6:15pm: The Red Sox have also interviewed Marlins bench coach James Rowson, Speier tweets.
5:46pm: The Red Sox have asked the Twins for permission to interview their bench coach, Mike Bell, according to Speier.
3:33pm: Boston has also interviewed Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, Kevin Acee of the San Diego-Union Tribune tweets.
10:45am: The Red Sox interviewed Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta for their vacant managerial post last week, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports. It’s the second time in the past year that Urueta has interviewed for the position. He was also a candidate after Alex Cora was let go, although the team opted to instead stick with an internal option in Ron Roenicke, who won’t return as skipper in 2021. Meanwhile, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Sox interviewed Pirates bench coach Don Kelly as well.
Urueta, 40 in January, has held his current position in Arizona for three seasons. He’s previously served as Arizona’s minor league field coordinator in addition to managing the Diamondbacks’ Rookie-level affiliate, managing in the Dominican Winter League and managing Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The 40-year-old Kelly has fast risen as a popular managerial candidate after retiring as a player following the 2016 season. The longtime Tigers utilityman began working in Detroit’s player development part upon retiring and moved to their scouting staff the next year. He was hired as Houston’s first base coach for the 2018 season and hired as the Pirates’ bench coach under rookie skipper Derek Shelton last offseason.
There’s considerable speculation that Cora could return to Boston after his suspension for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal has been served. That ban runs through the current postseason. However, the Red Sox have also reportedly interviewed Cubs third base coach Will Venable and, per Heyman, could talk to Dodgers first base coach George Lombard.
I know this is not exactly breaking news, but I still feel as if Cora is their man.
cora cheated twice, i dont think so
I would have to agree.
I won’t be happy as a fan, unless Cora returns.
I won’t be happy as a fan if they hire a sleazebag cheater to manage the team.
So the manager is a sleazbag and banned like some leper? Why not ban every guy, like u want to ban Cora who uses some banned substance forever? Why not ban all the player’s who got named in that Astros scandal? You know.. The players who got off scot free, without serving *1* single day’s suspension?
Those players surely must have benefited, since the team lost top 2 picks 2 years running! Where are those guys sitting on the sidelines?
I’m fed up with seeing crybabies hammering on Cora when he had to sit out a year, where are you union freaks getting on the ones who personally benefitted? Hiding in the woodwork with the rest of the termites?
john.. I don’t think any of the Astros players are being considered for the Red Sox managers job.
It’s got nothing to do with the Red Sox job. It’s the same bunch of chronic whiners, who hammer away at the Houston organization, Red Sox organization, Cora and Luhnow personally yet NEVER say 1 thing regarding the players themselves, who personally DID the acts which cost Houston, Boston picks and Luhnow and Cora suspensions.
I see no justice in baseball until players start5 being actually penalized for acts they perpetuate and THOSE Houston and Red Sox players involved in the 2017-18 scandals walked away scot free, which is what I posted above. nothing to do with Cora’s possibility as new manager, just any lack of accountability for any players involved and it stinks to….
I think most fans agree that those players who cheated should have served some sort of suspension. Personally, I would’ve been OK with lifetime bans for everyone involved.
Ask Trevor Bauer what he thinks about the Astros players not being punished. Or a myriad of other Union freaks in the Players Union. Players wanted them punished.
John,
America is the land of redemption but how about doing something, anything to show you’re a changed person? Let him spend a year managing in the minors, taking a bus from city to city, staying in a fleabag motel.
Lets start at the heart of the problem John. The players association protected the cheaters which is a huge issue going forward. The players association needs to be lock step with the commissioner in trying to find out the truth. If a player was to get suspended for not being truthful during an investigation then they would have motivation to provide the facts. If the facts are specific to players who cheated and players who didn’t cheat then suspend the cheaters like they do for drugs except start at a higher level. 1 year for first time offenders, 5 years for second time offenders and life for third time offenders.
If that had been the case, Cora would have gotten a 5 years suspension which to me would have been more equitable. The key Astro players would have gotten a year as would have any Red Sox players. The game would have taken a hit but it would have cleaned itself up dramatically.
