Boston brass claims Cora canning was for Houston
Alex Cora was an extraordinarily successful bench coach and manager, winning consecutive World Series titles with two different franchises. Those organizations are now engulfed in cheating scandals driven by Cora’s decisions. After firing Cora as manager, Red Sox brass pleaded with fans to trust the process, including their capacity to lead the organization past his scandal-ridden departure.
“MLB is doing a thorough investigation, as thorough as what took place in Houston,” said Sox principal owner John Henry. On Monday, MLB released its investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing. As Houston’s bench coach, Cora was in charge of the team’s various sign-stealing systems.
Cora managed the 2018
Red Sox to a World Series title. That team used a live camera feed to track opposing signs, according to The Athletic, a clear violation of league rules. Their sign-stealing methods were similar to the Astros’ efforts the prior year.
While Cora is the common denominator between both teams, Henry allowed some room for the possibility the Sox would be cleared. Henry asked everyone to “reserve judgment until MLB completes its investigation and determines whether rules were violated.”
In keeping with Henry’s wiggle room, team President and CEO Sam Kennedy stated that Boston’s decision to move on from Cora was “related exclusively to the incidents that took place in Houston.”
“We did take steps after the 2017 Apple Watch incident,” Henry added. “We took a number of steps to ensure that that we didn’t have a problem going forward.”
“The organization is well aware of the rules and communicated those to our uniformed personnel and our front office staff,” Kennedy said.
Between Henry, Kennedy, chairman Tom Werner and newly-hired GM Chaim Bloom, the words “reserve judgment” was repeated at least six times on Wednesday.
Though Sox brass shifted the blame towards Houston and Cora, they insisted Cora’s exit was “mutual.”
“I know corporations, companies sometimes put out these statements that ‘we’ve mutually agreed to part ways,’ and it might mean something different,” said Kennedy. “In this case, it did not mean something different. Alex came to the conclusion that he could not effectively lead the organization going forward.”
The Sox leaders were nonetheless nostalgic about Cora’s character and brief tenure with the team.
“Alex is an incredibly selfless man,” said Werner. “I spoke to him today and asked him how he was doing and how his family was doing. He’s just an extraordinary manager and we’ll miss him.”
Kennedy touted his generosity and engagement to the local New England community and in his native Puerto Rico.
“He developed a close relationship with a lot of people here, so we’ll miss him personally,” said Kennedy. “It doesn’t excuse the conduct from the commissioner’s report, but we’ll miss a lot.”
“Virtually all of us see this organization as a family,”Henry said. “That feeling was operating yesterday in making a tough decision, it