Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora held a morning baseball clinic for a small army of youngsters in his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico, last month. Under the rising sun, Cora hoisted a microphone and introduced some friends from the big leagues who were helping him out, like Alex Cintron, who played nine years in the majors and is now a coach with the Astros.
As Cora spoke, it sounded like he was building to some kind of crescendo -- which was all by design. The last guest instructor to be introduced was Rafael Devers, Boston's 22-year-old third baseman, who had made the journey from the Dominican Republic to join Cora. And as Cora spoke to the crowd of kids and parents, he showered Devers with praise and plaudits.
Cora sincerely appreciated Devers' presence. But this was also a matter of Cora managing in the last days of 2018 for the benefit of the 2019 Red Sox, who will try to become the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to repeat as champions. Devers' progress as a player is one of at least four major questions that will loom over Cora's team in the spring.
1. So what about Devers? Devers and the Yankees' Miguel Andujar seem to be at a similar crossroads in their respective careers: Both have enormous offensive potential amid questions about their defensive viability at third base. Devers reached the big leagues in 2017 and immediately impressed with his raw power, but like a lot of young players, he struggled with his approach at the plate in the second year, hitting .240.
But the Red Sox staff saw bits of progress from Devers at season's end, and that seemed to continue through a postseason in which he hit .294 and had some really solid at-bats. In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, Devers applied the coup de grace to the Astros and Justin Verlander with a three-run homer to the opposite field. Devers raised his right hand as he circled the bases. In the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, Devers slammed a ball through the middle to break a 4-all tie, this the night after Boston's 18-inning loss; Tom Goodwin, Boston's first-base coach, stepped forward to congratulate Devers at the bag, collegially slapping him on the right shoulder.
Boston's hope is that as Devers improves his conditioning and gains experience, he will defend better, be more consistent in his at-bats and develop into a force in the Red Sox lineup. Cora announced that Mookie Betts will move out of the leadoff spot this year, to the No. 2 spot, to take better advantage of the damage he often does in his first at-bat of each game -- which represents about 20 to 25 percent of his plate appearances. Andrew Benintendi may well hit leadoff, and J.D. Martinez could be the cleanup hitter.
If Devers continues to improve, that No. 3 spot -- a great place to hit because of the pressure applied by Betts and Martinez to the opposing pitchers and catchers -- could belong to the third baseman.
2. Will they add more bullpen pieces? The Yankees have again constructed what appears to be a bullpen filled with monstrous talent and big swing-and-miss capability -- lefties Aroldis Chapman and Zach Britton, and right-handers Dellin Betances, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder. The Red Sox, on the other hand, have a lot of uncertainty -- about who will close games and about whether relievers used heavily to win the World Series in October will bounce back this year.
But remember, there were so many doubts about the Boston bullpen going into the postseason, and Cora and his staff found a way. Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes will need to play major roles in the Boston bullpen, and Boston's front office hopes it can find help in some of the minor league free agents signed in the fall -- which was the unlikely route Brasier took last year.
Presumably, Boston will pluck at least one or two relievers from the vast number of unsigned major league free agents before the start of camp. But the Red Sox's activity this winter has been affected by their high payroll and the luxury-tax implications they face.
3. What will Dustin Pedroia contribute? He's 35 now, coming off a season of just 13 plate appearances and yet another surgical procedure on his knee. Pedroia is resolute in his continuing effort to return, but as Derek Jeter once noted in so many words, there comes a point in your career when everything you do is seen through the prism of your age. It seems unlikely Pedroia will be ready to open the season given where he is in his rehabilitation process, and he has reached that stage in his baseball life when it's all but impossible to project what he'll contribute if and when he plays. He hasn't looked the same since suffering a knee injury on a Manny Machado slide in 2017.
Pedroia has three years left on his contract, with his salary sliding from $15 million this year to $13 million in 2020 to $12 million in 2021.
4. How will the inevitable postseason hangover manifest? After the Mets reached the World Series in 2015, then-manager Terry Collins asked friends like Jim Leyland and Tony La Russa how to handle the following spring. To a man, Collins reported, they all said the same thing: There is a hangover, and there's really nothing you can do to stop it.
It could be a physical hangover, perhaps with Chris Sale, one of the many Boston pitchers who extended himself in the push to win the 2018 World Series. When Sale returns to the mound in spring training, evaluators industry-wide will be locked in on his radar gun readings to ascertain clues about the condition of his left shoulder.
Or the hangover could be emotional. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2013 with great camaraderie and clubhouse chemistry, and as the next season played out, veterans on the team felt that great collective effort was gone; Boston mostly fielded the same players, but something was different, and the Red Sox went from first to worst.