Alex Cora leading Red Sox’ surge to a playoff spot at All-Star break
let’s talk more about the socks with Steve Buckley from the athletic Steve something about Sundays at Fenway huh 15 and one now on this day of the week and you were there today so what were the Vibes like just around the ballpark seeing the socks put on this show right before intermission so I I will say I’ve very critical of the Red Sox in the past and will continue to be so on a variety of levels uh so I I need to get that out of the way so I don’t come across as the chief marketing officer of the Red Sox but today and was seated with my my nephew Ryan his two kids and his wife uh out in section 30 and it was a magnificent game uh I mean I was taking some notes Here you you’ve got a a small comeback by the Red Sox a home run by rafie uh the great tag by Hamilton at second base Dom Smith proving to be a a very adequate fill in at first base hits a home run made a decent play at first Bas defensively Durant’s base running on display again uh you’ve got home runs you got l Intrigue with the Royals mouning a comeback Jansen making a two-inning appearance going into the allstar break if you just wanted to go to a ball game just a ball game today was the perfect day to be at Fenway Park I mean and and it kind of speaks to the Red Sox themselves in a nutshell right this one game seeing Durant especially like you’re talking about a little dribbler up the middle and all of a sudden he turns that into a double I mean who does that it’s all hustle with these guys at times he does that I I wrote a column in the athletic last week and I I characterize his base running as it looks like he’s running from something rather than to something it’s like oh my got to get out of like he’s look like there’s something after him and I mean that in the absolute best way but for a team that was at the bottom of the standings not long ago what do you make of this what do you make of this turnaround and and what has kind of been the driver to it do you think I think Alex Cory is keeping the team motivated which we all knew he would he’s he’s a former player who is isn’t too back in the day like oh when I played we did this he can he can communicate I believe with with his players I think he’s got a good coaching staff and he’s got some young players that are it it’s listen you you go back to 04 and it was Manny Ortiz and Pedro you go to 07 it was it was Manny onz and and Josh Becket you go to 13 and so forth um there were always the these big stars now obviously Rafi is the big star of this team but ran if they had traded Duran two years ago I doubt people would have kicked up much they wouldn’t would have been in other news uh in the newspaper but they’re getting tremendous support from younger players they appear from an Outsiders perspective uh to be buying all in which means dot dot dot the red sock should be buying and that that sets up kind of the last them I know where you’re going there the wheels were turning there my friend so I mean I guess that is the question now looking at where they are at and what they have the product they put out on the field Craig brlo talking about how he’s going to be picking a lane have they forced the front office’s hand in what they do here and turning them into buyers instead of sellers moving forward going to well in my humble opinion they they should have been buyers anyway and I I am not comfortable with the notion that the last 10 games and the first few games out of the All-Star break are are going to be some kind of referendum on whether or not the Red Sox are playoff worthy which would then Inspire Craig westlo to be a buyer um they’ve got some great young prospects there’s the so-called big three and I don’t think anybody wants to see those guys traded but they do have other um trade chits in their system and if Brazil can work the phones and that’s way beyond my skill set because it’s it’s such a science it’s such an art and it’s such it requires such luck because you know we’ve all seen over the years where a team picks up a player who doesn’t seem to be that big a deal you could back like Steve Pierce for instance in 2018 who ends up being World Series MVP I thought it should be David Price that’s a different discussion I’d like to see him get a bat I particularly like to get see them get a starting picture but again that’s all on Craig wo’s desk right now and I hope that in addition to looking at the numbers and the metrics and the computer printouts that are all so popular now I hope he does this and listens to his crowd listens to his audience listens to his fan base listens to you listens to me I don’t think they’ll listen to us right I’m not count on that
The Red Sox are sitting in the third AL Wild Card spot at the All-Star break thanks in large part to the leadership of manager Alex Cora. WBZ’s Nick Giovani chats with The Athletics’ Steve Buckley about Boston’s first-half turnaround and how the front office should approach the MLB Trade Deadline.
