Ex-Red Sox manager Alex Cora was just suspended for 2020 thanks to the role he played as the Astros’ bench coach during their 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and president Sam Kennedy made it sound earlier this week as if they wouldn’t bring Cora back at the end of his ban, but Kennedy may be open to it after all (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). Kennedy told “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” of WEEI that Cora’s “a great baseball manager.” As for whether the Red Sox would rehire him, Kennedy said: “We’ll talk about that down the road. We just removed Ron Roenicke’s interim tag and he’s going to lead our club going forward. I think a lot of Alex’s future depends on how he approaches this suspension period.” For at least this season, Roenicke – Cora’s former bench coach – will manage the team.
More on a couple other American League franchises…
- The Indians have taken a step to compensate the majority of their employees for the foreseeable future during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve committed to paying their full-time staff their entire salaries through at least the end of June, Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com report. Forty of the Indians’ senior staff members took pay cuts so the rest of the full-time staff could receive their typical salaries. The Indians have furloughed part-time workers and interns, on the other hand, but they could make the same amount of money or even more by way of unemployment benefits, according to Passan. While most of the league’s teams have committed to paying their non-player employees through May, the Indians are among the few that we know will extend beyond that point.
- As a result of the season postponement, two fans recently filed a lawsuit against all 30 MLB teams and ticket companies StubHub, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Last Minute Transactions because they haven’t been able to get a refund for tickets purchased for 2020. The Blue Jays are not among the teams that have refused to give fans their money back, however, president Mark Shapiro told Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star. “We have fielded every single call and whenever there has been a hardship, or a circumstance, that has necessitated a refund, we have refunded those tickets,” said Shapiro, who added, “We have not fought any of those and will continue to do that.” Shapiro’s under the impression that the league’s “very close” to announcing “a broader policy on refunds and exchanges.”
They need to bring Cora back, the players love him n when the players happy so are the fans. After all isn’t this why you play baseball? You would have no franchise if there were no FANS to watch it n support it. Bring back Cora!!!
What a stupid comment
Cora should be banned from major league baseball. His future is a laptop and a cell phone and a rental car and frequent flyer miles from scouting players as an independent contractor.
Seriously if you think about what he did while with the Astros, he should be absolutely done without question. And perhaps he passed on the system to folks in the Red Sox tape room? Maybe players squashed it and didn’t want to be involved, but still the backroom kid was doing it. So either he learned it from Cora, or everybody’s doing it !! Anyway, point being Cora should be done in every way.
For stealing stealing signs? GTFOH! You are soft! Big GD deal. I bet you think players should be tossed for throwing at guys too? Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan would say other wise. God this generation are a bunch of GD pansies!
Seriously don’t you think he regrets what happened in Houston?
He absolutely regrets it. He’s out of baseball now. Took one for the team probably did what he was told, and now he’s done. Had a couple nice paychecks though.
@pasha2k
Yeah…fanbases will be in such dire disarray if Cora doesn’t come back to baseball. That’s not the case. No one will care…..fans will move on. Excuse me….they have already moved on. No one comes to see Cora manage. Players play because they get paid to do so. Managers come and go.
What a ridiculous comment. The guy started the Astros sign stealing scandal and you want him managing a team? I can’t believe some of the comments on this site. Are people really this clueless or just joking around
You play baseball to put a winning product on the field that occasionally wins championships. Sentimental favorites do not fit into the equation. Remember Nomar, Jon Lester, Mookie Betts and Brock Holt. All traded, just to name a few.
Once a cheater always a cheater! But I’m sure the Red Sox’s have no problem with that. Just have a scapegoat ready!
Show me the proof of wrong doing they did equaling Houston’s. What the RS did they are paying for, n what Cora made for choices in a Houston, he’s had time to ponder them. As far as Boston goes in the cheating, show me POOF of brazen cheating.
Poof? Poof is what Manfred did to proper penalties.
again, your proof of that is…what exactly?
We need the whole poof and nothing but the poof.
The poof is in the pudding…..sorry…..couldn’t resist. You guys made me LOL, which I needed! Thanks!
They saw no wrong doing by Cora in Boston. If you all know more then show the world the proof!
