ORIGINAL POST: The Boston Red Sox have their new manager — at least for now.
The Red Sox are expected to name Ron Roenicke their interim manager, according to multiple reports. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier was the first to report the decision Tuesday.
The decision to go with Roenicke isn’t surprising. He served as bench coach under Alex Cora for two seasons, including Boston’s 2018 World Series-winning campaign. When Cora and the Red Sox mutually parted ways last month after Cora was mentioned several times in Major League Baseball’s ruling on the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, Roenicke — a former big league manager himself — seemed like an obvious choice, especially given the relative late notice.
Late last week, The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham reported Roenicke eventually would be named manager.
Meanwhile, Boston still is waiting to hear, at least officially, from MLB regarding its investigation into the 2018 Red Sox following separate allegations of illegally stealing signs. If the Red Sox are willing to hire Roenicke, that might indicate they don’t expect him to be part of any discipline from MLB.
It’s also interesting to note the “interim” aspect of the news. It’s obviously unusual for a manager to enter a season with an interim tag, but the timing of the decision — the Red Sox and Cora parted ways in mid-January — accelerated the decision-making process. Perhaps the Red Sox decided it was easier to give the keys to Roenicke, a familiar face, and see what he can do in 2020 before making a long-term decision.
Roenicke managed four-plus seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers beginning in 2011. Milwaukee went 96-66 in his first season and reached the National League Championship Series. That was Milwaukee’s only posteason appearance under Roenicke, who was fired 25 games into the 2015 season.
Red Sox pitchers and catchers reported to spring training Tuesday.
UPDATE (2:25 p.m. ET): Here’s an important update from The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:
To be clear on the Roenicke interim label: It’s very possible, perhaps even likely, that the adjective drops by the wayside once MLB completes its investigation. But in the interests of avoiding a cart-before-horse scenario, Sox will name Roenicke interim for start of spring…
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) February 11, 2020
UPDATED (4:05 p.m. ET): The Red Sox announced the move. Roenicke has been named Boston’s interim manager.
