Alex Cora Re-Hired as Red Sox Manager After 1-Year Suspension

The Boston Red Sox have rehired Alex Cora to lead their team, the club announced Friday.

He replaces Ron Roenicke, who Boston fired after one season in charge. He served as Cora's bench coach when Cora managed the Sox in 2018 and 2019.

A Major League Baseball report uncovered that Cora, a former Houston Astros bench coach, played an integral role in Houston's illegal sign-stealing schemes during its 2017 World Series-winning campaign.

The Sox fired Cora on Jan. 14, one day after the report dropped. In April, MLB suspended him for the entire 2020 season.

Boston named Roenicke the interim manager in February and removed the interim tag in April.

Roenicke was in a no-win situation this season, however, as the team sank to a 24-36 record with a roster that had lost much of its talent from its World Series-winning team in 2018. Some remaining talent also struggled mightily in 2020.

The Red Sox went 108-54 in 2018 with an 11-3 mark in the postseason en route to a World Series title under Cora. In 2020, though, they finished dead last in the American League East during a season shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In between, the Sox finished third in the AL East with an 84-78 record in 2019, 19 games behind the New York Yankees for first.

A litany of reasons has caused the decline, including the trade of 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers as a cost-cutting measure, the decline of slugger J.D. Martinez (1.031 OPS in 2018 versus .680 OPS in 2020) and Tommy John surgery for staff ace Chris Sale. As well, starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez missed the 2020 season because of COVID-19 and myocarditis, Boston lost Andrew Benintendi to a rib injury and the pitching staff finished 2020 with a 5.58 ERA.

Other reasons have played into Boston's decline as well, but anything that could have gone wrong for the Sox lately has gone wrong as the team scuffles its way into a new decade.

The Red Sox will hope Cora helps restore the glory days and change the franchise's fortunes after a rough couple of years.