Somewhat secondary behind the numerous stories about Alex Cora’s fate as Boston Red Sox manager is that the organization now must hire his replacement.
According to Rob Bradford of WEEI, that replacement is somewhat likely to be an unemployed manager with previous experience. Any efforts to poach someone from the Tampa Bay Rays are unlikely, according to him.
Per source, does not appear likely Red Sox managerial candidates will be coming from Rays organization. Too many hoops to jump through. Veteran managers currently without jobs have been surfaced as possibilities.
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) January 15, 2020
Chaim Bloom moved from the Rays last October to become Boston’s chief baseball officer. That led to speculation that the Red Sox could target Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, a frequent managerial candidate with ties to Bloom, but that appears unlikely at this stage of the offseason.
Experienced managers like Dusty Baker and Buck Showalter are out there if the Red Sox go in that direction, though the Red Sox haven’t been linked to anyone specific yet. They could even try to convince Bruce Bochy to cut short his retirement. Whatever the case, an experiened hand may be the best replacement for Cora, who probably won’t be managing anyone for quite a while once MLB hands down its punishment.