It’s not fair to compare players gaining an advantage on every at bat to what the Red Sox did. Both deserve punishment but the impact to the outcome of games was dramatically different. The Astro cheating was by far the most prolific cheating in the history of baseball. They dwarfed the 1919 world series and the 5 games impacted. They potentially impacted 90 games and 3 playoff series including the world series. No cheating in history impacted so many games.
The ethics of what Rose did is not easily comparable to this but if fans were betting for the Astros on home games because they knew about the cheating then the gambling aspect of this also dwarfs what Rose did.
3 guys got 1 year for the worst abuse of the rules in history. Every fan and player that got cheated should be angry and the only way to fix things is to get the player association to cooperate with the commissioner during the investigation of allegations about cheating. Without that, the truth won’t come out and the integrity of the game is in jeopardy.
I agree the guilty should be punished for their actions. That’s why baseball as an industry should recognize the commissioner didn’t give severe enough penalties and turn their backs on Cora, Hinch and Beltran for several more years. We all believe people deserve a second chance but if the punishment was not appropriate I say they lose their right to the second chance.
The commissioner is responsible for the Astro players getting off free. He should resign
I disagree. The commissioner got screwed by the Player’s Association when they chose to represent the cheaters not the clean players who didn’t participate in the cheating in Houston or Boston or anywhere else.
The commissioner had his hands tied and believe me I’m not a fan of his but he was in a no win situation because of the player’s union. If they worked with him and told players that if they weren’t forthcoming with the truth they would be suspended, the details of who participated would have been much more likely to have been uncovered. That detail would have given the commissioner the chance to suspend players for their actions along with coaches, front office and owners. Whoever was culpable should have been suspended.
Let me also be clear that if the commissioner resigned baseball would have a great chance to bring in someone who could create a better atmosphere for the good of the industry. Being the in between person that tries to keep the owners and players happy hasn’t really worked. The dynamic between the two organization and fans needs to change going forward to improve the product and increase future revenue and profits for all.
Negotiating with the MLBPA regarding that issue had to be pressed exactly how important it was to the integrity of the game to punish those involved in that particular scandal, rather than the union, doing what all unions do.. circling the wagons and defending everyone for everything as long as possible until the court of public opinion makes it impossible.
The good of the game is worth a whole lot more than the good of a union which has no clue.
Exactly sorayablue – Being upset at Cora, Luhnow, and Hinch doesn’t mean we feels the players should have skated by with no punishment. Far from the case.
Alex Cora is like observing lent for the Roman Catholics. If the thing is so destructive to give it up for several months, why not give it up full time and forever?
Interesting take on lent, I’ve never thought of it that way, you’re right
I’m with you, bring him back and his brother should be the bench coach!
I would be more concerned about lack of talent
I will drop the Red Sox after 60 years if Cora returns. It shows a complete lack of integrity.
Agreed.
These seem to be a continuation of new paradigm for managers; i.e., getting someone who has Front Office experience (Hinch, e.g. or Craig Consul). It’s a good idea; makes the field manager part of the REAL management staff, and not just the “shop foreman”. Also tends to keeps the manager from siding with the players if there’s a dispute.
Go with someone new here. Do not bring Cora back.
Don Kelly would be interesting manager to have. Most clubs are looking at former catchers as managers and Kelly wasn’t one to play that position. He does have a pretty good baseball IQ
Don would probably be a good choice for Detroit. Why not give him a 1 year deal and see how it pans out
I’m also a fan of Ozzie Guillen on a 1 year deal.
I thought Lombard was with the Giants. In San Francisco.
i thought you meant with the giants in pittsburgh
Never with the Braves? In Milwaukee?
They just hired a new GM a year ago. They should hire a new Manager. Start fresh. If they bring Cora back everyone is going to assume they’re cheating.
pretty sure Bloom doesnt want Cora. so if they bring him back then I would think that comes higher up
Why would bringing Cora back make people assume they’re cheating!? I get that he was part of the Houston club that cheated… but bringing Cora back or not to Boston shouldn’t lead people to assume the Red Sox are now cheating… that’s kind of an odd leap there that I dont quite understand.
Jeff.. well the Sox cheated with Cora as manager. Not nearly to the extent as with the Astros, but they still cheated.
