Former Red Sox manager Alex Cora met in person with the team’s chief baseball officer, Chaim Bloom, and general manager Brian O’Halloran, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday, but the possibility that Cora would return to the job he held in the 2018 and ’19 seasons remains foggy.
Adding to the uncertainty, the Globe said, is that team officials met Monday with another managerial candidate, making it clear that even if Cora, 45, is being considered for a second stint with the Red Sox, they continue to look into alternatives.
Citing two sources, the Globe said Cora and the Red Sox brass met Friday.
The Red Sox finished last in the American League East this past season under manager Ron Roenicke, going 24-36 in the pandemic-shortened season. Roenicke was fired after the season, his only one with the team.
The Red Sox parted ways with Cora last January amid Major League Baseball’s investigation into illegal sign-stealing. Cora was identified by MLB as a ringleader in the Astros’ scheme to steal signs en route to their 2017 World Series championship, when he was Houston’s bench coach.
He subsequently was suspended by MLB in April through the end of the 2020 postseason “for his conduct as bench coach for the Houston Astros in 2017,” commissioner Rob Manfred said at the time.
Cora became Boston’s manager in 2018 and led his new team to the title — albeit with suspicions regarding similar illegal sign-stealing. The following season, his second and last with the Red Sox, the team finished 84-78 and did not make the playoffs.
In announcing Cora’s departure from the team in a statement on Jan. 14, Red Sox principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and CEO Sam Kennedy said, “Today we met to discuss the Commissioner’s report related to the Houston Astros investigation. Given the findings and the Commissioner’s ruling, we collectively decided that it would not be possible for Alex to effectively lead the club going forward and we mutually agreed to part ways. … This is a sad day for us. Alex is a special person and a beloved member of the Red Sox. We are grateful for his impact on our franchise.”
The Globe reported Wednesday that the Red Sox have conducted first-round managerial interviews with at least nine candidates and have moved on to second interviews with at least four: Philadelphia Phillies player information coordinator Sam Fuld, Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, New York Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza and Miami Marlins bench coach/offensive coordinator James Rowson.
None of those candidates has experience as a major-league manager or any history with the Red Sox, making it logical for many to view Cora as the favorite to return to the team, according to the Globe. The newspaper added, however, that Cora doesn’t have an established, in-season working relationship with Bloom, who joined the Red Sox from the Tampa Bay Rays in October 2019.
