Should the Red Sox bring back Alex Cora as manager?
After their decision not bring back Ron Roenicke, should the Boston Red Sox re-hire Alex Cora?
The Boston Red Sox will complete a shortened season to forget on Sunday, so some changes should be coming. The first change has already come, with the decision not to bring back Ron Roenicke as manager after just one season.
The Red Sox could go any direction to find their next manager, from younger and less experienced to a more experienced well-known (or at least better-known) name. Even coming off a bad season and the pressure it comes with, the job in Boston will be in demand.
Roenicke was elevated from bench coach when Alex Cora was let go last offseason. Cora was suspended for a year for his role in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scheme as their bench coach in 2017. He led the Red Sox to a World Series win as a first-year manager in 2018, then they missed the playoffs and finished third in the AL East under him last year. MLB also investigated the 2018 Red Sox for sign-stealing and such, but Cora received no further punishment.
Cora’s suspension will expire at the end of the season.
Ron Roenicke is out as Red Sox manager. Cue the Alex Cora speculation.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 27, 2020
Should the Red Sox re-hire Alex Cora?
Cora got great instant results in his first year as Boston’s manager, but he couldn’t get it done the same way in 2019 as injuries creeped in and the performance of some players fell off. Last year’s 84-78 record is not really a referendum on him as a manager, as Chris Sale and David Price combined to make 47 starts with both posting ERAs over 4.00. Cora surely would have gotten a third season as the Red Sox manager, but the one-year suspension forced the team’s hand.
Cora could win five more World Series as a manager doing things “above board”, and he will still carry some of the stigma attached to the Astros’ sign-stealing thing. The Red Sox, since that sign-stealing stain avoided Cora’s work for them, could make a case internally to just bring him back. But surely they can extend their thinking, and at least attempt a real search for a new manager.
Mariners lineup from their last postseason game is something. dark. Next