Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora discussed the team’s much rumored free agency pursuit of star third baseman Alex Bregman on Saturday.
On the eve of “Red Sox Fenway Fest,” Cora talked with the New England Sports Network (NESN) about both Bregman, and the face of the franchise, third baseman Rafael Devers. There’s been rampant discussion for much of the offseason on whether Devers will be replaced at the hot corner by Bregman, 10-time Gold Glove award-winning third baseman Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals or remain at his post.
Analysts have predicted that if Boston were to acquire Arenado, the team would trade first baseman Triston Casas and Devers would take over Casas’ spot, or “Raffy” would be the primary designated and the group would keep Casas. If Bregman landed in Beantown, Devers could potentially remain at third and Bregman would slide over to second base.
The 28-year-old Dominican made headlines recently when he “liked” a podcast’s social media post where the co-hosts suggested that Devers should be the DH and Bregman is best suited for third base.
Cora, notably, said on Saturday that Devers is still the team’s starting third baseman, but he could see Bregman duplicating his 2024 Gold Glove at second base.
“I cannot go into specifics of the free agent (process) but I think he’s a pull hitter that puts the ball in play and he’s a good defender. The intangibles are the intangibles. We all know that. The kid, he’s a winner since LSU all the way to the Astros,” Cora said. “Alex was a Gold Glover at third base. We all know that. But in 2017, I had a conversation with him and he needed to play third because it was (Carlos) Correa (at shortstop) and (Jose) Altuve (at second). I always envisioned Alex as a Gold Glove second baseman. His size, the way he moves, it felt kind of like, ‘You will be a second baseman.’ But he has played third base at a high level. So we’ll see where he ends up and we’ll see where he ends up playing.”
Cora’s Relationship With Bregman Goes Back 8 Years
Bregman and Cora first worked together when the latter served as the Houston Astros bench coach in 2017, which was the former’s first full season in the big leagues. Bregman played four of his nine career games at second base that year, while suiting up 30 times at shortstop and 132 contests at the hot corner as well.
The Astros began their playoff run that fall by defeating the Red Sox in the ALDS in four games, before dispatching the New York Yankees in a seven-game ALCS and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series in seven games as well. Cora was hired as Boston’s manager the next offseason and captured a second straight championship over the Dodgers while with the Red Sox in 2018.
Bregman made his pair of AL All-Star teams in 2018 and 2019, posting his best numbers in the latter campaign with a league-leading 8.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and 119 walks, as well as career highs in runs scored (122), home runs (41) and RBI (112). Bregman’s slash line of .296/.423/.592 was a high mark as well, and he won a Silver Slugger award and was the AL MVP runner-up.
The 2018 All-Star Game MVP helped Houston win another title in 2022 and has 19 home runs and 54 RBI across 99 career postseason games. Bregman will turn 31 in March, is coming off a .260/.315/.453 triple slash last year which was among the worst since becoming a big leaguer and his 26 home runs and 75 RBI were below his career average.
Cora Knows About Versatility in the Infield
Though he was never the standout that Arenado, Bregman and Devers have been during their careers, Cora was a solid role player during his 14 MLB seasons.
The 49-year-old was selected by the Dodgers in the third round of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Draft and made his professional debut in 1998, appearing in 29 contests. After an 11-game stint in 1999, Cora saw his first extended action with 353 at-bats over 109 contests in 2000.
He had his best season at the plate in 2004 (his final year in Los Angeles), posting career highs in runs scored (47), home runs (10), RBI (47), walks (47) and total bases (154), while recording a .264/.364/.380 slash line over 405 at-bats covering 138 games. Following a short stay with Cleveland during the first half of the 2005 campaign, Cora was traded to Boston in July of that year.
He’d spend the next three-plus seasons calling Fenway Park home, winning his lone World Series ring as a player in 2007. Cora played 2009 with the New York Mets and split 2010 between Queens and the Texas Rangers, before suiting up for 91 games with the Washington Nationals in his final campaign in 2011.
While he wasn’t much of a threat at the dish, Cora was an above-average defender and could play multiple infield positions, which could impact Boston’s pursuit of Arenado and/or Bregman.
Cora played 616 regular season games at shortstop in his career, 530 at second base, 48 at third base, 13 at first base and one in left field.
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Alex Cora Has Strong Reaction to Red Sox Bregman Rumors