McAdam: Ron Roenicke was given a thankless task in February -- and Sunday's firing confirmed that

The news -- though oddly-timed -- was about as a surprising as yet one more loss in the team's shortened season, which is to say, not at all: Ron Roenicke will not return in 2021 Red Sox season.

The Red Sox made that much official less than two hours before the final game of the worst Red Sox season in decades and some 15 minutes after Roenicke was scheduled to meet with reporters via Zoom for his daily pre-game media availability.

But really, the die was cast months ago, when the Red Sox traded their best player (Mookie Betts) and their third-best starter (David Price), and lost their two best starting pitchers for the season (Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez).

Even without Betts, the Sox retained a formidable lineup. But the team's starting rotation, with three linchpins suddenly subtracted, was hardly major league quality. Unsurprisingly, the team faltered out of the gate, went into free-fall in mid-August and dipped into irrelevancy for the rest of the way.

Along the way, the Red Sox utilized 17 different starting pitchers -- or, an average of a new one every four or so games -- and churned through 26 different pitchers in relief, the most of any team in the American League.

In that sense, Roenicke's dismissal has seemed obvious for months -- not because he wasn't up to demands of the job, but rather, because no one would have been.



The die was cast in when Betts and Price were dealt and Sale was ruled out. Rodriguez's COVID-19 diagnosis, followed shortly by the discovery that he was also suffering from myocarditis, was merely the proverbial final nail.

It could be argued that even before the team re-assembled for summer camp, Roenicke was, already, thrust into a no-win situation.

"I think that's a fair assessment,'' agreed chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who informed Roenicke of the news Sunday morning, then flew back to Boston to take questions from reporters. "I don't know if I'd describe it exactly like that, but I think that's a fair assessment. When I talked to Ron this morning, that's one of the things we discussed. I think that the record is not indicative of the job Ron did. I think this season had so many challenges, both on the field and off the field, and I think what he brought to our group in navigating those and leading the group through those challenges, was really impressive.

"It was going to be a tough season and it turned out to be tougher than anyone could imagine. So, in that respect, I think (the notion that Roenicke was a no-win situation) is accurate.''

Given that, why did the Red Sox make the change they did?

"It was a really a forward-looking decision,'' said Bloom. "Looking out over the long haul, our responsibility is to do the right thing for the Boston Red Sox over the long term and deciding that a new voice and a different energy is something that would serve us well in the long haul. As highly as we continue to think about the job Ron did, this was really about looking forward.''

At 64, Roenicke was one of the three oldest managers in Major League Baseball in 2020. But despite several references to "energy,'' Roenicke maintained that Roenicke's age wasn't a factor in the team's decision to go in a different direction.

Roenicke's strengths were known to be a communicator and teacher, both thanks to the pandemic and the protocols in place, he was limited in his ability to utilize both skills. He spoke several times over the course of the season about the frustration he felt in not being able to deal with players on a more personal and one-on-one basis. With the players housed in luxury suites rather than gathered in the clubhouse and time on the field more limited than ever before, Roenicke's strengths were underutilized.

When Roenicke was named manager -- first on an interim basis in February and then full-time in April when MLB's investigation into the 2018 sign-stealing allegations was officially completed -- he did so without being given any more security beyond the end of his already existing coach's contract, which expired at the end of the season.

That, too, should have been an early indication that the Sox weren't committed to having Roenicke in the position for the long term.

Now that the team is in search of a manager yet again -- the new hire will be the organization's sixth in 11 seasons -- focus will immediately turn to Roenicke's predecessor, Alex Cora, for whom he worked as bench coach for two seasons.

Unsurprisingly, Bloom would not be drawn into speculation about Cora's return. Cora's suspension for his part in the 2017 Houston Astros' sign-stealing lasts through the completion of next month's World Series.

"I don't want to get into really any detail on my thoughts on Alex,'' said Bloom. "I don't want to say anything about Alex that I haven't said to Alex -- and obviously I haven't spoken to Alex. There will be a time, I think, when I can get into Alex, and his situation, my thoughts on it. But that time isn't now, and I'm hoping everyone will respect that.''