Once a cheater, always a cheater! Haven’t you ever heard that phrase?. Cora probably has cut corners in every aspect of his life even prior to the Red Sox and Astros. The fact that he might not have gotten caught but did twice while only convicted once is enough of a trend to scream “stay away from this guy’
I believe Bloom understand that but if ownership who has been nothing short of bizarre in their decision making in the last year forces it on Bloom, they own the mistake and consequences just like the first time they forced him on the Boston fans and he tainted our 2018 season.
Stay away from the poison. Move on and leave the baggage behind. Cora is a cancer to the organization. We are cancer free right now, lets stay that way.
I sometimes wonder if people like you know that every team attempts to steal signs as much as possible. If you think using digital tech is a bridge too far, sure, let’s stop the advance now. But I don’t understand how you can be so MORALLY OUTRAGED at something that everyone does.
It’s like someone who speeds constantly being offended that someone else also speeds, but with a radar detector. I don’t get it.
Oh and I’m a Cardinals fan before you assume I have some Astros/Red Sox related bias
Funny how you said people like me. I’m a former college player who went on to coach elite travel programs to help young players get drafted. I’m fully aware of how advantages in the game help a team win. I understand the mind games played by teams and I research all types of cheating and it’s impact to the games played. I am morally outraged that Ty Cobb was allowed to sharpen his spikes and hurt other players. I’m not morally outraged when a runner on 2B figures out the signs and relays them to the batter. I am morally outraged when a fan in the stands uses binoculars and a decoding system to relay a type of pitch to the batter.
Your speeding comparison is not similar. A sports event is measured by it’s outcome. If an outcome is changed by cheating, the result is tainted. There are many ways to impact a sports event so the action needs to impact the factors that determine who wins. In baseball, that’s runs. The Astros impacted runs scored by increasing their batting average as a team in every game they knew what pitch was coming. Consequently, any game impacted may have had a different result.
How does that compare to other cheating? Let’s start with stealing signs the old fashioned way. Runner on 2B has a right to watch the catcher and relay the signal, that’s why multiple signs or alternate sign systems were developed. Is that cheating? NO. He could yell out the pitch from second but the pitcher would step off. So his signaling the batter is the best way to communicate it. If you played you’d know that one bad call by the runner completely disrupts the cheating so many pitchers suspecting a runner of tipping off the batter will send a signal to the catcher to go to the alternate signals. One failed attempt ends the sign stealing or gamesmanship since it’s not against the rules.
I’m outraged when the rules are broken to the degree they were with the Astros. The integrity of the game is critical. The reason the punishment for the 1919 world series was so great was the fear of organized crime taking over the outcome of games. Organized crime still exists today but in many different forms. Knowledge of advantages in games are passed to the gamblers of the world who will profit from the knowledge. If anyone other than Astros knew about their advantage and bet on the Astros as a result, the very thing that was feared in 1919 was happening in 2017. Shouldn’t we all be morally outraged by that event? That’s a whole other level of cheating that’s not talked about with respect to the Astros season but has the potential for a million or even billion dollar impact on the gaming organizations that soon will be tied to baseball.
So if you think everyone has fans in the stands relaying signals to the dugout or some other party and they are passing it along to hitters on every pitch, you need to come forward with that information. If everyone has someone peeking at the screens in the media room with a translator or converter to decode the signals and then sends them through hand signals to the player on second base so they might be able to help the batter, well that’s NOT what I’m morally outraged about. It’s cheating and deserves punishment but impacts very few pitches in a game and is far less likely to impact the outcome. It’s punishment worthy but nowhere near as punishment worthy as a real-time system that tells batters every pitch. That’s what triggers my morally outraged reaction.
If your Cora do you want to come back to the Red Sox? That team is years away from winning again.
Remember 13? We were years away from winning after 12 with Valentine. Never with a big market team.
