Ron Roenicke Will Not Return As Manager In 2021

The #RedSox today announced that Ron Roenicke will not return as the club’s manager for the 2021 season.

— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 27, 2020

The Red Sox have said Ron Roenicke will not return as manager in 2021.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom:

Throughout this difficult season, Ron's consistency and professionalism kept the environment in our clubhouse productive and gave all of our players room to grow and develop. While we believe that, moving forward, we will benefit from new leadership and new energy, that does not diminish how strongly we feel about Ron. He is a man of the highest character who cares about our players and the Red Sox organization. As bench coach, he helped this team win a world championship. As manager, he showed poise and leadership in navigating an extremely challenging year. We are grateful for all of his contributions in our uniform.

Bloom says Roenicke ‘handled it really well, probably better than I did.’ Said it was an emotional conversation but that Bloom viewed this move as being best for the org. ‘It was hard.’

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 27, 2020

Bloom on importance of ‘having his own guy’: ‘I’ve never thought it was productive for someone in a chair like mine to think that way... People you don’t necessarily hire yourself are integral... It should be about the organization and not what’s best for me.’

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 27, 2020

There is already speculation about the return of Alex Cora, who was fired after MLB's investigation determined he was a key figure in the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scheme. A similar investigation into improper use of technology by the 2018 Red Sox stated Cora had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.

Bloom on Cora: ‘I still don’t want to get into any detail on my thoughts on Alex.’ Bloom notes he wouldn’t do so till he can talk to Cora. ‘There will be a time when I can get into more detail on Alex, his situation... That time isn’t now.’

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 27, 2020

After last night's loss, Roenicke talked about his situation:

It really hasn't been unsettling. If I was just starting out as a young manager, I guess it would be a little bit unsettling. I'm sure it would be. But I think because of all the things that I've been through, I realize there's a process, and I realize there's timing differences the way different organizations do things. Do I like to know either way? Of course I'd like to know either way. But I think whatever happens, I'm going to be fine. I feel like this year, as difficult as it was, I thought (it) went well. And on my end, try to do everything I can to make things work out. It wasn't all baseball as we all know this year. Sometimes a lot of other things came up.