of the 2013 Boston Red Sox: old veterans who, like the 2017 Astros, were playing to rally a city after a tragedy. He knows he can’t duplicate those.

Alex Cora begins to come to terms with the fact that he must wait and let spring training play out to instill a culture. Maybe look at what the Celtics and Bruins are doing with their core group of young talent to help build my culture, Cora wonders. But he must move on to thinking of other things as Henry begins a whole new subject: a subject fueled by the success of the Yankees in the previous year.

“Now onto the big expectations,” states Henry. “The ones that give some managers extensions and get others fired. You must lead this team to at least a Wild Card spot. After getting into the postseason, you must at least win a round. I’m sick of this one-and-done crap. Make it competitive and don’t get your behinds kicked in”.

Cora knew this would be something the team would expect of him. But to hear it without any mention of the challenges that may impede the Red Sox from meeting it came as a surprise.

“But John,” asks Cora. “What about the Yankees? They’re going to make it a very tough division this season and the –“

Henry cuts him off mid-sentence.

“I don’t care. You must lead this team to October and help them finally find success in the postseason”.

Great expectations for the Boston Red Sox

Dombrowski sits in his chair, perplexed at his boss, as he’s never seen him this passionate about postseason expectations since he arrived in Boston.

“If you’d like to continue the excuse-making trend of doing well in the regular season and flopping in the postseason, be my guest,” Henry carries on. “But your fate as manager of this ball club will be the same as the previous one. He won two consecutive AL East division titles. Terry Francona never even did that. But as you know Alex, Tito’s teams knew how to play in October”.

The message was as clear as day to Cora at this point: win in the playoffs or don’t win at all. Every expectation pointed toward this.

For Henry, the meeting was over. The message was clearly sent to Cora of what he had to do. And in Cora’s mind, the message was received.