The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora on Tuesday, one day after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred implicated him in the sport's sign-stealing scandal.
Cora was the bench coach for the Houston Astros when they won the 2017 World Series, and he led Boston to the title the next year in his first season as manager. Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired Monday, an hour after Manfred suspended them for the 2020 season for their role in the cheating scheme.
Manfred's nine-page report mentioned Cora 11 times, describing him as a key person in the planning and execution of the cheating scheme.
Manfred said Cora was among those who "originated and executed" aspects of the cheating scheme, in which the team used a center-field camera to decode catchers' signals to pitchers and banged on a trash can with a bat or massage gun near the dugout to let hitters know which pitch was coming.
Manfred announced he was withholding punishment of Cora until completing a separate investigation of accusations the Red Sox stole signs in 2018. Indications were the penalty would be equal to or greater than what Hinch and Luhnow received.
"I do not want to be a distraction to the Red Sox as they move forward," Cora said in a statement released by the Red Sox.
New Mets manager Carlos Beltran also was implicated by Manfred in his report Monday, the only player mentioned. Manfred decided that no players would be disciplined for breaking rules prohibiting the use of electronics to steal catcher's signs.
A member of Boston's 2007 championship club, Cora was hired in November to take over a Red Sox team that won back-to-back AL East titles in 2016-17 but failed to advance in the postseason under John Farrell.
