00:00I have been really conflicted on this Cora firing
00:04because I really believe both sides really screwed up,
00:08but I also hate when we both sides things.
00:10So it's very simple to me.
00:13Alex Cora was fired in large part
00:17because in six, seven seasons, whatever it's been here,
00:21it's in 2018, he's had one year
00:24where he won more than 92 games.
00:26And he's been to one World Series.
00:29He's been to two LCSs,
00:33and he had a very serious cheating scandal
00:38that he was fired over dating back to his days with the Astros.
00:41But he's good at his job as being front-facing.
00:44He's a very charismatic guy that is easy to like.
00:48But there's that meme where it's like the guy
00:51that's got the beard and the balding head
00:53where they show that picture when someone you hate
00:56does something you like.
00:58The worst person in the world made a good point.
01:01Exactly.
01:02And Curt Schilling tweeted today or yesterday
01:05about how when he was a younger player
01:07that on the Orioles,
01:09he and his teammates played like crap
01:11and they fired Buck Showalter and his entire staff.
01:14And he said,
01:15Buck Showalter is the best manager he's ever played for.
01:18And that he took it personally
01:20that his performance led to his manager getting fired.
01:25And the way in which Trevor Story,
01:28Jaron Duran,
01:29who is allergic to accountability,
01:32get angry, pouty, and miserable
01:35when they're asked about the firing of the manager.
01:37Instead of saying,
01:38I hate it,
01:39I love playing for him,
01:41if I played better,
01:42he'd still be here.
01:44And we have plenty of time to talk about
01:46how John Henry should have answered questions,
01:48but his presence,
01:50which I have been clamoring for,
01:52led to a major change,
01:54which is what we wanted.
01:56So I can't in one breath say to Wiggy,
01:59I want him around.
02:00And then when he's around,
02:02he actually proved my point,
02:03Wiggy,
02:04that when he is invested in and around the team,
02:06he will be far more proactive
02:08in trying to fix a problem.
02:10So I hate that Cora,
02:12you know,
02:12nobody wants to see a guy lose his job.
02:14His reaction to it
02:15and the reaction of the players
02:16that he has been protective of
02:18shows me it wasn't about winning,
02:19it was about Cora
02:21wanting to be comfortable with his guys.
02:23I have a question, Curtis,
02:25and you can tell me if you think
02:25I'm like way off base here,
02:27because I have a feeling Wiggy will.
02:29Do you think it's possible,
02:31or likely rather,
02:32that Craig Breslow,
02:33maybe a couple weeks ago,
02:35kind of brought a pitch
02:37to Sam Kennedy
02:39and to John Henry and Werner saying,
02:41these are the reasons
02:42I think Alex Cora needs to go.
02:44And basically pitched it.
02:46And that's why we saw
02:47John Henry around the park so much
02:50and the cameras on him
02:51to say,
02:52all right,
02:53Breslow's telling me
02:54all this is going on
02:55and maybe Breslow's just acting
02:56out of self-preservation
02:57because he doesn't want to end up
02:59the same way as Heimbloom.
03:00But I'm going to be here
03:01and see for myself
03:02with my own two eyes
03:03what a mess this is.
03:05Is it possible that Breslow
03:07has that much power
03:08that he can go and pitch this?
03:10Or is this really
03:11just a top-down thing?
03:12Because if it was a top-down thing,
03:14why didn't they do it
03:14in the off-season?
03:15I think Breslow has the power
03:18because he is willing to do
03:20what John Henry wants him to do,
03:22which is at all times
03:26find ways to spend less.
03:31And so I do think,
03:33the power that he has is fleeting
03:35because he's on the block next.
03:40If he doesn't realize that,
03:42then he's blind.
03:43But I don't know.
03:44Curtis, what do you think?
03:46I think if I'm Breslow
03:47and I know that I get no credit
03:49when the team succeeds
03:50and when we fail,
03:51Alex Cora goes up the back steps
03:53and says he wants my job,
03:55that I'm going to do exactly
03:56what I perceive Alex to be doing.
03:59So I don't think it's a crazy theory,
04:02Mago, that he went to his bosses
04:03and said,
04:03hey, he's refusing to implement this.
04:06He's bitching in private
04:07and now in public
04:08about the roster we gave him.
04:10He has no accountability.
04:11This is why we need someone in there
04:13that's going to at least do
04:14what we think is best.
04:16And then I'll sink or swim on that,
04:18but I'm not going to sink with this guy.
04:19I'll just jump to my lead here.
04:21This is Breslow yesterday
04:24talking about how
04:26during the termination process,
04:28he acknowledged with Alex Cora
04:31that he may not have given him
04:33the best roster.
04:34Here's Breslow.
04:36Yeah, I mean, I think
04:37we've talked about the fact
04:39that ultimately the accountability
04:42for the roster falls on me
04:43and this was a challenging roster
04:47to manage just given
04:48kind of the position player group.
