Searching for a new manager in mid-January was not something the Boston Red Sox were planning on doing when they were figuring out the approach to this offseason.
But with the mutual agreement between the team and Alex Cora to part ways, Boston now has to figure out who will take over as manager.
Of course, January is an odd time to be searching for a manager. Most teams’ coaching staffs have been set and are planning for spring training, so teams might be reticent to grant permission for the Red Sox to interview candidates. Additionally, spring training does begin in less than a month, so a new manager, particularly an external candidate, would have a lot to do in order to get caught up.
During a press conference Wednesday, Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom indicated that at this point no timetable has been developed on the hiring process.
“We certainly do want to get it done as soon as possible,” Bloom said. “I don’t think we’ve gotten to the point of putting any firm timelines on it. Mainly, our focus to the extent that we’ve been able to start thinking about this has not been on the timetable. Obviously, the sooner the better, and we would love to be able to have as smooth of a spring training as possible, so that’s certainly going to be on our mind, but we haven’t gone to taking the step of putting a timetable on it.”
There are some obvious obstacles in finding a new skipper, but that’s the reality the Red Sox now find themselves in.
