MLB Rumors: Red Sox conflict coming to a head between Alex Cora, Chaim Bloom
Boston Red Sox fans are undoubtedly not strangers to being frustrated with both Chief Baseball Office Chaim Bloom and manager Alex Cora. And apparently, the two members of the organization are also growing increasingly frustrated with one another too. As such, the end result might mean one or both figures not being in Boston beyond the 2023 season.
Per USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the pairing of Cora and Bloom is "on the rocks" according to anonymous MLB executives. More pressingly, the belief is that it's "difficult to imagine that both will be returning in their same roles in 2024."
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic also recently spoke with Red Sox insider Chris Cotillo for Mass Live and noted that it was possible that Bloom could be out in Boston at some point. He notably mentioned the possibility of the move happening before the early August MLB Trade Deadline as the organization may not want him to be at the helm for another round of possible trades.
Bloom has been under plenty of scrutiny since joining the Red Sox front office, whether it's been a reluctance to address the team's pitching woes in a meaningful capacity, paying Trevor Story only to let Xander Bogaerts walk without worthwhile (or early enough) extension talks taking place, or a number of other head-scratching decisions.
You can also imagine how that would negatively affect Cora as the day-to-day manager, who would have to be frustrated if the roster isn't in the place he believes it should be. After all, Cora is a World Series winner at the helm of the club, so it stands to reason why the rest of the front office and ownership would have faith in him.
Whatever they are, though, it does appear that changes are coming to the Red Sox organizational structure in the near future.
MLB Rumors: Mets botch Pete Alonso return by optioning Mark Vientos
Whenever Pete Alonso was put on the IL after a hit-by-pitch against the rival Braves that left him with a sprained wrist, the expectation was that the New York Mets slugger would be on the shelf until at least July with a loose timetable for returning of three weeks.
Just 11 days after the initial injury, though, the Mets activated Alonso from the 10-day IL and he was in the lineup for the Sunday matinee at Citi Field against the Cardinals.
Make no mistake, getting Alonso back into the lineup is huge for New York as the club tries desperately to avoid falling too far out of the NL East race. But the corresponding move with Alonso being activated is a complete miscalculation and misfire on the part of the Mets as they optioned Mark Vientos back to Triple-A to make room for the All-Star first baseman.
Admittedly, Vientos struggled in limited time in the majors, slashing just .178/.224/.244 in 16 games and over 48 plate appearances for the Mets. Having said that, the fact that he got into only 16 games since being called up in mid-May is the bigger issue.
Vientos was absolutely raking in Triple-A Syracuse before getting called up, slashing .333/.416/.688 with 13 home runs and 11 doubles over just 38 games before getting called up to Citi Field. He's clearly one of the club's top hitters in the system and appears ready for big-league action.
So for the Mets to option him back to Triple-A while not giving him a real chance to see a consistent role and get into a groove at the MLB level seems like a complete botch job on the part of the organization. It's extremely difficult for a young player getting his first taste of the bigs and major-league pitching to perform when he's constantly out of rhythm due to lack of playing time.
And with the decision to keep a player like Luis Gillorme on the roster over someone with the potential of Vientos just comes off as complete mismanagement of the situation.
MLB Rumors: Cardinals don't plan to fire Oli Marmol, much to fans' chagrin
With the 28-43 start for the St. Louis Cardinals, the calls for Oli Marmol to be gone as the manager of the club are certainly warranted. After all, taking a team that won the NL Central a season ago to the bottom of the division in the 2023 season is more than a little problematic.
It doesn't seem that the rest of the organization feels the same way — at least for now.
According to a report from USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the Cardinals have no plans to fire Marmol in the 2023 season. Though his job going into next season won't be secure if the team's struggles continue throughout the rest of this year, the St. Louis front office and ownership have already had three managers in the clubhouse since mid-2018 and don't want to make it a fourth, per the report.
Nightengale also noted that big-name Cardinals stars, most notably Nolan Arenado, have come out to support Marmol during the team's awful start, something that the front office has taken notice of as the players have put the blame on themselves, not their manager.
At the same time, though, this team is far too talented to be playing the level of baseball that they have in the 2023 campaign. Marmol has to be culpable in some capacity, even if the front office seemingly doesn't want to admit their errors in hiring him and the negative results it's brought about.
Alas, despite the immense frustration from the fan base, Marmol isn't going anywhere. Now we'll have to wait and see if that's for better or for worse — though it'd be hard to get much worse than the Cardinals have been to begin the season.
