Shocking news: Red sox on the verge of loosing 4 top key players.

Shocking news: Red sox on the verge of loosing 4 top key players.

The Boston Red Sox have been in the throes of a rebuild for what feels like years. The future of the organization is unclear at this time, as the Sox have very few long-term contracts on the books.

Boston’s current plan is to wait for the next round of prospects to reach the bigs before making too many commitments to current players or outside help. And the Red Sox have a lot of talent approaching MLB-readiness, waiting for their shot to crack the majors, which brings uncertainty for a fair few players on the current roster.

But there are more reasons some Red Sox’s futures with the club may be in jeopardy, from expiring contracts to failures to meet expectations.

The front office’s recent decisions have been inexplicable. Even playing well for the Red Sox won’t guarantee a contract extension or reunion in recent years — just look at Justin Turner. But quality performance is probably the best way to keep management interested, and this list of current Red Sox would benefit from a great season if they hope to stay with the organization.

4 Red Sox who are fighting for their futures heading into 2024

Alex Cora

Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s contract is quickly ticking toward its expiration. At the end of this season, Cora could either re-sign as Boston’s manager, manage elsewhere or move on from managing to a different career in baseball.

The skipper has been reluctant to discuss his expiring contract with reporters and there is little knowledge about Cora’s personal desires for the next season. He has told reporters that he has no current plans to put his house in Newton, MA up for sale, though, which might mean he hopes to stay in Boston.

Many reporters have theorized that Cora’s fate rests with the fate of the 2024 team — if the Red Sox manage to compete in the AL East this year, Cora may be in for an extension. If they don’t, despite the quality of the team not being his fault, Cora may well be on his way out.

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Alex Cora: ‘Tough’ Red Sox roster decisions might make someone ‘very upset’

Opening Day is only 13 days away and manager Alex Cora has yet to finalize his five-man starting rotation.

“Not close,” Cora said, laughing at JetBlue Park on Friday.

Cora said he expects the rotation to be set by the time the Red Sox leave Fort Myers next Sunday (March 24). Boston heads to Texas for two exhibition games (March 25, 26) against the Rangers at Globe Life Field before flying to Seattle for a four-game opening series against the Mariners.

Cora sees a scenario where a pitcher competing for the final two starting rotation spots might be optioned to Triple-A Worcester to begin the season there as a starter instead of making Boston’s 26-man roster as a reliever. That way, he will remain stretched out as a starter.

“There’s going to be tough decisions,” Cora said. “Maybe somebody’s going to be very upset at us because they don’t break camp with us. When you start getting better players and you have guys capable of getting people out at the big league level, then other decisions are based on other stuff. It’s a 40-man roster. Not everybody that breaks camp with us to Seattle is going to be a part of it the whole season. We just have to be very smart the way we use our pieces.”
Brayan Bello and Nick Pivetta are locks to begin the season in the starting rotation. Kutter Crawford is close to a lock. That leaves Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski and Cooper Criswell competing for the final two spots.

Winckowski is in the running for a rotation spot after he pitched out of the Red Sox bullpen all last season. He made 59 relief outings and one appearance as an opener. He logged 84 ⅓ innings. It seems logical for him to begin the year in Boston’s bullpen if he doesn’t make the rotation. But he also could begin the year in Worcester’s rotation to keep him stretched out.

Winckowski allowed six runs (five earned), eight hits and one walk while striking out two in 3 ⅔ innings against the Phillies on Thursday.
“People make a big deal out of yesterday but if you watched the game, he didn’t get hit hard,” Cora said. “Just there was contact. Same thing with Whitlock. There’s going to be contact and there’s going to be days like that. There’s going to be a few off the handle, a few hits here, a few hits there. I think he maneuvered the day the right way. He went four, which is very important. His stuff is good. He’s still in the hunt for a spot in the rotation understanding what he can do out of the bullpen. We know that. That’s a decision we’ll make probably towards the end of next week. They just have to keep going, keep progressing, get their innings up there knowing we can go the other way around (in the bullpen). Instead of going five, you pitch two innings when the season comes.”

MassLive’s latest Opening Day roster projection has both Winckowski and Criswell making the team as relievers.

Winckowski, Houck and Whitlock all have split time between the starting rotation and bullpen in the big leagues. Criswell made all 10 of his appearances (33 innings) out of Tampa’s bullpen last year.

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