Alex Cora Criticizes Red Sox Veteran Whose Mediocrity Exposes Front Office

If the Red Sox thought they made a splash before the trade deadline, they were wrong

G Fiume / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

As the Boston Red Sox watch their playoff hopes disappear down the drain, the finger-pointing is sure to commence.

The most recent blameworthy party is Boston’s offense, which has been invisible of late. Red Sox manager Alex Cora criticized his team’s offense this week, noting that no one outside of Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu is putting together quality at-bats. According to a new report from NESN’s Adam London, Cora also singled out catcher Danny Jansen as being particularly underwhelming in the batter’s box.

London cited the Boston Globe as the source of Cora’s comments on Jansen.

"He’s mishitting balls, not finishing at-bats," Cora said, per London and the Boston Globe. "It's part of the grind, man. Right now, we're grinding as an offense. Jarren (Duran) is the only one that's consistent along with (Wilyer) Abreu. But besides that, right now as an offense, we're not doing those things."

It would be illogical to absolve Jansen of blame, but on the other hand, Jansen isn’t performing drastically below what his career suggests he can do. In that case, the finger might be better pointed at either Cora or Boston’s front office — whoever is responsible for placing unrealistic expectations on a player or players inside Boston’s clubhouse.

As FanSided’s Katie Manganelli accurately noted in a piece on Wednesday, Jansen shouldn’t be criticized too heavily for merely being who he’s always been.

“Alex Cora says Danny Jansen hasn't delivered offensively,” Manganelli said. “(But) Jansen has posted one good offensive season in his seven-year big league career. He's a catcher, so he's held to different offensive standards than most of the other players on Boston's roster, but his usual offensive metrics don't differ much from what he's posted this season.”

“Jansen's best season was 2022, when he clocked a .260/.339/.516 slash line with 15 homers, 10 doubles and 44 RBI. He's career .222/.307/.421 hitter, and the Red Sox were wrong to believe he'd be their offensive salvation — or that he'd be much of an offensive boost at all — during a playoff push.”

If Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow believed Jansen was going to be the righty bat to propel the Red Sox lineup to the next level, he simply made an inaccurate assessment of talent.

Cora’s criticisms of Jansen come more from a place of drawing the best out of the catcher and should be taken with a grain of salt.

It’s Breslow who should seriously reconsider how he went about the 2024 trade deadline.

More MLB: Red Sox Called Up Wrong Middle Infielder From Worcester, New Report Shows