Boston has been playing solid baseball recently, entering Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins with a 45-39 record. There’s a chance the Red Sox could secure a lead in the wild card race, potentially influencing their decision to be buyers at the deadline.
Cora’s recent comments seemed to underline this possibility, but he clarified in an exclusive interview with Chris Cotillo of MassLive on Tuesday that his intention wasn’t to pressure anyone in the front office.
“I think some people misinterpreted my comments as putting pressure on others,” Cora said. “That’s not it. I want this team to understand that we’re capable of more. We showed it in June and hopefully we can continue in July.
“The ‘greedy’ part is about challenging the team to keep pushing forward. Don’t settle just because we’re in contention for a playoff spot. Keep pushing. If we do it together as a team, who knows what we can achieve.”
Cora emphasized that regardless of trade deadline discussions, the team’s goal remains unchanged.
“We’re not winning games to pressure the front office,” Cora clarified. “We’re winning games because we want to make the playoffs. There’s this misconception that we’re trying to force their hand. No… we want to win because we want to win. Whatever happens in the next few weeks or months will happen. Our focus is on winning each series, each game.”
Looking ahead, Boston faces critical series that could sway their decision-making process, starting with a three-game set against the New York Yankees beginning Friday, followed by hosting the Yankees in the final series before the trade deadline.
“If we can win those series, and take care of business in between,” Cora noted, “we could find ourselves in a very different position entering August.”