Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy 'very comfortable saying' Chaim Bloom, Alex Cora will be back next season

Despite what has thus far been a forgettable 2022 season for the Boston Red Sox, the team has no plans to move on from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom or manager Alex Cora, according to team president and CEO Sam Kennedy.

«I am very comfortable saying Chaim and Alex will be back,» Kennedy told The Athletic on Monday. «And I am very comfortable saying there is a strong belief in the direction of the franchise from our ownership group. That direction is continuing to build for the future, but also continuing to invest at the major-league level.»

At 62-66 entering play Monday night, the Red Sox find their playoff hopes fading. They currently reside at the bottom of the AL East — 5½ games behind the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles — and seven games back of the second wild-card slot.

«We're all incredibly disappointed in how the season has unfolded,» Kennedy said. «It's certainly not where we thought we would be when we came into camp. We had a magical 2021 year where we were two games from the World Series. We went out and added to what was an incredibly talented group with Trevor Story. We were very optimistic about our chances and where we were headed and incredibly excited that our baseball operations group had just done a fantastic job of building for the future at the same time.

»To be looking up at the American League East at this point of the year is painful and frustrating. And frankly we deserve the criticism we're getting. We've got to own that. It's on us. But we've been around here a long time and we're prepared to turn things around quickly here as we head into '23."

The Red Sox have been marred by injuries this season — including to the aforementioned Story, as well as starting pitchers Chris Sale, Nathan