I really hope they bring Cora back… I understand all the stuff about cheating in Houston and all that… but he just clearly had a great relationship with the Sox players and handled the media incredibly well — which is really saying something in a sports town like Boston. I think he’s definitely the best man for the job, and I hope that they (and everyone else) can look past and forgive him for the mistakes he made in the PAST and move forward in giving him another chance. People make mistakes, and I’m not saying that makes what he did okay… but he’s human and got caught up in the heat of things with the Astros… he’s served his time and I think he deserves another shot given how good he was with the group of players the Sox have and with dealing with the media and everything else that goes along with it.
The team needs a manager who knows how to use a pitching staff not a babysitter to pamper adult men making over a half million a year to play baseball. If our players need that type of manager, trade em. Maturity is a big part of winning and if they need a baby sitter, we need new players. I for one, don’t believe they need a Cora=type manager, they need a savvy manager who knows how to set a line-up, knows how to manage a pitching staff and knows how to use analytics and baseball knowledge to be successful. Cora doesn’t qualify. and I didn’t even mention he’s a serial cheater.
Nope. I don’t disagree with you but Cora’s image is tarnished forever. It’s time for the Red Sox to move on.
Thank you Jeff. They forget the good relationship he had with key players. We are a ppl who want to forgive wrong doings n judgements. The RS cheated with Apple watches BEFORE Cora got there n yet some ppl even blame him for that. As a fan we love the players who play the game we love n want the best situation fir them. Remember what happened when they brought Valentine into the fold?
We need to think like an intelligent front office should think. Cora embarrassed the organization and tainted the 2018 WS win. He should be in our rear view mirror.
If you hire him and he cheats again, you have egg on your face. If you hire him and you win everyone will ask how he cheated to get you to the win. There is no win scenario with Cora so let him go forever!!
Move forward with a guy Bloom wants so he is fully accountable for any success or failure going forward.
Hire Billy Beane.
The cheating issue even Cora or Hinch, it’s the spoiled players who did the cheating, but suffered NO consequences. They should have sat out a year with no pay…
Next interview will be Blake Swihart.
Swihart was like 2 whole front offices ago for them
It seems like the Red Sox are in panic mode. I am just happy that mode led them to trade Betts. Red Sox fans are trying to pretend they got a good return, but that will not last long.
Not paying Betts 365 million over a long span is a good enough deal for me.
Why? It’s not your money.
Look up how much the Red Sox make each year in profits then rethink your comment because you have a choice either give the money to the owners and we win 1/3 of your games or give it to Mookie and win 2/3 of your games. Based on the profitability of the Red Sox, not signing Mookie was a huge mistake both from a winning standpoint and a profitability standpoint. How much more merchandising dollars come from championships versus worst finishes in history? There is NO justification for not signing Mookie long term. LAD was brilliant to do it. They will be competitive for years to come. Not the competitive they are used to but winning rings competitive.
The last thing anyone wants is for the NYY or LAD to figure out how to win since they have more money than everyone else. Giving them Mookie is baseball’s second worst nightmare to the Yankees getting him and winning world series like they did from the 20s to 1962.
If Mookie wanted to stay in Boston, or return to Boston after this year, he wouldn’t have signed long-term with LA. The bottom line is, he wanted out of Boston. The Sox tried to negotiate, but Mookie was the one who said he wanted to test Free Agency, then signed a huge deal practically as soon as his plane landed at LAX.
Yep. What do you suppose made him want out? The fans loved him. He loved his team mates. He had lots of local charities and his wife seemed happy.
Could the ownership have alienated him in negotiations? If so, it was really never about the money it was about the people he was working for and the respect they didn’t show him. Could he have felt they had race issues? Sure but we’ll never know for certain. All we’ll know is what you said, he wanted out badly when he was the face of the franchise. Nobody gives up all that he had for something as meaningless as the weather, whatever the issue was it was extremely significant to Mookie as a person not a player. He had it all in Boston and walked because something was very, very wrong.
We’ll never know but he earned his contract in LAD and if Boston had offered as much I’m not sure he would have taken it rather than waiting for free agency because something was very wrong in Boston for Mookie. He was revered by the fans and his team mates. It would be nice to know what ownership/front office did to piss him off so badly. Whatever it was it hurt the value of their investment for years to come. Without being competitive revenues will drop as compared to what they would have been with Mookie. Lucky for them the Patriots lost Brady and some of their followers as well.
