Alex Cora considers options for next Red Sox bench coach, doesn’t rule out Ron Roenicke
Now that Alex Cora has been reintroduced as the Red Sox’ manager, his work begins. Part of that starts with finding his next bench coach.
Cora said Tuesday that he’s had initial conversations with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O’Halloran about the role, and they’ll have further discussions this week. Ron Roenicke, who was Cora’s bench coach for his first two seasons as manager in 2018 and 2019, is gone after he served as the Red Sox’ manager this season, and Cora has a few people in mind.
“I’m going to float some names. They’re going to float some names,” Cora said of his meeting with Bloom and O’Halloran. “Kind of the same process that we did with Ron. For experience, everybody was like, ‘He’s so experienced.’ I’ve only managed in the big leagues for two years and been a bench coach for one. I’ve been on the bench for three. I still need help in that department. It’s not like I know everything, I’ve got the system down. I still need help. We’re going to go over names. We’re going to pick the right guy.”
Cora didn’t rule out the possibility that Roenicke could return as his bench coach. Roenicke said on the last day of the season, after he and the Red Sox parted ways, that Cora should manage again, and even endorsed Cora for the job, he said in an interview with MassLive.com last week. Roenicke didn’t comment to MassLive about if he could return as bench coach, but Cora left the door open on Tuesday.
“We’ll talk about it,” Cora said. “I don’t want to go into specifics in the bench-coaching job. He’s a person I really appreciate. He put me in a great spot a few years ago. It’s a guy that we respect as a baseball man. We’ll have conversations about it and we’ll go from there.”
Cora also needs to find a bullpen coach after Craig Bjornson’s contract wasn’t renewed for 2021. Those are the only two vacancies on Cora’s coaching staff, which the manager is excited about.
“One thing for sure – we’re going to have a great all-around coaching staff,” Cora said. “I feel pretty confident that we are ready to take the next step in that department and we’re going to be better than in ’18 and obviously ’19. Obviously in ’19, we lacked a few things, starting with the leader, with myself. There were a few things that I saw throughout the season this year with different teams that I would love to apply here with the Red Sox.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3lnPy3R
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