The Red Sox Are Planning To Name Ron Roenicke As Their Next Manager After The Investigation Is Complete

According to a sportswriter who writes for a Boston newspaper, the Red Sox are planning to name Ron Roenicke as their next manager. Roenicke has been my pick since the Alex Cora mutual parting. He's got a winning record as a big league manager, and served as Cora's bench coach in 2018-19. He gets what we do here.

I had a few players ask me at Red Sox Winter Weekend who I thought the next manager would be. I told them Roenicke, and that response was met with universal comfort and approval. They like Roenicke a lot. That goes beyond just the players, too. He's very well liked within the organization, hence this decision.

Now, it's important to note that I don't think Roenicke is in this for the long haul. We're talking one or two seasons tops. Before Cora's dismissal, retirement was on the table for Roenicke. I think what's happening here is that the 63-year-old skipper is doing the Red Sox a solid, giving them an experienced big league manager for a couple of years, while (maybe) Jason Varitek learns under him as a bench coach. Or, he might just be keeping Cora's seat warm for him. Not the most likely scenario that Cora comes back, of course, but I'm not ruling it out. Also not ruling out a scenario where Varitek takes over in two years and brings a familiar face with him as his bench coach, although I've explained why I don't want that to happen.

The Red Sox are still waiting for Rob Manfred to complete his investigation of the 2018 Boston Red Sox team before naming Roenicke as their next manager, but the fact that this news is already coming out means that they know he ain't do shit. The investigation was supposed to be completed in the first week of February, but Manfred switched that up and said that he now hopes for it to be done before camp opens up.

UPDATE:

The Red Sox hiring Roenicke is more than likely going to end up being true, but it's obvious why they don't want people thinking that he's officially the manager. In the unlikely scenario where he's named in the investigation, then yeah. Bad look to "fire" two managers in one offseason.