Depending upon who you believe, the Boston Red Sox may or may not have settled on a new manager.
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported on Friday morning that the Red Sox are planning to name Ron Roenicke their manager as soon as Major League Baseball concludes its investigation into the sign-stealing allegations against the team. Roenicke was Boston’s bench coach for the last two seasons under Alex Cora. However, the Red Sox issued a statement on Friday denying that they have completed their managerial search.
From the Red Sox: “Our managerial search is not yet completed. We will comment at the completion of the search.”
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 7, 2020
Keep in mind that Red Sox owner John Henry also owns the Boston Globe, so the Red Sox are throwing cold water on a report that one of their own employees put out, essentially.
According to a separate report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Red Sox interviewed former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons earlier in the week.
Former #BlueJays manager John Gibbons interviewed for #RedSox vacancy earlier this week, source tells The Athletic. Report from @PeteAbe says Sox plan to hire Ron Roenicke. Per @ChrisCotillo, team issued statement saying search is not yet complete.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 7, 2020
It’s possible that Abraham has inside information that the Red Sox did not want getting out, especially if they are waiting for MLB to conclude its investigation. Roenicke denied last month that he had knowledge of any sign-stealing, but he was with the team during the season in question. That could be why Boston prefers to wait until MLB issues its findings in the investigation.
There was some talk that the Red Sox might bring back a former fan favorite to manage the team now that Cora has been fired, but that is not going to happen. Depending upon what MLB’s investigation finds, some wonder if Boston could even bring Cora back at some point.
