Roenicke named interim skipper

Temporary title to stay until league completes sign-stealing investigation

FORT MYERS, FLA.— It took Ron Roenicke almost five years to get another chance as a major league manager.

He’ll need to wait at least until next week for “permanency.” The Red Sox made Roenicke their interim manager Tuesday, promoting the former Brewers skipper to replace Alex Cora on the day Boston’s pitchers and catchers reported for the start of spring training.

Although there is no expiration date on Roenicke’s tenure, the interim tag will stay until Major League Baseball completes its investigation into whether the Red Sox engaged in illegal sign-stealing during their 2018 World Series championship season. If the probe clears Roenicke, who has denied being part of any rules violations, he is expected to stay.

“We felt that naming Ron our interim manager was the best way to respect the investigation that’s ongoing into our 2018 club. But we feel very strongly about Ron’s ability to lead this group and how well-suited he is for this task,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said in a news conference on the eve of the team’s first formal workout.

“We have no reason to think that there is anything that would cause an adverse result for Ron in this investigation,” Bloom said. “We’re going to respect the ongoing investigation and we’ll address permanency once it’s complete.”

Just one year after winning the World Series in his first season in Boston, Cora was let go when commissioner Rob Manfred named him as a ringleader behind the Astros’ 2017 illegal sign-stealing. The Red Sox have maintained that there was no similar scheme after Cora took over in Boston the next year.

Manfred said last week that he hoped to have the Red Sox investigation completed before the start of spring training. But a person with knowledge of the probe said Tuesday the investigation will continue at least into next week.