Alex Cora out as manager

Many have been wondering if the Red Sox were going to fire Alex Cora as manager, and if they were whether or not they would wait until the league issued their punishment for his role in the sign-stealing scandals both here in Boston in 2018 as well as in Houston as their bench coach in 2017. They answer: They will not wait. The team announced Tuesday night that they were parting ways with Cora. Both the team and Cora released statements, seen below.

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Cora is out as manager considering the hefty allegations against him and the expectation that he will get at least a year suspension and possibly more than that. After the Astros fired both A.J. Hinch and Jeff Lunhow following their one-year suspensions, it was hard not to see the Red Sox following suit with Cora.

It was particularly awkward timing here considering the Boston Writer’s Dinner on Thursday and Winter Weekend in Springfield this coming weekend. I’m not going to say those things were the only factors in making this decision so quickly, but it’s hard not to imagine that crossing their mind. More importantly, moving on to find the next manager as quickly as possible this late in the offseason is a major deal, never mind the fact that there is no telling how long this investigation could take.

So, the Red Sox already had a lot of work to do with their roster, and now they can add a managerial search to that list. Earlier today we looked at some candidates who could be considered, and I’d expect to hear more on that front sooner than later.

The team will hold a press conference at 1:00 PM ET on Wednesday. For now, we’ll await more news as punishments to the organization as a whole are revealed. Stay tuned, because it’s still going to get worse before it gets any better!