Boston Red Sox: What Astros punishment means for team

MLB came down hard on the Houston Astros and that means the Boston Red Sox could be in for a world of trouble thanks to Alex Cora.

We all knew that the Boston Red Sox were going to be punished for their sign-stealing tactics in 2018, but now it looks like the punishment will have long term effects.

At first glance, you would suspect that the Red Sox would be fined or possibly lose draft picks. The draft picks would hurt since Boston’s minor league system is a mess, but it wouldn’t be that bad.

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But after MLB released the details and punishment to come from the Houston Astros investigation, Red Sox fans should be worried.

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were both suspended for a year and the team lost their 2020 and 2020 1st and 2nd round picks… but we’re not done yet. Houston was also fined $5 million. Then a little while after the punishment the Astros fired Luhnhow and Hinch.

Now they key part of the investigation for Red Sox fans is that Alex Cora was a major part of the Astros sign-stealing operation. He is the only non-player mentioned.

Cora was also labeled as the mastermind behind the banging of the trash cans and utilization of replay rooms to decode signs.

There is no doubt that Alex Cora won’t be managing the Red Sox this season. He likely won’t be coaching them for a few seasons either.

But after Hinch being fired, it will be really tough for the Red Sox to stand behind Cora.

It sure looks like the Red Sox will be looking for a new manager and that will be a difficult situation. February is almost here and pitchers and catchers will be reporting before you know it. The start of the Red Sox season could be very rough.

This will even affect the organization as a whole. If the Red Sox have a new manager this will give them an excuse to rebuild. We could see guys like Mookie Betts and David Price being shipped off to other teams.

All I can say is that the Boston Red Sox and Alex Cora are in big trouble.