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Red Sox brass: Cora let go exclusively for Astros tenure, admitted wrongdoing

MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images / MediaNews Group / Getty

The Boston Red Sox announced the club would part ways with Alex Cora on Tuesday and, during Wednesday's press conference explaining the personnel change, ownership and members of the front office weighed in on what led them to the decision.

After reading Major League Baseball's report, which found the Houston Astros guilty of stealing signs - and heavily implicated Cora in the scheme - the Red Sox brass sat down with their manager to discuss the best course of action.

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner told media that Cora was professional and understood it was in the best interest of the club the two parties part ways, according to Guerin Austin of NESN.

"Alex, by his own admission, played a central role in what went on in Houston," Werner continued, according to Joon Lee of MLB.com. "We all agree it was wrong, and that we had a responsibility as stewards where we have a standard where that behavior is unacceptable."

Further, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy called it "ultimately an easy decision," according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

On Monday, MLB published a nine-page report which resulted in one-year suspensions for Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Team owner Jim Crane subsequently fired both members of his staff.

The investigation into the Red Sox is ongoing; Werner and Kennedy as well as team owner John Henry and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom refuse to comment on it.

"It's also important to recognize that this collective mutual decision was related exclusively to the incidents that took place in Houston," Kennedy added, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. "The organization was well aware of the rules and communicated them to the uniformed personnel and front-office staff."

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