MORNING ROUNDUP
Red Sox hire Alex Cora as new manager
The Boston Red Sox have hired Houston Astros bench coach Alex Cora to be their new manager.
The team made the announcement on Sunday, a day after Cora’s Astros reached the World Series.
Cora replaces John Farrell, who was fired this month despite winning back-toback AL East titles. Farrell’s teams won the 2013 World Series, finished last twice and then in each of the past two years won the division but got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
A native of Puerto Rico, Cora is the first Hispanic manager in Red Sox history.
He played 14 years in the major leagues before retiring in 2011, including parts of four seasons with the Red Sox. He was a member of Boston’s 2007 World Series team.
Suns fire coach Watson
The Phoenix Suns have fired coach Earl Watson just three games in to the NBA season.
The Suns announced the firing Sunday night after hours of meetings at the team’s headquarters.
Assistant coach Jay Triano, a former head coach of the Toronto Raptors, was named interim coach. Triano was an assistant at Portland before coming to Phoenix last year.
Watson was promoted from assistant to interim coach of the Suns after Jeff Hornacek was fired Feb. 1, 2016. The interim tag was removed on April 19 of that year. With an extremely young team, the Suns struggled under Watson. He compiled a 33-85 record. Watson’s only full season was 2016-17, when the team went 24-58.
Phoenix was routed by the Clippers in Los Angeles 130-88 on Saturday night.
“I Dont wanna be here,” point guard Eric Bledsoe tweeted Sunday, just as the news of Watson’s firing surfaced. The tweet by Bledsoe, a former Clipper, was followed by one from the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan saying “Come back home bro.”
Bledsoe has been rumored in possible trades for months.
Mets reportedly hire Mickey Callaway as manager
A person familiar with the decision says the New York Mets have hired Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway as their manager.
Callaway receives a three-year contract, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made yet. A news conference to introduce Callaway is expected within the next few days.