04:51That's something that I acknowledge
04:54and I acknowledged it
04:55with Alex talking to him yesterday.
04:57Okay, so I understand
04:59what you're saying about Alex Cora.
05:00Great points by you, Curtis,
05:02but Alex Cora for several years
05:04has been dealing with the financial realignment
05:08of the organization
05:09and he is not the right guy
05:12to manage that kind of a ball club.
05:15So he's put in a position
05:16where he doesn't want to be fed
05:21constant pieces of data.
05:23He doesn't want to look at everything
05:25from an analytical point of view
05:27and he wants to have veterans
05:29who are on his ball club
05:32who he can count on
05:34not only on the field
05:35but off the field
05:37when it comes to being there
05:38for some young guys.
05:40So I think...
05:42But they're the ones
05:43who put him in that position.
05:44They're the ones
05:45who made...
05:47You know, did the new deal with him
05:49and were willing to pay him
05:51you know, $7 million a year
05:54or whatever
05:54and then they're force-feeding him
05:57a roster that is a lot of doo-doo
06:00or doo-doo that will...
06:02Maybe is developing doo-doo.
06:04So that's...
06:07I think they let go...
06:09They fired the wrong guy.
06:10I think it should have been
06:11Breslow based on the roster
06:12that he was...
06:13And if Breslow wants to point upstairs
06:15and go,
06:15that's John Henry telling me
06:16I can't get Pete Alonso
06:17and I can't do a no-trade deal
06:20with Bregman
06:21then that's his business
06:23to point upstairs
06:23to John Henry.
06:24I ultimately think that
06:26he says those things
06:27because he wants to make himself
06:29like,
06:30oh, okay,
06:30it wasn't just core.
06:31We're not just firing the guy
06:33because all the blame goes to him.
06:35I think he says those things
06:37but I think he probably looks at it
06:38and goes,
06:38Alex, we gave you a good roster.
06:41You just...
06:42Not doing nothing with it.
06:44Or, you know,
06:45the players are not living up...
06:46Excuse me,
06:47living up to their expectations.
06:48I think if you gave Breslow,
06:50you know,
06:51some truth serum,
06:52he would tell you
06:53that he feels like
06:54this is a good roster
06:55and the guys
06:57are not performing well
06:58or maybe there are
06:59some managerial decisions
07:01that led to where they are.
07:03Here's what worries me
07:05with Craig Breslow
07:06is that I don't know
07:07what his vision
07:08for the Red Sox is.
07:10I knew with Dombrowski
07:11he was all about
07:13the Major League Club
07:14that he wanted to spend money,
07:16he wanted the best players
07:17and he wanted to be
07:18competitive financially
07:19to go get the best players
07:20for the club right now.
07:22And then they brought in
07:23Heimbloom and they said
07:24he's all about the farm system.
07:25He's about developing
07:26young talent,
07:28making sure that
07:28we're not trading away
07:29the wrong prospects
07:31and keeping the development
07:33pipeline through here.
07:34And he did that.
07:35Breslow,
07:36I don't know
07:37what he's about.
07:38Like,
07:38can anyone tell me
07:39what Breslow is about
07:41other than maybe
07:41putting together
07:42like a slide deck
07:43and reading analytics?
07:46Build your team
07:47through pitching.
07:48Right.
07:48And I feel like
07:49how is that gone,
07:50Wiggy?
07:50It's not working out for him.
07:51what is he about?
07:52If he's going to be the one
07:53that you stick with here,
07:54if he doesn't get fired
07:55at the end of the season
07:56and you say,
07:57we've moved on from Cora
07:59and the entire coaching staff
08:00and Veritek
08:01and we're going forward
08:03with Breslow's vision,
08:04what is the vision?
08:06Breslow also,
08:06it's a great point,
08:08you know,
08:08that you look at
08:09Andrew Bailey,
08:10if you're firing
08:11the coaching staff
08:12and you think Breslow,
08:13that is,
08:14that you built a team
08:15with run prevention
08:16in mind
08:17and the pitchers
08:18are not performing
08:19yet,
08:19you retain your pitching coach,
08:21that is about as clear
08:22a cell phone as possible.
08:24And Greg,
08:25this shifted though
08:27back when they traded Devers,
08:29they got rid of
08:29the whole contract
08:30which made John Henry
08:31incredibly happy
08:32and they made the playoffs.
08:34That,
08:35in hindsight,
08:36is where the power dynamic
08:37shifted within
08:38the Red Sox organization.
08:39Cora brought in a guy
08:41without the ability
08:42to deal with him
08:43on the roster,
08:43a guy that he thought
08:45was going to be
08:45a game changer.
08:46He did not anticipate
08:48the Devers fiasco.
08:49Breslow cleans up
08:51after Cora
08:51in that disastrous acquisition
08:53and then they make
08:54the playoffs
08:55despite the fact
08:56that they got rid
08:56of their best hitter.
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