McAdam: Red Sox managerial picture still unclear

Like most everything else associated with the Red Sox this offseason, there's little clarity for them when it comes to their managerial vacancy.

Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reported this morning that the Sox will announce Ron Roenicke as their manager once MLB is through with its investigation into the sign-stealing mess from 2018.

But no one else has confirmed that story and through a team spokesman, the Red Sox put out the following statement: "Our managerial search is not yet completed. We will comment at the completion of the search.''

It's quite possible -- maybe even likely -- that the Sox have indeed settled on Roenicke as their choice to replace the departed Alex Cora, but want to hold off until the investigation into their 2018 season is finished. It would be a worst-case scenario to hire Roenicke, only to have him implicated in any way with the sign-stealing.

(Roenicke took steps to distance himself from the sign-stealing at the team's Winter Weekend festival several weeks ago in spring training, saying that he's always prided himself with treating the game with respect).

Roenicke would give the Red Sox some familiarity and comfort during a tough time for the franchise. He's been their bench coach for the past two seasons, is known and respected by nearly everyone on the current roster and has extensive managerial experience, both at the minor league level and four seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.

My hunch all along -- buffeted by a number of industry sources -- has been that new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom would take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to hire someone younger (Roenicke is 63) with whom he could collaborate and envision as his manager for the next five or more seasons.

But perhaps the ensuing holdup to the team's blockbuster deal with the Dodgers and Twins -- still unresolved -- coupled with the uncertain timetable of the MLB investigation made it impossible for Bloom to cast a wider net for outside candidates.

And maybe the longer the process took -- Cora was let go more than three weeks ago -- the more it dawned on Bloom that it would be asking too much to install a manager from outside the organization just days before the official start of spring training. Roenicke, after all, won't have to learn names or introduce himself to many people should he be the choice.

Then again, as recently as earlier this week, the team interviewed former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons for the position according to The Athletic, so who knows?

Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta, Oakland A's coach Mark Kotsay and Red Sox third base coach Carlos Febles were also interviewed.