It’s election season, and re-election is on the minds of most Red Sox fans. Not because of the current President of the United States, but because they want Alex Cora back as the manager of the Red Sox. He was infamously involved in the Houston Astros cheating scheme and once the investigation by Major League Baseball had concluded, the Red Sox ownership group has no choice but to let him go.
But that was the saddest I’ve seen an ownership group be about firing a manager. He was–and still is– a hero in the city of Boston and they reluctantly relieved him of his duties.
The Red Sox now have a chance to let him return to the dugout, as he has served his one-year suspension. There have been reports that Boston’s decision-makers flew to Puerto Rico to meet with Cora about the managerial opening and he is reportedly one of the two remaining finalists for the job. While Chaim Bloom has a strong connection with the other finalist, Sam Fuld, he is not the favorite and there’s a clue that leads me to believe that they will bring Cora back.
Ron Roenicke served as the interim manager for the 2020 season before parting ways with the club following the final game they played in Atlanta. Usually, when a team fires their manager and finishes in dead last in their division like Boston did, the front office hires a new manager and lets him pick the majority of his coaching staff.
But that hasn’t really been the case. The Red Sox already decided not to renew the contract of bench coach Jerry Narron three weeks ago (who wasn’t on Cora’s staff) along with bullpen coach Craig Bjornson. The remainder of the staff stayed in place, which includes three coaches who served under Cora in 2018.
Tim Hyers was the hitting coach, Tom Goodwin was the first base coach, and Carlos Febles was the third base coach under Cora and they’ve retained those roles ever since. Assuming Cora gets his job back, you would think he’d want to have most of the same coaches he had when he was the manager and, as mentioned, most of them are still in place.
I’m not saying that a decision was already made before the offseason began, but it’s worth noting that some of Cora’s coaches have been able to stick around through the firing of Roenicke. It is expected a decision on the managerial vacancy will be made in the very near future, if not by the end of the week.
(Photo courtesy of David J. Phillip/AP)
