As recently announced, the Boston Red Sox and former manager Alex Cora have agreed to part ways amidst the controversies surrounding the Astros’ and Red Sox; investigations. The search becomes clear and fast, with the season almost around the corner, who will replace Cora?
Ron Roenicke
The 63-year-old bench coach is the quickest solution to become the next manager. A first-round pick of the Dodgers in 1977, Roenicke is the one member of Cora’s staff with big league managerial experience. He oversaw the Brewers from 2011 to 2015, beating out Joey Cora (Alex’s brother) and Bobby Valentine to get the job. He led the Brewers to 96 wins and the NLCS in his debut, finishing second in the Manager of the Year voting to Arizona’s Kirk Gibson. He also oversaw the development of Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, and Jonathan Lucroy. He managed Cora in Double-A in 1997, leaving such an impression to hire him after his signing with the club as manager.
“We didn’t have a good team in that Texas League,” Cora said in 2017. “We barely had prospects, and we ran away with the first half and the second half, and then we won the whole thing. He’s a guy that is always paying attention to the game and pays attention to details. And that’s when I realized, maybe you’re not the fastest one, but you can steal a few bases. Or you don’t have power, but you can look for certain pitches and try to do damage. … He sees the game in a different way. I saw that all the way back then, and I really liked what he did with us.”
Jason Varitek
‘Tek is the fans’ choice on this one. The longtime Red Sox captain has been involved with the organization since 2003. His famous punch on Alex Rodriguez will always make him a fan favorite in Boston, but most importantly, his baseball mind is second to none. He has stayed in the organization since his retirement. In addition, former players have had a lot of success as managers lately.
Matt Quatraro
The Rays’ bench coach will be linked here due to the connection with current Red Sox gm Chain Bloom. He does have more coaching experience than the likes of Varitek, but many people in the region have no clue who he is. He was an eighth-round pick by the Rays in the 1996 draft, but his playing career never took off after he was released by the Yankees in spring training of 2003. From 2010 to 2013, Quatraro was the minor league hitting coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cleveland Indians hired Quatraro to their major league staff as their assistant hitting coach for the 2014 season. The Rays hired him as their third base coach after the 2017 season. When Charlie Montoyo was hired as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays after the 2018 season, the Rays promoted Quatraro to bench coach.
Brad Ausmus
The longest route would be to interview, call and gather information, and then select a candidate through due diligence. This route seems the least likely, but if the team owners decide this is the best course of action, Ausmus might be in consideration. While he does not have the best reputation after tanking with the tanking Detroit Tigers and failing to make a spark with the Angels, he is one of the few bright spots left.
Regardless, the Red Sox have to make moves urgently as this unexpected firing had to happen. Whether it is internally or externally, we will know soon enough who the new manager in town will be.
