Alex Cora, Red Sox players weigh in on John Henry’s comments
Last week John Henry was profiled in the Financial Times, and in the piece, made a number of comments that raised eyebrows across Boston. Among them, the Red Sox principal owner suggested that fans overestimate the club’s annual odds of winning a championship — which he said are 1 in 30, referring to the number of MLB teams — while criticizing what he believes is a widespread belief that the club should mortgage the future each year for the present.
The comments didn’t land well with fans, many of whom believe Henry hasn’t done enough to support the big-league club over the past four or five years, but what did the men in uniform think?
Asked for his thoughts prior to Tuesday’s game (against ex-Sox GM Dave Dombrowski’s first-place Philadelphia Phillies), Red Sox manager Alex Cora prefaced his remarks by saying that while he hadn’t read the Financial Times piece, overall he has faith in Henry and his investment in the franchise.
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“I like John, I respect John, he’s invested, that’s what I can tell you,” Cora said. “We’ve had conversations throughout the year, throughout the offseason, about where we’re at, what we’re trying to accomplish and where we’re going, and he wants to win.”
Cora went on to say that even though the club hasn’t seen improvement in the win-loss column compared to last year, he feels the Red Sox are in a much better place.
“Our young players are doing an outstanding job, some veterans are stepping up, the pitching program is better,” Cora said. “Record-wise it’s the same as last year, but as far as the process and where we’re at structure-wise, we’ve taken a step forward. That’s what he wanted.”
Cora also said no matter what the club’s odds may be — Henry’s technically accurate number or the betting market’s more realistic figures — his and the players’ job is to play hard and try to win as much as possible. Several players echoed that sentiment, telling the Herald they try to focus on doing the job they were brought to Boston to do and give the city a team it can be proud of.
“Regardless of who we go and get and who we have and who we don’t have. Who we have is good enough to play winning baseball,” said Bobby Dalbec. “Obviously without — not signing Mookie (Betts), maybe Xander (Bogaerts), and all that stuff, maybe that’s what fans hold on to, but it is what it is. He’s the boss, so there’s nothing we or the fans can do about it.”
“It’s a very blue-collar city in terms of going out there and working hard each and every day, put your best foot forward,” said Tanner Houck. “I do believe that’s this city, and I think that’s what they expect from their sports team and the individuals on them. … Win or lose, if you can go out there and say you left everything you had physically, mentally, spiritually, everything on that diamond, I think the fans of Boston can respect that.”