The Houston Astros will be in New York on Sunday for the playoffs, and surprisingly so will the Red Sox. Well, the Red Sox team will not be there, having been defeated last Sunday by the Astros and knocked out of the playoffs, but rather Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will be there and he is expected to interview the Red Sox first managerial candidate, Astros' bench coach Alex Cora.
Last Wednesday Dombrowski made the announcement that Red Sox manager John Farrell would not be returning for the 2018 season. There has been much speculation as to why Farrell would be let go, he did win a World Series in 2013 in his first season and clinched 2 AL East titles back to back, however, he did also come in the last place in the playoffs back to back as well.
Dombrowski has stated the move has been in place for quite some time, however, there has been no mention of who will replace Farrell, until now. It appears Dombrowski has reached out to the Astros and received permission to speak with Alex Cora, on Sunday, a day off from the playoffs.
Houston Astros' Alex Cora
Cora, 42, is in his first year as bench coach for the Astros. He retired in 2012 and went on to be the general manager for the Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rican League, making it to the Caribbean Series within his first season there. Cora has also played with the Red Sox from 2005-2008.
Cora has no experience managing in the majors, but Astros general manager is quoted by ESPN as saying [of Cora], "He's very sharp, sees the game in an extraordinarily deep way, has really connected well with players in our clubhouse and spent a lot of time developing relationships and being the bench-coach liaison to the clubhouse that I asked him to be."
This is not the first time that Cora has been interviewed for a managerial position.
As reported by ESPN, last winter Cora was interviewed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers in the previous offseason.
Red Sox' choice to interview Cora
On Thursday Dombrowski spoke with the Astros manager and was given permission to interview Cora on Sunday, a day off for the Astros who are still in the playoffs.
The Boston Herald made an observation on how strange it would seem, interviewing candidates who are still in the postseason, however, they quoted Dombrowski as saying, "I have done this in the past, and it is not that unusual."
This is an interesting one for the Red Sox to be sure. Dombrowski has stated he has had an ongoing list of candidates even before the decision to fire Farrell was made, something which is not that unusual for a new president.
It's actually surprising to many fans that Farrell lasted this long at all, attributing his length of time with the Red Sox to the World Series win in 2013, and later being diagnosed with cancer. Most new GMs and presidents want to hire their own manager when they take over, Dombrowski, it appears, is not the exception to this practice in the MLB.
What makes interviewing Cora interesting, is that Dombrowski has previously stated that the next manager must have experience. While Cora has managed within the Puerto Rican League and coached this season for the Astros, he has no experience managing within the major league.
Despite being interviewed shortly after the announcement of Farrell's termination, this is only the first interview by the Red Sox for a new manager. According to ESPN, it is believed Boston is also looking at Brad Ausmus, former manager of the Tigers, and Ron Gardenhire, former manager of the Twins.
