What Alex Cora said about Chaim Bloom’s firing and his own future

Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy acknowledged Thursday afternoon that the organization may be preparing for a “broader search” as it attempts to find a replacement for the recently fired Chaim Bloom.

But could Boston opt for an internal replacement in Alex Cora?

Kennedy noted during his press conference Thursday that he and the organization expect Cora to return as manager for the 2024 season.

But Cora, whose current contract runs through 2024, didn’t reveal much information when asked if he was already informed he would lead the ballclub next season.

“After the season, I’ll be here for a little while, do the press conference and get ready for next season,” Cora said, as reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.

When asked if Cora himself wanted to return to the Red Sox next season, he wouldn’t budge.

“I’m going to finish the season and hang out here,” Cora said. “I’m going to go home and prepare for next year.”

Buster Olney, ESPN Insider tweeted shortly after Bloom’s firing that Cora could be a potential candidate to run Boston’s baseball operations — following a similar storyline to Brad Stevens’ move from Celtics head coach to top executive.

“Kennedy wouldn’t rule it out categorically.” Cotillo added in response to Olney’s tweet. “This is a career path that Cora would not hesitate to pursue. But they feel like they need an experienced leader who has done it before.

Cora already has a lot of experience with the Red Sox and this market, and has a good relationship with the team’s higher-ups.

“This is something that is for the future,” Cora said of a career beyond management, according to Cotillo. “My goal here is to continue to play good baseball and help these guys get better. Everyone knows how I feel about this game and whatever decision we make in the future will be based on my family and all that. I think right now it’s something we need to talk about as a group, about what we want to do.

Despite Cora’s potential in a new role, Kennedy and the Red Sox could opt for more in the next head of baseball operations position.

“At the end of the day, we need leadership,” Kennedy said. “These are big operations. So we need leadership that can help us continue to build the organization from the bottom up, continue to promote and expand processes and procedures, medical care and analysis, following this game in constant evolution.

“And leadership focused on winning at the big league level. So this is something that we’ve all been trying to do for several years. And this will be a mandate for the future.

Cora is no stranger to turnover in the baseball operations department, having experienced it with Boston in 2019 when Dave Dombrowski was fired in the final weeks of the season. Yet that familiarity doesn’t fade the day a baseball organization chooses to wave the white flag over a vital cog in its leadership group.

“Obviously it’s a decision made by the owners. They decided to go that route,” Cora said, according to Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe. “We’ve worked together all these years and it’s never easy to hear that. It’s never easy.

The Red Sox went 267-262 during Bloom’s tenure in Boston, with last three spots a tangible possibility, based on how Cora’s team has closed out in recent weeks.

Still, given the heavy hand Bloom was dealt early on in 2020 with both Cora’s season-long suspension and the Mookie Betts trade, Cora sympathized with the tough job that landed on Bloom’s shoulders. Bloom.

“It was a good relationship. I think we’ve grown,” Cora said of Bloom. “Obviously it wasn’t easy for him at first. I made my mistake and we paid the price. I still remember that day. He was the first one there for me.

“We actually had a great conversation on Wednesday about the future of the organization and what he envisioned. We have grown a lot in recent years. But it’s like business, isn’t it? You don’t agree with everything your partners do, do you? Or what they think. But ultimately, you work together for the benefit of your business. It’s the same thing here.