Cora lauds Yanks’ Paxton acquisition

LAS VEGAS — Alex Cora crossed paths with Brian Cashman at the winter meetings.

“Hey, man, take it easy,” the Red Sox manager joked to the Yankees’ general manager, he said Tuesday. “Relax.”

Actually, the Yankees have a great deal of offseason work remaining as they try to topple the defending World Series champions. Yet their most impactful move to date got Cora’s attention and prompted his humorous plea.

Cora, as Astros bench coach, spent a year in the same division as James Paxton. Cora does not sound happy that he and the Yankees’ left-hander are division mates once more.

“I’m happy we’re not going to see him on Opening Day,” Cora said, referring to the Red Sox’s season-starting series with the Mariners, Paxton’s former team. “But that means we’re going to see him probably four times this year.

“He’s a good pitcher. When healthy, he’s one of the best. Stuff-wise, up there with the [Madison] Bumgarners and the [Chris] Sales and the [David] Prices.”

In 2017, Cora worked as the Astros’ bench coach and his club, with MLB’s best offense, put up a .205/.259/.269 slash line against Paxton in four games, totaling 21 ¹/3 innings.

“They’re going to make their moves,” Cora said of the Yankees, whom the Red Sox beat by eight games in the American League East and then eliminated in four AL Division Series contests. “They’ll have a great team. They did last year. Not surprisingly, they added [Paxton], and he’s a tough pitcher.”