:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66102616/usa_today_13773255.0.jpg)
The Boston Red Sox have fired manager Alex Cora, it was announced today. Cora was a bench coach for the 2017 Houston Astros, and in the report issued yesterday by MLB, he was singled out as a ringleader in the scheme implemented by Houston Astros players to illegally steals signs. MLB announced punishments yesterday for the Astros, which included year long suspensions for Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch, each of whom the Astros then fired.
MLB is reportedly investigating other teams, including the Boston Red Sox, whose use of an Apple Watch in the dugout late in 2017 led to the Commissioner’s Office sending a memo clarifying the ban on electronics and making clear the intent to sanction severely teams that violated the rules.
Boston is thought to be the team most likely to get popped, aside from the Astros, and it is expected Cora will receive a suspension like the year long ban Luhnow and Hinch received when the report on the Red Sox is released. It may be firing Cora is an effort to take some sort of anticipatory action to lessen the punishment the organization receives.
Cora led the Red Sox to a World Series title in 2018 in his first season as manager. He interviewed with the Texas Rangers after the 2014 season for the managerial job that ultimately went to Jeff Banister.