After his time with the Milwaukee Brewers was over, Ron Roenicke had no intentions of managing a Major League Baseball team again. But that opportunity presented itself unexpectedly.
He was hired by the Boston Red Sox before 2018 to serve as Alex Cora’s bench coach. But in the aftermath of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, was promoted to interim manager as the team and Cora mutually agreed to part ways amid the MLB’s investigation into the Red Sox.
Now that the league’s ruling is out on the Red Sox, Cora has been suspended by MLB for his involvement with with Astros for the rest of the year.
ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Wednesday the team is removing Roenicke’s interim tag, making him the permanent manager of the Red Sox for the 2020 season, or whatever can be salvaged of it.
The Red Sox are removing the interim tag from Ron Roenicke's status as manager.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 22, 2020
Confirmed: Red Sox have removed Ron Roenicke's interim tag. He is now the permanent manager, at least for 2020.
First: @Buster_ESPN
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 22, 2020
With all the uncertainty around this season for Boston already, keeping a familiar face around like Roenicke was the right move to provide a shred of stability for the organization.
We’ll see how much in-game managing he actually ends up having to do.