Alex Cora’s Assessment On 2023 Red Sox After Chaim Bloom Departure

The Red Sox made a late-season front office change, severing ties from now-former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom on Thursday amid a potentially second consecutive last-place finish in Boston.

It hasn’t been pretty, despite the Red Sox inching toward contention following the All-Star break and getting in the mix of a tight American League Wild Card race. But ultimately going 18-22 since the start of August sank Boston’s chances, dragging the Red Sox to seven games back with 16 left to play.

That harsh reality isn’t one that Boston manager Alex Cora is shying away from as Boston’s now booked for a third dead-last finish in the AL East in the last four seasons.

“It’s on us to get these guys to be successful and we haven’t been able to do that, and that’s something we talked about it yesterday. We have to change a few things and as far as the way we go about our business,” Cora said after Thursday’s 5-0 win over the Yankees, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “It’s not working, right? We’re in fourth place so we just gotta get better.”

For the Red Sox, that’ll start come offseason time.

The 2023 season wasn’t a total loss, regardless if Boston finishes fourth or last. Triston Casas, Brayan Bello and Masastaka Yoshida each showed promising signs while Jarren Duran presented an encouraging 102-game run at center field. Overall, the youth movement, while undergoing some dog days, helped fuel some still-present optimism within the organization.

“I do believe, with the players that we have and whatever we do in the offseason, we’re gonna have a chance to improve next year and hopefully we can play baseball in October and when you get to the tournament, anything can happen,” Cora explained, per NESN. “… At the end, I hate to say it this way, but it’s a business, right? You sign that contract to perform regardless of what happens around us or good news, bad news, you still have to perform.”

The Red Sox are set to be two years removed from their last playoff appearance, having trended downward since that 92-win season in 2021.

With the focus already directed to 2024 amid Boston’s sudden search for a new chief baseball officer, a new chapter will soon begin for the Red Sox with the climb back to contention still being priority No. 1.

“We gotta keep moving, we gotta keep going,” Cora said. “… We gotta take care of the players and get them in the right spot to keep improving.”