Latest Alex Cora Comments Prove He's Out of Touch With Boston Fans

With MLB regular season baseball already underway and the Boston Red Sox set to kick off their 2024 campaign in Seattle on March 28, Red Sox Nation has felt little reason for optimism after an over-promised and under-delivered offseason. Luckily though, apparently the "vibes" within the Red Sox clubhouse are still very much intact, according to manager Alex Cora.

Despite Cora's assessment of the Boston clubhouse, trophies are unfortunately not in fact not won on "vibes" alone.

With the 2024 season on the horizon, Cora's appraisal and that of the fanbase appear to have miles between them. The Athletic recently polled 22,000 MLB fans, asking them to assess how they felt about their respective favorite teams ahead of the 2024 season. The Red Sox ranked 27th out of 30 teams in terms of optimism from their fanbase, with only 12.2 percent of Boston fans responding that they were optimistic about the upcoming season. One particular fan had quite the eloquent assessment of the Sox' offseason activity:

"They did nothing in the market except juggle some fringe pieces. It's like watching someone stir a leftover soup that wasn't great the first time."

A local news report also went viral last week after revealing the apathetic feeling from people in Boston around the upcoming season, with nearly all interviewees unable to name a single current player. One respondent came oh-so-close, but slightly mixed-up his Massachusetts North Shore geography (Danvers) with the face of the franchise (Devers).

The sole instance of the front office shelling out significant cash came when they signed starting pitcher Lucas Giolito to a $19 million deal, only to lose him to season-ending elbow surgery. Boston shipped off former ace Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for young infielder Vaughn Grissom, but Grissom will not be ready for Opening Day after suffering a groin/abductor strain. The lone Red Sox All-Star representative in 2023, Kenley Jansen, is looking increasingly unlikely to be ready to go for Opening Day with lat soreness. Those developments don't instill a ton of optimism.

To be fair and objective, the gripes that Boston fans are holding against the organization have little to do with Cora or his players. Nearly the entirety of the blame for the franchise's current standing have been laid at the feet of John Henry and ownership, a sentiment that was also echoed by a Red Sox fan in The Athletic poll:

"But I don't trust the owners anymore. They keep denying they are gaslighting us but very clearly are. I'm not sure what the future holds. It could be bright, but the lack of trust and transparency sours me."

Furthermore, to their credit, several players on the roster have been outspoken about the organization's lackadaisical offseason and injuries are an unfortunate reality of any sport. What is Cora supposed to say, too? "In the clubhouse we know that we have no shot?" He'd be getting ripped for that, and rightfully so. It is Cora's job to rally the troops, this is far more about the difference between his outlook and that of the fan's ahead of Opening Day.

Vibes might be high in the clubhouse, but they are not high in Red Sox Nation.

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