Without a winning team, profits will be down and this ownership group will be remembered more for their screw-up than their four rings by diehard Red Sox fans and the media. Read the latest by Rosenthal, he’s opened the door for others to follow about the horrendous decision ownership made with Mookie. They will be roasted for years, especially if LAD wins multiple rings thanks to the deal.
You won’t be saying this when Mookie starts declining 4 years into his contract and we’re stuck with an albatross contract. I’m happy we got something back, I was pushing to trade him earlier IMO.
I agree not letting him go to the Yankees- that was my biggest fear. But he’s miles away in LA now. I could care less. He will decline down the line with that contract.
Most interesting name to me is Skip Schumaker. He had a glove for every position and a very high IQ. I always liked the way he played the game, can only imagine his managerial style would be close to the same.
breaking news: Red Sox interview everyone
Hoping the Dodgers lose in 7 so they’ll fire Roberts. He’d be a good candidate to manage the Sox. Great history in Boston.
if Roberts cant win with baseball’s most talented team in several shots then he shouldn’t be managing a team with any high expectations in the near future.
Believe me, I thought about that but consider that, besides the 2 games in this post season, his ace has not been effective and his BP hasn’t been consistent. Also, 2 of the teams he was competing against in the World Series were potentially cheating.
Certainly can’t blame what happened last night on Roberts. That was a circus of errors.
His stolen base in game 4 of the ’04 ALCS does not equate great history in Boston. If he loses this series i doubt the Dodgers fire him but if they did i don’t think a higher pressure market is the answer to his problems
Without that steal, Sox are are golfing a couple days later. Type “Most important moments in Red Sox History” (I just did) in your search engine. That steal is in every one I clicked on. The man will never have to pay for dinner in bean town ever again.
Sox hire Joe Buck to manage team, allowing him to take weekends off to fulfill his broadcast obligations.
Buck names John Smoltz as Pitching Coach, and is then embarrassed when Smoltz goes to the mound to talk to the pitcher, and the pitcher falls asleep.
Buck is replaced on weekends by Mark DeRossa, who claims to have played with every Sox player on the current roster, and every player in Red Sox history.
I have never heard such hateful comments from any supposed RS fans. Haven’t any of you made poor decisions that you regret? Think bout that n if you weren’t able to have a second chance.
Hateful? How about an appropriate level of contempt for a person who cheated in Houston then brought it to Boston. He got his second chance when they didn’t ban him for life. He did far more wrong than the 1919 White Sox players. He impacted games both in Houston and Boston, the 1919 cheaters affected 5 games. He won two world series while cheating. That surpasses all the wrongs in baseball history. Everyone should have contempt for him and his actions. Hatred is your word not mine. Contempt for him not being banished for several years is my feeling.
If he cheats again, he’s a serial cheater (assuming he’s been caught the only two times he cheated in baseball). Maybe his third chance is to donate his time to some cause that helps him repent for what he did to the sport that gave him so many opportunities in his life. Baseball gave this guy everything and he still disrespected it twice. Let him find a new way of living to help him understand how nice he had it before he cheated, then cheated again. And those are only the ones we know about! Don’t put words in people’s mouths. It’s contempt not hatred.
KD17, spot on.
I expect to be interviewed next week.
Spit on hateful perfect fans who never ever made a bad error in judgement. I guess you both are perfect, so I congratulate you both being the only 2 ppl on earth who are perfect.
I meant SPOT on not spit
Once again with hateful. Wow, you are one of those people! Now I understand. You are trying to sway opinion by exaggerating what people say to twist it into a negative. Now it is really clear why you like Cora, you are two of a kind. Always trying to get an edge by cheating. You cheat with your words and he cheats in the game of baseball. Kindred spirits. I get it.
The “Alex Cora favorite for Red Sox job” seems like spin. MLBTR keeps “quoting” this but it seems more like speculation and lacks any evidence. I’m indifferent to bringing back Cora but with so many fans passionately apprised to seeing him return they should just play it safe and permanently move on.
I think Alex Cora served his suspension and should be allowed to resume his job as Red Sox manager.
Schumakers’ getting a Managerial job this year or next.