The other big shoe drops in sign-stealing scandal; more to fall?

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox have fired their field manager, Alex Cora, for his role in a scandal involving another American League baseball team.

The Red Sox had no choice but to follow the Houston Astros’ lead. The Astros canned field manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow after Major League Baseball announced they would be suspended for the next season.

What did everyone do here?

Well, the Astros were accused of using high-tech devices to steal signs during the 2017 World Series against Los Angeles Dodgers. They went far beyond the usual techniques used for many decades to swipe signs.

Cora was bench coach for the Astros in 2017. Therefore, he was a principal culprit in the sign-stealing matter.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred had warned all big league teams about the consequences if they persisted in this activity. The Astros ignored the warning … to their peril.

And so, now Alex Cora is out of a job.

The axe had to fall on the Red Sox field boss.

To its credit, Major League Baseball has become hypersensitive to cheating on the field and is seeking to take charge of this problem.