White Red Sox Players to Attend White House, Others Not So Much

Alex Cora will not be in attendance when the Boston Red Sox visit the White House as a reward for winning last year’s World Series. Neither will Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, David Price, Jackie Bradley Jr., and several others. Meanwhile, Chris Sale, Steve Pearce, Rick Porcello, Mitch Moreland, Dave Dombrowski and a different faction plan to attend and be feted.

Here’s a handy list of known statuses. The meet-and-greet is expected to take place Thursday.

Notice anything about the players who are going and those who aren’t? Anything that, uh, could present some interesting optics?

Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy, who is going, said the right things publicly about Cora.

"“We fully support Alex and respect his decision,” said Kennedy via text. “He and I have discussed this issue frequently since last November, and I know it was a hard decision for him. I am grateful to (principal owner) John (Henry) and (chairman) Tom (Werner) for creating a culture where we discuss these issues openly, and encourage individual decision-making. I appreciate Alex for talking openly with our team and supporting those who are looking forward to being honored on Thursday.”"

Every person should make up their own mind about what to do when invited to the White House. Reasonable minds can disagree about the best decision and any discord can be preemptively smoothed out in the press.

Perhaps all is fine behind closed doors in that locker room. But if that were the case, would David Price really be tweeting this?

Should be an interesting week.