Red Sox, Mets pick managers
The Boston Red Sox hired Houston Astros bench coach Alex Cora to be their manager Sunday, turning to a player from their 2007 World Series championship roster to help the team out of its playoff slump.
The Red Sox announced the hire Sunday, a day after Cora’s Astros eliminated the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series.
Cora replaces John Farrell, who led the Red Sox to the 2013 title and in the past two years claimed the first back-toback AL East championships in franchise history. But Boston also finished last twice in Farrell’s tenure, and the ballclub has won just one playoff game since his first season.
A native of Puerto Rico, Cora, who has never managed before, played 14 years in the major leagues before retiring in 2011, including parts of four seasons with Boston. He was a lifetime .243 hitter with 35 homers and 286 RBIs. In 2003, he led the league in putouts and double plays by a second baseman.
“Alex is a guy that communicates well with the players; he’s a guy that studies the game,” Astros designated hitter Carlos Beltran said this month. “His preparation is above what I have seen in baseball, and he has a great personality.
Callaway to Mets: Looking for a fresh voice to shepherd their prized arms, the Mets found it in new manager Mickey Callaway.
New York agreed to a three-year contract with the Indians pitching coach, according to a source. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.
A news conference to introduce Callaway, 42, as Terry Collins’ replacement is expected in the next few days.
Collins stepped down at the end of the season after seven years as Mets manager and took a position as special assistant to general manager Sandy Alderson.
Callaway, who has never managed at any professional level, has done an excellent job as Cleveland’s pitching coach for the past five seasons under skipper Terry Francona. Led by ace Corey Kluber, the Indians led the major leagues with a 3.30 ERA and 1,614 strikeouts this season — one year after reaching the World Series and losing to the Chicago Cubs in seven games.
“The first thing that I noticed when the season started our first year was his level of confidence,” Francona said this month. “It seemed to me that it exceeded his experience. Then, as you watch him and you’re with him every day, you see that that confidence allowed him to have other voices, and get input from other people, and sift through that and take what he wanted. But my goodness, he had such an impact on the pitching staff. He’s so good.”
This season, Cleveland won an AL-best 102 games and its second consecutive AL Central title. But the Indians squandered a 2-0 lead in the Division Series and lost to the Yankees in five games.
Other candidates for the job were Cora, Mets hitting coach Kevin Long, Mariners third base coach Manny Acta and White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing.