McAdam: Why a return of Alex Cora may not be as inevitable as it seems

For months, speculation has held that Alex Cora was simply biding his time, serving out his suspension for his involvement with the 2017 Houston Astros, and just waiting for the all-clear to reclaim the job he held from 2018 until this past January.

That's a logical enough assumption, on the face of it. Cora earned a reputation as one of the game's best young managers when, in his first season in Boston's dugout, he led the Red Sox to a record-setting 108 regular season wins and a World Series win that fall.

Players loved playing for Cora and a handful -- from Rafael Devers to Xander Bogaerts to Eduardo Rodriguez -- made major strides under Cora. Ownership, too, reveres Cora for his personality, energy and leadership.

The announcement Sunday, then, that Ron Roenicke, Cora's former bench coach, won't return for 2021, naturally resulted in heightened expectations that an encore is in the making.

But is it?

While the move would undoubtedly be a popular one in both the clubhouse and the owner's suite, the calculus leaves out one important factor: chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.



In theory, at least, Bloom will be the one making this hire -- with ownership's sign-off at the end of the process required. And while John Henry, Tom Werner and president/CEO Sam Kennedy all have a history with Cora, both as a player (2005-2008) and manger, Bloom doesn't have nearly the same relationship.

Bloom was hired as the end of October 2019. He spent the first month or so getting to know the entire Baseball Operations department. In December, he had discussions about tendering contracts, headed for the Winter Meetings, and dived into free agency and the trade market.

Less than three weeks into the new year, Cora was out, the result, the Red Sox insisted on emphasizing, of a "mutual agreement.'' That, in turn, forced Bloom into undertaking a managerial search that he hadn't planned on.

So while others may be measuring the drapes in the manager's office for Cora II, it may not necessarily by a fait accompli.

Perhaps out of respect for Roenicke, Bloom did his best to table any discussion about Cora's return.

"You guys know, in brief, my thoughts on Alex, but I don't want to elaborate,'' said Bloom, "because I don't want to be saying things about him that I haven't said to him.''

To that point, Bloom was reminded that, back in the spring, he several times publicly noted there was a reason that Cora was no longer the team's manager. That could easily be interpreted as a not-so-subtle criticism of Cora's behavior while part of the Astros' staff and that his unemployment was his own fault and no one else's.

Pressed Sunday as to whether "my thoughts on Alex'' was a reference to his pointed remarks about Cora from during the season, Bloom was unequivocal: "Yeah. I just don't want to want to get into more detail on it just because I think to do so. I don't want to get into any more detail than that, but yeah, I stand by that.''

When asked if that meant Cora would not be a candidate, Bloom stuck to his same response: "Like I said, I don't want to say anything about him that I have not been able to say to him. So I'm not going to answer the question.''

Does that sound like a slam-dunk, only-a-matter-of-time, clear-leader-in-the-clubhouse candidate? Hardly.

Again, it's possible that all of this is only posturing and Bloom doesn't want to feed the narrative that this entire year was one long episode of Waiting For Cora. That would suggest that Roenicke was indeed, nothing more than a glorified place-holder, and the plan all along would be to turn back to Cora.

Publicly, that would not be a good look.

But it may also be that Bloom is intent on bringing in someone of his own choosing. Maybe that's Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, who's viewed as a promising managerial candidate, and with whom Bloom has a long work relationship. Or Philadelphia Phillies front office staffer Sam Fuld? Or Luis Urueta, Arizona Diamondbacks coach, whom Bloom liked enough to interview back in January?

It's also worth remembering that Bloom will have a far bigger pool of candidates to interview than he did last winter. In January, Bloom had to hurry along his search and was limited by the fact that the start of spring training was just weeks later. Undoubtedly, there were people that Bloom would have liked to interview, but couldn't, given how disruptive that would have been for a rival team preparing for the start of the season.

"Different managers can go about this different ways,'' said Bloom. "I think, at the end of the day, you want someone who's going to be able to put your players in position to succeed and bring the best out of the group. Two qualities that I talked about a lot this year are consistency and authenticity - I think that's something that a lot of good managers have in common.

"But it really comes down to having someone who can be a leader in this organization and a leader for our clubhouse and our players and then put them in a position to succeed and bring the best out of them.''

That job description seemingly fits Cora.

But it's possible that Bloom has other people in mind, too.