You are absolutely a clown !! Cora was proven thru the investigation to be the mastermind – the players in Houston got immunity to rat him out and they did. He’s a scum and deserves no place in baseball . He has zero integrity – just like you !’ Lol
This pasha2k must be an idiot or someone just stirring the pot?
Yeah the same people it’s a once a cheater always a cheater will allow Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame
Rose was good enough for it not to matter.
Betting creates an incentive to try to lose. Different issue.
But I thought the Cleveland organization was a bunch of cheapskates? At least that’s what most on this site say constantly.
You’re making it sound like ownership did this.
It says right there, that 40 senior level people were the ones who took pay cuts, so the full time employees could still get paid.
Also ownership has come out and said “enjoy Lindor while we have him” implying that he won’t pay Lindor.
As I first saw the title I thought I’ll be damned, the Dolans are stepping up. But then I saw that Indians executives are taking pay cuts to help out lower paid employees. So, surprise surprise, it’s not the Dolan’s helping anyone out.
Don’t defend the cheapskate owners.
Why are fans having difficulty getting refunds for games that are not being played, and why does one have to show a hardship for it? The teams are waiting for MLB to set policy? What type of policy is non-refundable tickets without offer performance?
Most teams are treating it like a rain cancellation, the ticket is valid for a game in the future.
I’m being told by SeatGeek that since the game game could be rescheduled that my ticket will be valid for that game and that I will not get a refund unless the game is officially cancelled or held without fans. Then they told me that if I can’t make the game that is rescheduled for that I can just sell my tickets… probably for a loss.
I got my refund within 2 weeks after contacting the Blue Jays!!
I live in Canada and have 12 tickets for the Jays/Pirates series in Pittsburgh this June. Obviously that won’t be happening for us. There is zero chance we’ll be able to get to a re-scheduled game in another country during a global pandemic.
Its not a hardship situation for us. Financially we’re fine… and I understand the challenges MLB is dealing with right now. I would take credit if there was a strong possibility that I could make it to a re-scheduled game. But there isn’t. So I will be getting a full refund. Anything less and I’ll become a hockey fan.
That’s what a good business who actually cares about its customers would do.. and hopefully what MLB will do here.
Get back on the horse Boston. Astros proved the material benefits of cheating out weigh the consequences.
honestly, the more and more absurd vent ive seen about these two cheating incidents has more and more disillusioned me with the punishments in general. who cares if Hinch and Cora come back. if i were a fan of those respective teams id be hoping for it.
“As for whether the Red Sox would rehire him, Kennedy said: “We’ll talk about that down the road. We just removed Ron Roenicke’s interim tag and he’s going to lead our club going forward. I think a lot of Alex’s future depends on how he approaches this suspension period.””
Translation: “Heck yeah, we’re going to rehire him, no one cheats like Alex but we can’t admit to it yet so we’ll talk about that down the road. We just removed Ron Roenicke’s interim tag right before the suspensions were announced to make it look like we are changing the culture here and he’s going to lead our club going forward until the moment we can rehire Cora will minimal blowback. I think a lot of Alex’s future depends on how he approaches this suspension period…so, as long he keeps his mouth shut and knows what’s best for him and everyone else, we’ll reward his complicity when we can.”
I didn’t take it that way at all. My translation is: “the guy’s been kicked out for a year I’m not going to jam him up more than what has already been done. We’ve already got a manager it’s Ron Reineke. Best of luck to Alex in his future endeavors.”
Cora made bad mistakes in Houston, not in Boston unless you know more, then give us the proof.
If you’re referring to me, I’m not saying he did anything wrong in Boston.. I’m saying it’s possible. The video room guy did it and he learned it somewhere. Cora is gone and done and not rehireable because of what he did in Houston. Not Boston.
Even I could figure out on my own how to steal signs from videos. I wasn’t responding just to you but for everyone putting their spin on what Cora did. The RS should rehire him, the players adore him n the fans love the players. Cora learned his lesson in Houston, n he’s a great guy, never threw anyone under the bus but himself, unlike AJ, n all the Houston players who brought cheating to an all time high with brazenness. The RS team did none of that, no banging no attitudes, n from day one the players were open n forthcoming about the cheating, ex JD, X man, both were sincere n open.
You make valid points but I’m still not hiring Cora again. He had his time in the sun, he’s made a lot of money but he’s done. Huge mistake now go Scout for a living.
