Red Sox to interview Alex Cora on Sunday

While there are still four teams playing in the postseason, the Red Sox have moved their focus on to the upcoming offseason. Before they can make any major decisions with their roster, though, they need to figure out who is going to lead it. We’re now almost a week removed from John Farrell’s removal from the manager spot in Boston, and we’ve had a few days to digest the move and figure out some targets. One of the consensus top targets among fans, beat writers, analysts, traditionalists and the analytically-inclined is Alex Cora, the current Astros bench coach. His team has a day off on Sunday before resuming their ALCS against the Yankees in New York, and Cora will make a pit stop in Boston meet with the Red Sox brass in New York to interview for the open managerial gig according to a report from Dan Shaugnessy.

Cora checks a lot of boxes that Dave Dombrowski will likely be looking for from his next manager. He’s on the younger side, and Dombrowski has made it clear that it is important that the next manager can connect to the young position player core. Cora should be able to do that, or at least the front office would get a good idea of his ability to do so during the interview process. Additionally, Cora has experience both in the front office and on the bench. On top of being the Astros bench coach he also has managerial experience in the Puerto Rican Winter League as well as running a team as its general manager. This would, theoretically, make the connection between Dombrowski and Cora much smoother. According to reports, this was an issue between Dombrowski and Farrell.

Cora, as many of us remember, also spent some of his playing days in Boston, so he knows what is expected in this media market and how they can treat the managers. If you’ll recall, Cora was the man people wanted Terry Francona to put at second after a month of the season when Dustin Pedroia was struggling to start the year. Pedroia, obviously, went on to win Rookie of the Year in that 2007 season. It was a good example of how reactionary things in Boston can be, and Cora was a main player in that scenario.

The Red Sox are certainly going to interview other candidates, but all indications point towards Cora being the perfect fit, or at least as close to it as is available. Unfortunately for Boston, one should expect Detroit, Philadelphia and the Mets to show some interest in Cora for their open managerial roles as well. So, this interview on Sunday could be as much about the Red Sox selling their job to Cora as it is Cora selling his skills to Boston.