Three Thoughts About Mike Lowell Saying He Would Manage The Red Sox If It Meant Alex Cora Returned After Serving His Suspension

Pitchers and catchers are going to start rolling into spring training in just a few weeks, and the Red Sox are currently without a manager. My educated guess — you’re going to have Ron Roenicke as your manager and Jason Varitek as your bench coach. Perhaps not, though, because Mike Lowell has thrown his name in the hat with a technicality.

“I would love to if I knew it was just for a year and Cora was guaranteed to come back,” Lowell said in a text to WEEI.com Saturday morning.

Alright, hear me out. I’ve got three separate takes here. Each one of them could be their own blog, so I’ll try to keep it tight with each thought.

I don’t want Jason Varitek to manage the Red Sox.

I know a lot of fans want Jason Varitek to manage the Red Sox. I do not. Here’s why — the man is a legend in Boston, and while no one can take anything away from what he achieved as a player, I’m not trying to have a man with a pristine record in Boston called into question by the media and possibly even the fans if things don’t go well next season, which is a real possibility given the situation at hand. That, and, as we all know, managers are only hired to be fired. They all have a shelf life. I want Tek in this organization forever. He belongs here and nowhere else. That, and I think he does a phenomenal job behind the scenes. Keep him there. Keep him in Boston.

Someone like Mike Lowell or Ron Roenicke would be perfect for the job.

Red Sox players met with media over the weekend, and were asked what they’d like in their next manager. Xander Bogaerts said something to the effect of, “Someone like Alex Cora.” I know players like Roenicke. Word on the street was that he was contemplating retirement, although it wasn’t entirely clear when, but the sentiment was there. Now, he could be asked to take Cora’s place for a year or two AKA it doesn’t sound like he’d be in it for the long haul. Perhaps the number of years Roenicke would be interested in managing the Red Sox would also line up with the suspension MLB hands down to Cora. It’s an interesting thought.

Roenicke makes sense from a read between the lines standpoint, but Mike Lowell is just telling you outright — I’ll manage the team while Cora’s suspended, but when he comes back, it’s his team again. He’s very similar to Cora in a lot of ways, in terms of his baseball mind and his ability to be hands-on with players. I would love the Lowell hire, if he’s serious about coming in here for a year or two.

The Red Sox should re-hire Alex Cora after his suspension is completed.

Before you start flapping your gums about this take, hear me out. A player gets suspended for PEDs, they sit out for 80 games and then their team welcomes them back, and then everything continues as it was prior to the suspension. Same thing for the domestic abusers. Not that I’m equating stealing signs illegally to PEDs or domestic abuse, but we’re simply saying that in EVERY other case of a person taking a suspension handed down by the league, they serve their time and then they come back regardless of what the infraction was.

The logic against Cora getting rehired will be this — he cheated. He was the ringleader in Houston. It was his idea, his plan, his scheme, his project, his doing. How can he ever be trusted again? Well, the answer to that is simple. First and foremost, you need the 2018 Red Sox investigation report to come out. When it does, the league’s findings will dictate whether or not the Red Sox would ever explore bringing Cora back. If the league’s findings say that they’ve got nothing on the 2018 Red Sox, then why would the Red Sox deny Cora employment for something that he did with another organization, holding a different position, while also admitting that it was a mistake?

I can tell you that the idea of bringing Cora back to the Red Sox after his suspension is up has not officially been discussed at this time. It’s not the time for that, anyway. He’s not going anywhere for a while. But when’s he’s able to gain employment again within Major League Baseball, the Red Sox should bring him back. Go back and watch those interviews with guys like Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts, two of the best offensive players in baseball last year. Who did they credit for the huge leaps that they took forward in 2019? Alex Cora.

Cora fucked up in Houston. He was in too deep. His desire to win at any cost got the best of him. But if players can fuck up, get suspended and come back after serving their penalty for doing way worse shit in the grand scheme of things, then why would the treatment of a manager be any different?