Red Sox find the partnership they are now willing to bank on

DENVER - It seemed somewhat odd Craig Breslow appeared at Coors Field seemingly out of thin air.

The Red Sox chief baseball officer hadn't been in Los Angeles for the Dodgers series, and when there was no sign of him in Colorado for the first game of his club's series against the Rockies it simply appeared as though assistant GM Eddie Romero would be the lone front office representative on this trip. But just before the start of Tuesday's tilt, Breslow arrived.

The surprise wasn't limited to just the players, media or anybody else tracking such things. Alex Cora had no idea his boss was coming.

So, why was he there?

"I think this is the type of thing that is important enough that it gets done face-to-face," Breslow explained.

As it turned out, this "type of thing" happened to be punctuation on one of this Red Sox season's biggest storylines. Breslow was making sure Cora wouldn't be flying home without a contract extension.

"He became the closer yesterday," Cora said.

The arranged marriage had officially blossomed into what the Red Sox' ownership group now deemed a perfect relationship. Three years. Just more than $21 million. And a whole lot of answers to more than six months of questions.

"We’ve obviously had some conversations. I came out here with the expectation that this is close enough that we can get it over the line," Breslow explained. "We should do this in person. I didn’t tell Alex I was coming.

"So, when he looked up and saw me, I think he was probably, like, ‘Huh. OK. We’re here to do something.’ He was fantastic and honest through the process about what was important. He shared that. We knew that he appreciated the way the organization had taken care of him."

The Mile High meeting was not only impactful, it was symbolic. Breslow and Cora were no longer two entities feeling each other out while a good portion of the outside world surmised that a parting of the ways was inevitable.

Would Breslow find a larger comfort level with someone else?

Was Cora intent on leveraging his reputation in baseball for a payday somewhere else?

What was the financial levels this ownership group was willing to go, with Craig Counsell's $8 million-a-year payday still hovering over every managerial contract situation?

All of the answers came neatly wrapped up and delivered thanks to Breslow's trip West.

"I think the timing of this was such that, when it felt right for both sides to get across the line, it did get across the line," Breslow said. "If either side didn’t feel completely comfortable, then this wouldn’t have happened. That’s okay, too. But I think when it got to a place where I was convinced that he was absolutely the right guy to lead this team and this was the place he wanted to be and he was comfortable here and his family was comfortable here, it was like, ‘Why are we waiting? We can have honest conversations.’ I think more than anything, this process has brought out the most authentic elements of our relationship, which is great."

"The relationship between me and Craig has grown the last six, seven months," Cora explained. "Obviously, the relationship I have with ownership and Sam (Kennedy) is very important. At the end of the day, like I said, there's probably a lot of places that are going to open up at the end of the season. Some of them are maybe very inconvenient for the family. I really … I promise you this decision was more based on the comfort of my family than actually my professional career. I feel very comfortable with who I am, what I bring to the equation on a daily basis from 7 to 9:45 (p.m.). And obviously the preparation that takes into place for that but just the comfort of them. I see them and they love this. They're seven. Camila, like I said, she’s going to graduate. I think life has taught me throughout the years that comfort and taking care of the family is more important and I think that was one of the reasons we decided to engage. Finally, we got it done."

So, how did they arrive here?

For starters, Cora has truly impressed Breslow - who ownership gave the thumbs-up, or thumbs-down when it came to keeping the manager. That became clearer and clearer not only in their actions and interactions, but also in subtle sound bytes and references.

There was also each man's open-mindedness to learning from each other, a trait that is often hard to find when two people of power are asked to navigate a baseball season (and offseason).

Cora had merged nicely with Dave Dombrowski. But the same couldn't be said for the former president of baseball operations and ownership. When it came to Chaim Bloom, there were enough differing of opinions and approach that it became clear this was not going to be a great fit going forward.

Ownership rolled the dice that keeping Cora and seeing how he fit with the next chief decision-maker was worth a shot. They liked Breslow. They liked the manager he was inheriting. Considering the on-the-fly options, living with the uncomfortable settings that came with such a dynamic the Red Sox deemed it worth the gamble.

The gamble seemingly has paid off. Comfort has come with this contract extension.

"I had a feeling that if everything kept growing, relationship-wise, we were going to be in a good spot," Cora said. "I was very open about it, especially the last few weeks. For everything that matters, when you’re making a decision like this, a commitment like this, at the end of the day the Coras and the Felicianos they’re my favorite team, they’re my No. 1 team. I was very open to Craig, to ownership, to Sam (Kennedy) about it. I’m just glad we got a deal done. Now everybody can concentrate on what really matters is where we’re at right now. We had a (expletive) game today and we have to be better."

The "expletive game" was a 20-7 loss to the Rockies that included a bench-clearing fracas that contributed to the Red Sox' clubhouse needing to fight off some understandable anger. Fortunately, the players use the Cora news to push aside the sad trombone of road trip, with the managerial news offering the kind of hope this group is grasping for this time of year.

"When I walked into the clubhouse, I got a round of applause, which means obviously, those players care about him," Breslow said. "They know how special he is. I think the city of Boston knows how special he is. We’re really excited about what we can do together."

There was one more question: When did these negotiations - which both sides insisted would never take place during the season - take root?

"The last few weeks ... or months," said Cora with a smile.

"It might have been two weeks or it might have been two months," was Breslow's response.

The two most important bosses in the Red Sox organization are on the same page. It's been a journey, and now it's a start.