Sporting a beard, Cora weighs in on Minors camp: 'We’re in a good spot'

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Roaming around in a red T-shirt and blue athletic shorts -- and sporting a beard -- Red Sox manager Alex Cora was a casual observer at Minor League camp on Monday.

Under normal circumstances, Cora would be deep into Major League Spring Training at this point and plotting various things.

But during the lockout, Cora is trying make the best use of his time.

There were some meetings with the Major League coaching staff last month.

Of late, he has been watching prospects and enjoying the time with his family. Cora even got to Dallas a couple of days ago for a concert he had been wanting to see for a while.

For Cora, Minor League camp is an intriguing experience as he notes he hasn’t really been around player development since he was a Minor League player himself

“I’m just walking around,” Cora said. “A few ground balls here and there.”

Interestingly, Cora noted how he is usually the one in the trenches. Now, he is the one behind the fence or on the warning track during drills.

“To be able to see how they do it, the way we go about it is refreshing, and it’s really good,” Cora said. “I knew I was part of a good organization but just to spend time with them the other way around, you know, we’re just watching, it’s been amazing.”

During Cora’s daily walks around Fenway South, he can’t help but notice the talent that the Red Sox have assembled in chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s two-and-a-half years running the front office.

“We’re in a good spot,” Cora said. “Obviously Chaim always says that we’re not there yet, but he’ll keep saying that the rest of his career. He’s relentless about that. You see it. We have physical kids, good athletes, good arms, velo is up. It’s one thing to read about it and one thing to see it and we’re in a better place, we are.”

Who has Cora been impressed by?

“Nick [Yorke] actually caught my eye. You see it. He’s different. He’s a different kid [than last year]. Obviously Marcelo [Mayer], we saw him in Boston [last summer], he was tall and skinny, and all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Wow, [not anymore], OK, cool.'

“[Alex] Binelas, how physical he is. He has a good swing. We have a good program right now as far as drills and defense and all that. To see them and how they go about it, it’s refreshing. Some arms, too. [Chris] Murphy is a guy I’ve been looking at. He has a good fastball. [Durbin] Feltman, physically he looks really good. We have a bunch of them.”

Cora also might make a trip to the team’s Dominican Academy in the near future.

“I haven’t been there, so maybe spend a few days there, see it and be a part of it,” said Cora.

One of Cora’s biggest highlights this offseason was that night in January when David Ortiz, his former teammate, was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

“Unreal,” said Cora.

Cora got so excited about the possibility of Ortiz’s pending election that he called him in December.

“It’s funny, because I don’t know how it works, but at one point, I was watching TV and I was like, ‘He’ll be a Hall of Famer, first ballot, that might happen.’” Cora said. "I called him and said, ‘You know you might be a Hall of Famer.’ He’s like, ‘You think?’ I was like, ‘It feels that way.’ Good for him.”