EDITORS NOTE: The Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have, in fact, parted ways after all as a result of the sign-stealing scandal. Click here for full Red Sox coverage.

The Red Sox are unlikely to part ways with manager Alex Cora before Major League Baseball releases the results of its investigation into the club’s alleged sign-stealing practices in 2018, according to Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe.

“After speaking with two sources with direct knowledge of the situation, I get a sense that the Red Sox are going to stand by their man and ride this out,” Shaughnessy wrote. “They just love Alex Cora, and we understand that.”

Cora, who was ruled to have played a key role in the cheating practices employed by the Astros in 2017, is expected to be harshly disciplined once the league completes its investigation into Boston’s improper use of the video replay room in 2018. His punishment could be even more significant than the one-year suspensions levied on Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow on Monday.

Both Hinch and Luhnow were fired by Astros owner Jim Crane shortly after the sanctions were announced by commissioner Rob Manfred. That precedent has led to the belief that the Sox are considering firing Cora, potentially even before the league rules on Boston’s own misdeeds.

If the league rules Boston broke the rules in 2018, the Red Sox will be viewed as repeat offenders after being fined for the improper use of an electronic watch in Sept. 2017. Cora, who was the Astros bench coach in 2017 before being hired as Boston’s manager in 2018, would also be viewed as a two-time offender for his involvement in both scandals.

Cora is scheduled to meet with the media Thursday at Fenway Park before the annual Baseball Writers Dinner. He is also scheduled to participate in the team’s Winter Weekend in Springfield, which begins Friday with a Town Hall event.

Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy gave Cora a vote of confidence back in September, telling WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria” that the manager would return in 2020 less than 24 hours after the club fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

“(Alex) has been everything you would want in a manager and I can’t speak more highly of Alex and the job that he’s done," Kennedy said. "And the job I know he’ll do as we move forward.”