The Boston Red Sox have re-hired Alex Cora to be their manager. Cora managed the team to a World Series in 2018 before taking a step back in 2019. MLB would suspend Cora during the 2020 season due to his role in the 2017 Houston Astros' sign stealing scandal and the Red Sox would dismiss him.
The decision was not a surprise although there were indications the team was giving serious thought to Sam Fuld who currently works in the Philadelphia Phillies' front office.
This development is going over very well in Red Sox Nation. Case in point: Jared Carrabis of Barstool Sports:
If you're one of those "I don't want 'em; he's a cheater" pussies, then let's have a little chat. Everybody deserves a second chance. All too routinely, players are suspended for PEDs or off-field actions, they're welcomed back with open arms by their clubs, and fans cheer for them again. Why is this any different? First of all, we're talking about a sports infraction that was not carried out by one singular person and rather a large group of people in this particular case. We're not talking about re-signing Aaron Hernandez here.
Cora was part of the 2017 Houston Astros, and we all know what they did. He was scapegoated after he left because the Astros only tried to rat out those who were no longer in the organization, and the man had just dusted their asses in the 2018 postseason en route to a World Series title. It was clear as day. MLB did their investigation and Cora was cleared of having done anything wrong in Boston. It was all in Houston. If the Astros never wanted to employ him again, I'd understand it. Why he wouldn't get a second chance in Boston is beyond my understanding.
And the biggest thing of all, for me at least, is that AJ Hinch got a job a week ago already. Yeah, we associate Cora with being a manager now because he managed a team to a title, but he was the bench coach in Houston. Hinch was the manager. And that motherfucker got a job in two seconds. Why should Cora be punished more than or held to a higher standard than the captain of the ship? Makes no sense to me. He did his time. He sat out a year. The other thing, and I won't get into details, but the punishment went beyond just having to be away from baseball for a year. This greatly affected his life away from the field and the people close to him. It was a lot. So, yeah. He paid his debt to baseball society and he deserves his second chance. And he deserved to have that second chance in Boston.
Carrabis' argument simply doesn't hold water. Cora was no "scapegoat". He devised the damn system. Nor am I impressed with the A.J. Hinch argument as I made the case the Tigers' decision to hire him sent a bad message and Carrabis is delivering it.
I came close to going back to Boston and, under the circumstances, I'm glad I didn't because I could not bring myself to root for the Red Sox. If Houston Astros' players deserve our ongoing derision then so does Cora. The Red Sox could have chosen to move ahead and chosen a manager whose character is beyond reproach. Instead they have chosen to wear the stench of scandal.
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