Four Red Sox Takeaways As Alex Cora, Craig Breslow Kick Off Spring Training

The Boston Red Sox are ready for baseball.

Pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, Fla. this week while manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke with the media Tuesday for the first time this spring.

From remaining free agents to emerging prospects, there is plenty to talk about as the Red Sox show their first look of the 2025 team. Plenty will develop and change for the organization in the coming weeks, but baseball season is back.

Here are four takeaways after the remarks of Boston’s brass:

The Kids Have A Shot
Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are the faces of the future for the Red Sox and the rebuild of the farm system is ready to empower the MLB team in 2025.

Cora openly relayed all three players should hold the mindset of making the club out of camp while Breslow instilled realities for the young position players.

“Like I told them last year, there’s no age limit to make the big leagues,” Cora told reporters.

Theme Set For 2025 Season
Last spring training included several quotes about vibes and expectations. Cora openly admitted that those mantras, whether or not they were actually realistic, were developed to empower young players.

This season, the Red Sox manager has a different theme to set for the 2025 season.

“This year is about working and getting better,” Cora said. “If we do that over 162 games, things will take care of themselves and we’ll be dancing in October.”

Expect Remaining Additions
The Red Sox have discussed adding a right-handed bat all offseason and those markets, particularly for free agent Alex Bregman and St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, should come to a solution with teams reporting to camp.

Both Cora and Breslow expressed optimism in making a fitting addition as well as potentially another bullpen arm.

“I think we have done a good job presenting our program and taking a step forward,” Cora said. “After that, it takes two to tango, right? We’ll see what happens in the upcoming days and upcoming weeks. I think we’ve been very aggressive in certain situations. I won’t be surprised if we add something else.

“Right now, we’re still pursuing right-handed bat,” Breslow said. “Hopeful that we’ll be able to accomplish that. … Obviously, we haven’t lined up on anything yet, but we’ll continue to be as aggressive as we can.”

Closer Job Ready For Competition
Kenley Jansen held down the closer job over the last two seasons. A new face will take that position in 2025 while Jansen returns to California to play for the Los Angeles Angels on a reported one-year deal.

Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Slaten all appear to be early candidates to get the ball in the ninth inning and Cora certainly values a consistent arm in that role rather than a rotating cast.

“We have a number of guys who have pitched at the back end of games,” Breslow said. “Hendriks and Chapman, of course. Slaten is a guy that I think deserves some consideration. Whitlock is someone who I think can be deployed as a real weapon in his ability to throw multiple innings.”

Cora added: “I believe in that. We’ll see. Health comes into play. The good thing is we haven’t promised any of these guys a role. We haven’t told Liam or (Chapman) that they’ve got the ninth. They know that.”

The Red Sox have six weeks to embrace the battle before Opening Day.

“I think there will be a level of competition that will be really productive,” Breslow added.