Alex Cora AJ Hinch
Manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox shakes hands with manager A.J. Hinch of the Houston Astros as lineups are introduced before game three of the American League Championship Series on October 16, 2018 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

The Houston Astros are without a manager after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred handed down a historic punishment Monday for the team’s 2017 cheating scandal. Could the Boston Red Sox be next?

An MLB investigation resulted in both manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow being suspended without pay through the 2020 World Series. Alex Cora, a bench coach for the 2017 Astros before becoming the manager of the Red Sox in 2018, might receive an ever harsher suspension.

MLB found that Cora was a central part of Houston’s scheme to steal signs from opposing teams by using a live game feed from the center-field camera. According to MLB’s report, Cora was the only Astros’ coach that teamed up with the players to steal signs.

Hinch was suspended, even though he reportedly disapproved of the players’ cheating, going as far as to physically damage a monitor that was used to view signs on two occasions. Astros owner Jim Crane fired both Hinch and Luhnow in the aftermath of the suspensions.

Cora is expected to be officially punished when MLB concludes its investigation into Boston’s alleged illegal use of the replay room in 2018. The Red Sox won the World Series that year in Cora’s first season as the team’s manager.

MLB also fined the Astros $5 million and took away Houston’s first and second-round picks in both the 2020 and 2021 MLB Draft, according to ESPN.

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