BOSTON (AP) The Boston Red Sox are still hoping to have a manager in place by spring training, but chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Thursday it's possible they won't hire someone before pitchers and catchers report Feb. 12.

"It would certainly be ideal" to have replaced Alex Cora by then - but not at the cost of rushing the process, Bloom said. "Nobody wants to be at this point in a year without a manager, obviously, so that would become even more important once we get to spring training."

The Red Sox let Cora go last week after Commissioner Rob Manfred identified him as the ringleader in a sign-stealing scheme when he was the bench coach with the World Series champion Houston Astros in 2017. Major League Baseball is also looking into whether Cora engaged in similar shenanigans after taking over the Red Sox in 2018; the team has declined comment pending the results of the investigation.