The Boston Red Sox are removing the interim tag from Ron Roenicke’s manager title, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney on Wednesday.
Roenicke had been named interim manager after the Red Sox parted ways with manager Alex Cora for his role in the Astros‘ 2017 sign-stealing scheme.
Boston’s decision comes as Major League Baseball announced discipline Wednesday for the team after its investigation into allegations that the Red Sox illegally stole signs during the 2018 season. Commissioner Rob Manfred found the Red Sox’s conduct far less egregious than that of the Astros, but still stripped Boston of its second-round pick in this year’s amateur draft. Cora, meanwhile, was suspended through the 2020 postseason for his previous conduct with the Astros.
The Red Sox named Roenicke their interim manager in February, with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom saying at the time that the organization chose to use that label out of respect for MLB’s investigation.
When asked if the team would remove Roenicke’s interim label following the release of the investigation results, Bloom declined to comment further, saying at the time: “We’ll address permanency when [the investigation] is complete.”
Roenicke managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 2011 to 2015, then joined the Red Sox and Cora before the 2018 season after two years with the Los Angeles Angels. In his first season as Boston’s bench coach, he helped guide the team to a World Series title.