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Chris Sale’s Goal Is November

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Spring Training scratches an itch. It’s great to hear the crack of the bat and watch new and familiar faces get ready for the next campaign.

The games, of course, are practically worthless as indicators of how the regular season will unfold. Still, they give us a chance to ease our way into the new season and watch some young talent that may impact the regular season down the line, this year or later.

Over on Twitter, the @RSNStats data stream sputters to life to provide a few light stats during some spring games, though the real data won’t flow in earnest until the official season begins. Exhibition games do, however, offer a chance to exercise some new tools and systems developed in the off-season to greater enhance how the data feed works. As always, your comments about RSNStats, as well as requests for specific types of stats, are welcome anytime.

Now, a few notes and news of interest to Red Sox fans:

  • It’s impossible to argue with Chris Sale‘s dominance last season. He reached the 200-strikeout mark faster than any American League pitcher in a single season according to the Elias Sports Bureau, started the All-Star Game, and appeared in his first career playoff game. But fans who watched him throughout the season saw a different, less effective pitcher in the final few weeks of 2017. It’s not a new problem for Sale, whose past late-season tail offs have been well-documented. But Sale and new pitching coach Dana LeVangie have a plan for 2018 and Sale says he’s all in.  “We haven’t said one time, ‘September or October,’” Sale told ESPN. “Every time we use only November. That’s the goal.”
  • For a long time, the view around baseball was that the Red Sox were leaders in data analytics, but hiring Alex Cora as manager was a wake up call for Boston’s front office. Cora’s knowledge of the Astro’s data crunching systems made it clear, Boston needed (and has now made) some upgrades.
  • Despite a paltry 168 Red Sox home runs last year, the major leagues set a new record with 6,105 round-trippers. That total far surpassed the previous record of 5,693 home runs in the 2000 season. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly denied rumors that the ball has been altered, but now new research suggests that baseballs used after the 2015 All-Star Game are slightly different in a number of ways than older baseballs.
  • The White Sox have signed smiling Robbie Ross, Jr. to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Ross came to the Red Sox after a miserable 2014 with the Rangers, amassing a 6.20 ERA in 27 appearances. But in Boston, Ross offered reliable relief, appearing in 54 games of both 2015 and 2016 with a 3.86 and 3.25 ERA, respectively. Last year, Ross was limited to just 8 games due to injury and underwent season-ending back surgery in August.

Red Sox Search Ends With Cora

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By all accounts, Red Sox baseball president Dave Dombrowski is moving quickly to name a new manager after he firing John Farrell on October 11. Reporting across baseball identifies Álex Cora as the likely next manager of the club. Cora would be the first former Red Sox player to become manager of the team since Butch Hobson (1992-94).

Earlier this week came word that Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa was leaving his role as chief baseball analyst for the Diamondbacks. Some speculated whether that may have a bearing on Boston’s search for Farrell’s replacement but of Scott Lauber of ESPN says La Russa has no interest in that. “Passed the managerial baton,” La Russa told Lauber. ”I’m done.” That said, Nick Cafardo writes that La Russa is a big fan of Dombrowski’s and an obvious fit for a Red Sox front-office role.

While the news could come sooner, WEEI’s Rob Bradford says tomorrow looks like the perfect day to introduce the new manager, as these are the only off days before the start of the World Series. Bradford explains that clubs need permission from Major League Baseball to make announcements during the postseason. Clubs are generally careful not to draw attention from the Fall Classic, which could go as late as November 1.

