Alex Cora Dishes On Red Sox Roster Decisions: 'There's Going To Be People Upset'

A good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless

Sep 17, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) looks on against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fifth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

For the past few seasons, the Boston Red Sox always seemed to be struggling to fill out a major league roster. That won't be the case at the start of the 2025 campaign.

Thanks to a banner offseason, the Red Sox have renewed hopes of a playoff berth. The arrivals of Alex Bregman, Garrett Crochet, and Walker Buehler have turned heads across the league and given the Red Sox a much better outlook in the immediate future.

However, there has been plenty of roster debate and controversy early in the spring. Much of the discourse has centered around Bregman potentially taking Rafael Devers' third base job away, which Devers struck back against in his first comments of the spring last Monday.

Between the third base decision, whether any top prospects make the roster, and which fringe players may be sent to the minors, manager Alex Cora and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow certainly have a lot on their plate.

On Tuesday, Cora appeared on WEEI's Greg Hill Show and spoke about the impending roster crunch, including how he believed the clubhouse would handle the team's decisions, particularly the Devers-Bregman controversy.

"Decisions will be made in a few weeks, and there's going to be people upset," Cora said. "There's going to be people are going to be sent down, and they're going to be upset at the manager and Craig. But that's the good thing about having good players. Three years ago, we didn't have this conversation."  

"As far as the clubhouse, I'm not worried. They're grown men, and we have adults in the room now. We do. And you see the way they talk. Actually, Alex is working with Raffy (Devers) at third base. The first thing he did was telling him about one point, about glove presentation, all that, and Raffy got it right away."

There's a good chance both Devers and Bregman will be asked to play some third base early in the season, especially if Masataka Yoshida's recovery from shoulder surgery is set back. Eventually, whether Bregman plays third or second will be settled, and top prospect Kristian Campbell could force the team's hand by proving he's ready for that second-base job.

Hopefully, for the Red Sox's sake, Cora's prognostication proves true and the team is able to coalesce in spite of some major roster battles this spring.

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