Both manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom deserve a ton of credit for the Boston Red Sox's success in 2021.
While Cora pulled the right strings from the dugout, Bloom assembled a talented roster that resulted in Boston being far more competitive than many expected. The Red Sox finished just two wins shy of reaching the World Series, losing to the Houston Astros in six games in the American League Championship Series.
The future sure looks bright for the Red Sox, who figure to benefit from the cohesion that currently exists between Cora and Bloom, two franchise pillars.
"It's really good, to be honest with you," Cora said this week on WEEI's "Merloni and Fauria," per WEEI.com, when asked about his relationship with Bloom. "We started working at the beginning of '19 and obviously I got suspended and I came back a year ago after the World Series. Our relationship is a good one. It's one of those like every other relationship, just like with (former Red Sox president of baseball operations) Dave (Dombrowski), there are certain things where we agree 100 percent. There are others that we don't agree, but at the end of the day, we work together and we try to make the best out of it.
"I respect Chaim, the way he's doing things. Nobody thought we were going to be in this position. I know he was criticized over the course of the offseason and this season and then at the end, we see the final product. We had a really good baseball team playing in October. We were six wins away from winning the whole thing. I learned a lot from him. I know he has told me before he has learned a lot. It's a good working relationship. I'm looking forward to working with him for a few years."
The Red Sox finished in last place during Major League Baseball's condensed 2020 season, Bloom's first full year in charge of Boston's baseball operations department. But they bounced back in a big way this season, Cora's first back in the manager's seat after serving a one-year suspension.
The Red Sox finished the regular season with a 92-70 record. They then defeated the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game and the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Division Series before falling to the Astros.
A busy offseason likely awaits the Red Sox as they look to take the next step in 2022. But Cora and Bloom certainly bring stability to two of the organization's most prominent leadership positions.
