Cora’s vision: ‘Keep winning’ despite Deadline uncertainty

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Cancel the noise. That is Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s motto as the hours, minutes and seconds continue to tick towards Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline.

At 56-49 and 2 ½ games out in the American League Wild Card standings — but also just a game in front of the last-place Yankees in their own division — every game is crucial for the Red Sox.

The Sox are a classic “tweener” team between buy and sell.

And don’t be surprised if they do a little bit of both. The buying would be geared to improve a roster that could stand to add some more depth on the pitching side. The selling would be to subtract from areas of surplus for additions that could help the team not just this year, but also for 2024 and beyond.

Cora’s sole focus is to do everything he can to keep his team on a winning track, regardless of what chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom decides to do in the next couple of days. Since June 30, the Sox are 16-7 and building some momentum.

“My job is to put these guys in a position to be successful every day,” said Cora. “I understand the game. I understand the business part of it, but we’re going to keep pushing. I think we have a vision and that vision is to keep winning.”

One thing you hear often this time of year — especially for a team in the position the Red Sox are in — is a debate of whether a given club has “earned” the confidence of the front office to add more pieces.

Cora keeps out of that one, instead focusing on the here and now. He expects his players to do the same.

“We have a big series in Seattle and then a bigger one over the weekend [against the Blue Jays]. So we know where we’re at,” Cora said. “We know how we’ve been playing, which is a cool thing. But I think the earning or not earning, that’s not for me to judge.”

Whether he is talking to his friends in the industry or Red Sox fans on the street, Cora feels that the perception of his team is changing from what it was when the season started.

“I think now we’re not taking people by surprise,” said Cora. “They look at us like, ‘They’ve got a good team. They’ve got a good lineup. They can pitch. They should be better defensively.’ I think we’ve earned the right to [keep winning series]. And hopefully we can do it.”

Lefty starter James Paxton, along with outfielders Alex Verdugo and Adam Duvall, are among the Sox players who have been bandied about in recent trade rumors.

With Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck all due back in the near future, selling Paxton at a time his value is high could make some sense if the return is good enough. In the outfield, Duvall, Verdugo, Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida represent four everyday players rotating between three spots. Also, Trevor Story will be back as soon as later this week to bolster the lineup and perhaps offset the loss of Duvall or Verdugo. Duvall is a pending free agent just like Paxton. Verdugo is under team control for one more season.

Cora admits he isn’t the type to sit players down to diffuse trade rumors. Perhaps that’s because, as he knows full well from all his years in the game, there are very few players that are untradeable if the right offer comes along.

“I think right now with where we’re at and what’s going on, everybody is looking at what’s going on right in front of us and around us,” Cora said. “I think that’s the best way. They’ve got questions and people get anxious and all that but at the end, you have to perform right? You got a job to do. It sounds very businesslike but you’re getting paid to play baseball. Just go out there and do your best.”

This Red Sox squad has earned the respect of their manager.

“We love the group,” Cora said. “I think this group has done an amazing job the last month and a half. It’s not like a two-week thing. It’s been going on for a while, with our strengths and weaknesses. But I think like I always said, there’s not a perfect team out there. The closest to a perfect team [is the Braves], and we just beat them twice this week.

“So you just got to keep grinding, keep going. Obviously, we live in an era that social media, you know, it’s crazy how much stuff is out there. And that’s part of the business. You know that people are in tune with the game and it’s fun. But from our end, I try to avoid that.”