After Suspension For Sign-Stealing Scandal, Red Sox Reportedly Rehire Alex Cora

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07 Ноя 2020, 00:09

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The Boston Red Sox have reportedly rehired Alex Cora as the team’s manager. He is seen above as he gestures toward the outfield after a win over the San Francisco Giants in a game at Fenway Park in Boston in 2019.

Charles Krupa/AP

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Charles Krupa/AP

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Red Sox Manager Alex Cora To ‘Part Ways’ With Boston After Sign-Stealing Scandal

As NPR reported, the scheme wasn’t well disguised.

«Witnesses made clear that everyone proximate to the Astros’ dugout presumptively heard or saw the banging,» Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred said.

The Astros won the World Series in 2017, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers.

League investigators did not find evidence that the Astros continued the banging scheme into the 2018 season, but found that the team’s replay review room did use cameras at the ball park «to decode signs» and relay that information to the dugout.

«The Astros’ replay review room staff continued, at least for part of the 2018 season, to decode signs using the live center field camera feed, and to transmit the signs to the dugout through in-person communications,» Manfred said.

The scheme, seen as the biggest scandal to rock Major League Baseball since the steroid doping era, led to a season-long suspension of Astros Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Jeff Luhnow, the team’s general manager. Both were subsequently fired by the Astros on Jan. 13.

Sports
Houston Astros Dismiss Team Manager, General Manager Over Sign-Stealing Scandal

A day later, the Red Sox announced they were parting ways with Cora.

«Today is a sad day for us. Alex is a special person and beloved member of the Red Sox. We are grateful for his impact on our franchise,» team officials said in a statement with Cora.

«We agreed today that parting ways was the best thing for the organization,» Cora said. «I do not want to be a distraction to the Red Sox as they move forward.»

The scandal also impacted the New York Mets organization.

Carlos Beltrán, who played on the 2017 Astros team, had been hired in November 2019 as the Mets manager. Beltrán, the only player named in the cheating scandal, stepped down as the Mets manager before holding his first practice, The New York Times reported.

As ESPN reported, the team Cora comes back to looks nothing like the club he helped lead to a franchise-best 108 wins. This past season, with many top players no longer with the team, the Red Sox finished in last place in the American League East.

Prior to managing the Red Sox, Cora was an infielder for several teams, including Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals.

He also played on the Red Sox team that won the 2007 World Series.