  • Álex Cora still has an important job to do in the ALCS as bench coach for the Houston Astros. The former Sox infielder has been connected to more than a couple managerial openings this off-season. Cora, who turns 42 this month played 14 major league seasons (1998-2011), including four with Boston (2005-08). Since then he’s been General Manager and on-field manager for the Criollos de Caguas, his hometown team in the Puerto Rican Winter League, and was also General Manager for Puerto Rico for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He has previously interviewed for openings with the Rangers, Padres and Diamondbacks.
    • Update, October 23: Red Sox announce Cora as club’s new manager.
    • Update, October 22: Red Sox are close to announcing Alex Cora as the 47th manager in club history. Announcement could come as early as Sunday writes Ian Brown, with a full press conference at Fenway after the World Series.
    • Update, October 21: Red Sox offer to Cora is a three-year deal reports Ken Rosenthal,who also says the Nationals vacancy isn’t get in the way of Boston’s deal.
    • Update, October 21: The Nationals will ask the Astros for permission to interview Cora after the ALCS wraps up in a Saturday reports Nick Cafardo.
    • Update, October 19: Red Sox owners talked with Cora on Wednesday according to Abbey Mastracco of NJ Advance Media.
    • Update, October 19: “Not a doubt it is him,” a source told Evan Drellich of Cora’s selection, but MLB.com reporter Ian Browne tweets that Dombrowski told him news of Cora’s selection is premature.
    • Update, October 18: The Athletic confirms that Cora with the Tigers last week. Cora met with Red Sox and Mets this week.
    • Update, October 17: Of Cora, veteran player Carlos Beltrán says: “He’s always in the clubhouse getting to know the players, getting to know which buttons he could push on each player to make them go out there and play the game hard, which is great.” Beltran goes on to say, “He’s a guy that always is looking for information that he could use against the opposite team.”
    • Update, October 16: Cora’s youth that is going to play well with the Red Sox opines Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.
    • Update, October 16: Cora will interview for Mets manager’s job on Tuesday, is still front-runner for job with Red Sox reports Rosenthal.
    • Update, October 16: Evan Drellich reports that a second interview is expected before Red Sox manager choice made.
    • Update, October 15: Boston Herald reports that Sox baseball president Dave Dombrowski interviewed Cora on Sunday (October 15), an off-day during the American League Championship Series. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports subsequently tweeted that Cora is the front-runner to replace John Farrell.
    • Update, October 13: For what its worth, former Red Sox Kevin Youkilis says Cora would be a great fit in Boston. He likes DeMarlo Hale for the job, too.
  • Ron Gardenhire managed the Twins (2002-14), guiding them to the postseason in six of his first nine seasons, a feat no other manager had achieved at the time. He was American League Manager of the Year in 2010, and runner-up to that honor in five other seasons. Garenhire’s managing record with Minnesota was 1068-1039 (.507), making him the winningest manager in club history and one of 10 managers in baseball history to win 1000+ games with a single team. Gardy, who turns 60 this month, was an infielder with the Mets 1981-85. He just completed his first season as bench coach for the Diamondbacks under manager Torey Lovullo. Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Gardenhire was one of the top three candidates for the Boston job. According to FOXSports reporter Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox have formally asked permission of the Diamondbacks to interview Gardenhire.
  • Brad Ausmus, 48, was recently dismissed from the Tigers (a job he was given by Dave Dombrowski) after a four-year, mediocre stint during which he went 314-332 (.486). Originally drafted by the Yankees in 1987, Ausmus had an 18-year big league career (1993-2010) as a catcher with the Padres, Tigers, Astros, and Dodgers. He was an All-Star in 1999 and a three-time Gold Glove winner. The Connecticut native is considered a smart guy. Peter Gammons reported that after Ausmus’ interview for the Sox manager’s job in 2012, one of the club executives who was there called the interview the best he’d ever seen. Some, however, have raised concerns about Ausmus’ ability (or inability) to handle the media. Ausmus has also been linked to the open manager’s job with the Mets, too.
    • Update, October 16: Boston Herlald’s Chad Jennings tweets that the Red Sox interview Ausmus today.
    • Update, October 16: Jon Hayman reports that Ausmus has taken his name out of the running to be the next Mets manager.
    • Update, October 15: MLive.com says the effort to paint Ausmus as some sort of Belichickean figure—his genius unappreciated by the rubes at his first stop, only to be welcomed in New England—is wildly premature.
  • Perhaps not a leading candidate, journalist John Tomase makes the case for former Red Sox Gabe Kapler, 42, to be the next Boston manager. Kapler’s demeanor, particularly in contrast to John Farrell’s more serious disposition, is just what the club needs, Tomase says, to better develop its younger talent. For the last three seasons, Kapler has been the Dodgers’ director of player development. Kapler played 2003-06 in Boston as part of a 12 year MLB career. He then managed the Single-A Sox affiliate, the Greenville Drive, for one season in 2007, going 58–81.

Also of Note

  • Update, October 20: Despite Dombrowski saying the new manager would pick his own coaching staff, Evan Drellich tweets that the Sox are keen to retain Dana LeVangie. LeVangie is a Massachusetts native who has spent his entire 27-year baseball career with the Red Sox organization, including six seasons as a catcher in the Sox minor league system, reaching Triple-A in 1995. He joined the big league coaching staff in 2013.
  • Update, October 20: The Giants have interviewed Chili Davis, according to The Mercury News. Davis broke in with San Francisco as a highly touted prospect. He played six full seasons there, finishing fourth in National League Rookie of the Year balloting in 1982. It’s unclear for which role Davis was interviewing. Davis met with the Padres on Wednesday.
  • Update, October 20: Another spot for a new manager opened with the news the Nationals have terminated Dusty Baker after two season. Baker, 68, tells USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he wants another managing gig and has no plans to retire.
  • Update, October 20: The Phillies have kept their manager search out of the news, for the most part, writes Jon Heyman, but he says Red Sox bench coach Gary DiSarcina is among the candidates for the role.
  • Update, October 19: The Twins have interviewed Sox pitching coach Carl Willis for a similar role in Minnesota. Former Rays pitching coach, Jim Hickey, is also being considered for the role. The vacancy comes after Minnesota fired Neil Allen, the three season incumbant, earlier this month.
  • The Tigers are interested in Red Sox first base coach Ruben Amaro, Jr. to be their manager in 2018.
  • Though an unfamiliar name to most, Hensley Meulens, is a possible choice to be Red Sox manager tweets NBCSports Boston’s Evan Drellich.