Alex Cora has re-joined the Boston Red Sox, though bringing him back wasn't as simple as some might think.
Chaim Bloom had lots to consider when determining whether to bring Cora back. The Red Sox's chief baseball officer had a lot on his mind heading into his late-September meeting with ownership, to say the least.
"As we were heading to the meeting, I was really telling myself you need to make sure you get every question answered that’s on your mind," Bloom told reporters Tuesday during Cora's introductory press conference. "That you ask everything you need to ask, again not just for determining his fit as a manager, but also because this was a big deal, what happened. It was an event that took its toll on all of us."
And while it was Bloom's decision to make, he still wanted to make sure the concept would fly with ownership.
"I’m not sure anybody is going to believe me, but I’ll tell you the truth anyway: I think first and foremost, it was important that they play a role," Bloom said. "They are responsible for the entire organization. … Not only do I think that was appropriate, I think it was necessary really to know how they felt. And they also made sure that I know if I or baseball ops felt differently, that was OK, too. But I think that’s important just given how big this decision was for the organization, and how the people who are responsible for the organization would feel. …
"But from that point on, obviously we kept them looped in on who we were interviewing, what stage of the process we were at, but they were emphatic that it was very important that this be a baseball operations decision and they would fully back whatever decision we came to."
Ultimately, ownership had no trouble approving Cora's return. Cora knows there might be some initial blowback, but the team is confident in its decision in re-hiring the fan-favorite.
