With a tweet this afternoon, the Red Sox made official the news we expected: Álex Cora is the new manager of the club.
The 47th manager of the Boston #RedSox, Alex Cora!
Welcome, @ac13alex! ??? pic.twitter.com/zYcal0Owlb
— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 22, 2017
Cora will be the 22nd former Red Sox player to manage the club, the first since Butch Hobson (1992-94). Cora turned 42 last Wednesday, which will make him on Opening Day the youngest to manage the club since Kevin Kennedy in 1996 (41).
Cora played 14 major league seasons (1998-2011), including four with Boston (2005-08) going 176-for-698 (.252) in 301 games. He appeared in four games during the Boston’s 2007 World Series title run, including two games in the Championship Series and two in the Fall Classic.
Since his playing time Cora has been General Manager and on-field manager for the Criollos de Caguas, his hometown team in the Puerto Rican Winter League, and was also General Manager for Puerto Rico for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Cora had previously interviewed for openings with the Rangers, Padres and Diamondbacks. This season he was a candidate for several big league managerial vacancies, including the Nationals and Mets.
Cora is bench coach with the World Series-bound Houston Astros. He’ll stay with that club to the completion of the Fall Classic.
Honored and Humbled
“I am extremely honored and humbled to be named manager of the Boston Red Sox and I want to thank Dave, John Henry, Tom Werner, and Sam Kennedy for giving me such a tremendous opportunity,” Cora said. “Returning to the Red Sox and the city of Boston is a dream come true for me and my family and I look forward to working towards the ultimate goal of winning another championship for this city and its great fans.
“We were very impressed when we interviewed Álex,” said Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “He came to us as a highly-regarded candidate, and from speaking with him throughout this process, we found him to be very knowledgeable, driven, and deserving of this opportunity. He is a highly respected and hardworking individual who has experience playing in Boston.”
Dombrowski said Cora is not only strong analytically, he’s a good communicator. “Alex also has a full appreciation for the use of analytical information in today’s game and his ability to communicate and relate to both young players and veterans is a plus.”
Prior to being hired by the Astros in November 2016, Cora spent four years (2013-16) as a baseball analyst for ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
As reported earlier by Ken Rosenthal, Cora signed a three-year contract with the Red Sox. The deal includes a club option for 2021.
Welcome Álex Cora to Red Sox Nation! He’s on twitter at @ac13alex.