Boston Red Sox sticking with Chaim Bloom, Alex Cora in 2023

Despite a discouraging 2022 campaign, the Boston Red Sox are sticking with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and manager Alex Cora past this season.

Team president and CEO Sam Kennedy expressed optimism about Boston's future being in the hands of Bloom and Cora in an interview with The Athletic on Monday.

"I am very comfortable saying Chaim and Alex will be back," Kennedy said. "And I am very comfortable saying there is a strong belief in the direction of the franchise from our ownership group. That direction is continuing to build for the future, but also continuing to invest at the major-league level." 

Coming off an appearance in the 2021 American League Championship Series, the Red Sox are 62-66 this season, good for last in the AL East, through Sunday. They're the only team in the division with a losing record. Boston began the season 10-19 but righted the ship, working its way up to 42-31. Now they're seven games out of the third AL wild-card seed.

Boston hired Bloom from the Tampa Bay Rays in October 2019. The offseason that followed Bloom's hire, they traded star outfielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers and moved outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals the ensuing offseason. 

Last offseason, though, the Red Sox signed All-Star shortstop Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million deal for him to play second base. With the team hovering around .500, the Red Sox made a string of moves at this year's MLB trade deadline. They acquired outfielder Tommy Pham from the Cincinnati Reds and first baseman Eric Hosmer from the San Diego Padres while sending catcher Christian Vazquez to the Houston Astros.

Cora is in his second stint as Boston's manager (2018-19 and 2021-present). The Red Sox won the 2018 World Series with Cora. They fired him before the 2020 season when it was revealed that the Astros illegally stole signs by means of technology throughout 2017. Houston won the World Series in 2017 with Cora as its bench coach.

The Red Sox are 346-268 under Cora in his combined time as manager.

Despite potentially finishing last in the AL East for the second time in three seasons, Kennedy sees the Red Sox turning the page next season.

"To be looking up at the American League East at this point of the year is painful and frustrating," Kennedy said. "And frankly we deserve the criticism we’re getting. We’ve got to own that. It’s on us. But we’ve been around here a long time, and we’re prepared to turn things around quickly here as we head into ‘23."

The Red Sox have two All-Star free agencies on the horizon with shortstop Xander Bogaerts possessing a player option for the 2023 season and third baseman Rafael Devers a free agent after the 2023 season.