Red Sox, Mets line up to interview Cora

The managerial interview carousel will reportedly continue for Astros bench coach Alex Cora, who met with the Red Sox on Sunday about their vacancy and will also meet with the Mets about theirs, according to MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal.
Cora, who is in his first season on Astros manager A.J. Hinch's staff, will reportedly interview with the Mets on Monday or Tuesday, according to the New York Post. He is among a throng of candidates who interest the Mets, a group that also reportedly includes former Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, former White Sox manager Robin Ventura, Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, A's third-base coach Chip Hale, White Sox third-base coach Joe McEwing and Indians first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. Rosenthal reported last week that the Mets are expected to show interest in Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway.
Cora, who played parts of 14 MLB seasons, including two with the Mets, has no big league managerial experience but has managed in winter ball and has been pursued heavily thus far. Cora has also been linked to the Tigers and Phillies openings. He interviewed for the D-backs' position last offseason, but that job went to Torey Lovullo.

Cora was hired to join Hinch's staff after a tenure as an television analyst at ESPN. Cora has also been a general manager of a team in his hometown in Puerto Rico, and he was the general manager for the Puerto Rico club that finished runner-up in this year's World Baseball Classic to the United States.
"His first year of coaching has gone well, given his ability to connect with players and given his baseball intellect," Hinch said last week. "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.
"And I think he's grown, and I think that's key because it's not easy to just, no matter how long your career, jump into a coaching role. Trust me, I know how things can go when you jump right into a job; it's not easy. So for him to be able to learn, to grow, to evolve, become a better coach, continue to learn the game. Those are characteristics as to why he is a hot name in every opening that's coming up so far this offseason or this postseason and why one day he's going to manage, whether it's now or later."
Cora, 41, is believed to be one of the first to interview for the Red Sox's vacancy after the departure of John Farrell, who managed Boston the last five seasons. On Wednesday, the club announced Farrell would not return. The Red Sox have also requested permission to interview D-backs bench coach Ron Gardenhire, who was the Twins' skipper from 2002-2014 and led Minnesota to six American League Central division titles.
Under former manager Terry Collins, who will shift to a role in the front office, the Mets went 551-583 over his seven seasons, including a National League pennant win in 2015.