Bet some team will give Cora another chance to manage in the future.
That would be unfortunate
Exactly. Then they wonder why there fans are such lunatics
Lawyers gonna lawyer…
Blah Blah, all this will be forgotten by the time MLB gets to play baseball in 2021.
IMO, Manfred went light on both the Asteriks and the Red Sox. I think he went light on Crane, Luhnow, Hinch and Cora. Bans/multiple year suspensions seem about right to me. IMO, he also should’ve punished Beltran.
That said, Manfred does what HIS bosses want him to do, and the owners just want to move on from these scandals and protect their product. I understand that from a purely fiscal perspective. But, I hate it from an ethical standpoint. I wish that any/all forms of cheating were properly rooted out and punished severely. I wish our game didn’t have any cheating, even tho the stakes are so high now, in all pro sports, that one has to accept that using any advantage, against the rules or otherwise, will always be used by at least “some.”
Final thought on the Red Sox. I do think the punishment was light, but I also think that many other teams were VERY likely doing the same thing (electronic sign stealing) since the video rooms were created and Manfred/owners let as much slide as they possibly could (Astros evidence was simply too strong, Red Sox weaker, but I guess strong enough). As I suspect half the teams in baseball were doing what the Sox were doing, or close, the punishment to the Red Sox is probably fair in light of the fact that all the other likely teams didn’t even get investigated. And….how could they?? Have 12 teams investigated? Owners simply wouldn’t allow it.
I hope the illegal sign stealing is behind the sport now, and if we’re lucky we get some games in 2020 one way or the other. And…may 2021 be a “normal” year. For the the record, these are just my opinions…..I have “no poof.” Stay healthy everyone!
Only suspend Cora for cheating yet ban Pete Rose for betting on WINNING!
Rose signed an agreement
Plenty of great managers out there that don’t cheat. NEXT
I think there should be a push for Pete Rose to be reinstated. He has a benchmark to go by now.
I agree with you 100% about Rose getting reinstated. We all make poor decisions in our lives n we need to be forgiven. Rose is a fantastic player n should be celebrated as one of t hg e best who ever played.
Thats wrong. You’re misunderstanding the concepts of forgiveness and Punishment.
Forgiving Pete, yes. Absolutely. Given a new chance. Yes.
But the price has to be paid for the crime committed. Is he in jail? No. Is he still punished for what he’s done? No, it’s over. He lives his life. The punishment was, no Hall of Fame. You can’t go back on that. It was the agreed punishment for the crime committed. Now you want to retract that? That’s wrong. He even agreed to it and signed off on it. Probably so he wouldn’t go to jail LOL probably so he wouldn’t face worse. He agreed to the punishment and it’s been paid. Now he’s free to live as he chooses as a free man. It’s over.
Well put
Nope.
Double NOPE! Nope to bringing Cora back, and nope to reinstating Rose.
Cora deserves another chance since he was not cheating in Boston. Who were the 3?players who reported Boston to the commoner? Do you think it is possible they were the ones that benefited from Watkins video play?
Is this Alex Cora’s mother? An Alex Cora burner account? Are you getting paid to shill for him? Or is it just unabashed adoration that makes you dump all your ethics?
Eight posts all repeating the same garbage on one article. Give it a rest, please.
Oh pluuuiieeeeeeze.
Xtra you need an attitude re check.
Agreed. I thought that also. Is this pasha2k a phoney account or is he really this clueless
I can not believe people are comparing Cora to Rose, 1st point Rose has served 31 years of his Ban and Cora was just suspended. What Rose did had no impact on the games being played, Cora’s actions directly impacted the games! IMHO Rose should be re-instated now and Cora Should be re-hired in 31 years!!!!
Rose had no impact on the games being played? LOL. That’s the best joke I’ve heard all day.
Rosa’s punishment was lifetime ban from baseball. 31 years served and 31 plus forever to go.
I agree Rose paid his dues.
If ya ain’t cheatin’ ya ain’t tryin’!
I also was a big pusher for Pete to go “IN” but what soured me was the constant lies and denials. time after time- year after year and when he finally came clean he was trying to push his new book. Same goes for Lance Armstrong in my eyes…. i’ll give you the benefit of doubt but when you keep serving S#^t and tell me its prime rib enough is enough!!!!!