Report: Red Sox had significant doubts about bringing back Alex Cora

Alex Cora had long been viewed as the favorite to land the Boston Red Sox manager job before it was made official on Friday. However, inside the organization, that was apparently never a certainty.

Cora still commands the respect of many inside the organization, including players and ownership, who won the 2018 World Series with him as manager. However, the ultimate decision was left to chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who has no previous ties to Cora.

According to Chad Jennings of The Athletic, many in the organization initially felt that Cora would not get the job when the search started. One Red Sox source told Jennings that the search “wasn’t a dog-and-pony show.”

Things shifted when Bloom and Cora began to have face-to-face meetings and Bloom began to seriously consider Cora’s strengths and witnesses. At one point, Cora asked Bloom if the chief baseball officer trusted him, and said the organization should move on if he didn’t. Bloom replied that he did.

In the end, Cora was reportedly one of two finalists for the job, and ultimately got it. He clearly won over Bloom, and it’s a move that will make the players happy as well.