Offseason Choose Your Own Adventure - Identifying the First Target

Story stream at this link. You sitting in that chair. This update right in front of you. You know how this works by now.

All events are fictional, no matter how realistic they may appear to be. I may be a wizard, but I’m not that magical, just yet.

Alexander Henry’s Office - October 12th, 1:21 PM EST

Henry - “Gabe, come, sit down, let’s have a quick chat. Sorry, Alex, but I’ll have to get back to you in just one moment, can you please hold? Susan, close the door, please.”

Kapler - “So what’s it going to be, bossman?”

Henry - “Look, I respect you too much to lead you around like a dog without a bone. We’ve decided to hire Alex Cora, and he was calling to tell us he agreed to our new terms. We appreciate you coming in here, and the plan was legitimately to interview all three of you, but Alex Cora’s interview just dazzled, and he agreed to a contract just below entry-level, with very few conditions added on top.”

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Kapler - “I thank you for being straight with me. Honesty is a big deal in this business, especially for someone just starting out, like you. I’m disappointed, but I’m glad that I know I can relax. I have a few more interviews on my docket in the coming days, so I’ll use this as an opportunity to just enjoy Boston again.”

Henry - “I apologize we couldn’t have a real interview. I really do. You have a great makeup, and will make for a fantastic manager one day. And if all else fails, we’d love to have you around in other capacities...”

Alexander Henry’s Office - October 12th, 1:25 PM EST

Henry - “Thanks for coming back in Alex, glad to have you on board.”

Cora - “It’s great to be on board sir, I can’t wait to get out there and formulate my coaching staff. I like Jim Hickey or Mike Maddux as a pitching coach, and I’m also fond of bringing in a couple guys from my managing days in the Caribbean Series.”

Henry - “All that’s left is for you to sign on that dotted line. And for you to finally call me Alex, like I’ve been asking since earlier this morning.”

Cora - “I will humor you just this one, Mr. Henry. It’s good to be part of this organization, Alex.”

Alex Cora signs on the dotted line, and becomes the Red Sox manager. Jason Varitek and Gabe Kapler may interview elsewhere, but Cora did express interest in bringing on one or both of them as part of his staff should the stars align.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Henry - “Now, Alex, the first big thing as a manager that you must do, is get a feeling for the room, with regards to your players. We just learned Dustin Pedroia will be out for seven months due to knee surgery, Eduardo Rodriguez will miss six, and Hanley Ramirez will likely be impacted next season due to his own surgery. He’ll be back by opening day, but obviously, our team is a little hurt at the moment.”

Cora - “Absolutely, I’ll be speaking with all the players as soon as I am able, to try to get a feeling for how I can use them in the coming season.”

Henry - “With that said, I also want you to look into whether or not you can use Sam Travis, Marco Hernandez, or Tzu-Wei Lin as big pieces to take the load off of some of those players. We plan to make a move for a big bat to populate the middle of the order, but we need some other players to step up, as well.”

Cora - “I’ll do my best sir, but have you decided which big bat you are going to pursue? If you go after Eric Hosmer, my answer to the problem is going to be different than if you sign J.D. Martinez. Similarly, if the big bat is acquired via trade, I need to know who is on the way out, so I can plan around them.”

Henry - “Well that’s just the thing, Cora. Once free agency opens following the World Series, I have set my sights on one player above all others...”

This poll ends on Saturday, October 28th, at 10:30 EST.

Woo! We got through the first big event of the offseason, even if it took one more post than I had initially planned. Now we’re getting into some roster decisions.

Just a fair warning when it comes to roster decision related posts, I’ve identified what I personally believe to be the best available fits in the actual major leagues, and narrowed the field down from 30 signings/trade candidates, down to the 10 or so I consider most likely for each situation. In this situation, I knocked it down to 8, with the Pedroia injury pushing Kinsler and Dozier each into contention. There are a couple on this list I don’t expect, but they’d been popular elsewhere, so I figured I’d be fair.

If I missed someone you consider to be a big option, please, leave their name in the comments below, and I’ll keep them in mind for future posts.