As the pitchers and catchers prepare to report to Fort Myers tomorrow to start the Red Sox spring training season.

We talked about the off season and moves made by the new front office with Jake Devereaux of Over The Monster Podcast.

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Boston Red Sox

Manager: Alex Cora (third season, first of second stint with team).

2020: 24-36, fifth place.

Training Town: Fort Myers, Florida.

Park: JetBlue Park at Fenway South.

First Workout: Feb. 18/22.

He’s Here: Manager Alex Cora, 2B Enrique Hernández, RHP Garrett Richards, LF Hunter Renfroe, RHP Adam Ottavino, OF Franchy Cordero, RHP Matt Andriese, RHP Garrett Whitlock, RHP Josh Winckowski.

He’s Outta Here: Manager Ron Roenicke, 2B Dustin Pedroia, OF Andrew Benintendi, CF Jackie Bradley Jr., SS C.J. Chatham, C Devy Grullon, LHP Yoan Aybar, RHP Robert Stock, LHP Matt Hall, RHP Ryan Weber, RHP Collin McHugh, RHP Domingo Tapia.

Going campin’: Last year was a lost season for the Red Sox. Just two years removed from their fourth World Series championship in 15 seasons, the team fired Cora in the wake of the Houston sign-stealing scandal, and traded 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts and 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner David Price to the Dodgers in a salary dump. The Red Sox were also without LHP Chris Sale, who missed the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and Eduardo Rodriguez, who was out with heart inflammation caused by COVID-19. Roenicke, promoted from bench coach after players started reporting to spring training, didn’t have much of a chance. So the Red Sox moved on and called on Cora, who served his one-year suspension for his role in the Astros scandal. The team’s best hope of getting out of the cellar of the stacked AL East in 2021 is that he relights a spark in J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers, who both struggled during the pandemic-shortened season; Rodriguez returns strong and Sale is able to recover by midseason. The retirement of Pedroia, who played only nine games in the past three years, provides clarity at second base and opened a spot that Hernández should fill. SS Xander Bogaerts is signed to a long-term deal and could become the star future teams are built around. Or, he could become the next Betts. CF Alex Verdugo, the biggest acquisition in the Dodgers deal, is also a piece for the future. JetBlue Park will open at about one-fourth capacity, around 2,400 fans each game.

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