Phillies manager search: Astros bench coach Alex Cora

Could Matt Klentak snare the hottest manager candidate for the Phillies this offseason with Alex Cora?

Few major league coaches have received as much praise in the early stages of manager searches than Houston Astros bench coach Alex Cora. Because Houston is playing in the American League Championship Series the Phillies can not interview him until the Astros season is officially over, but he’ll be discussed and references will be pulled.

Cora, 41, was born in Puerto Rico and primarily played infield over the course of 14 major league seasons with the Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Rangers, Indians, and Nationals.

While never producing overwhelming stats as a player Cora made a reputation for himself as a leader on and off the field. More recently, he’s served as the general manager of the Puerterican national team in the Baseball World Classic.

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After retiring in 2011, Cora joined ESPN as a color analyst on ESPN and ESPN Deportes for three years. Since returning to the dugout as the Astros bench coach Cora has received only positive reviews from those within the industry.

“He’s driven to do well, has very high expectations of himself, which in turn gives high expectations to the people around him,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Cora. “He has a little bit of an ‘it’ factor when it comes to having convictions in his decisions. I’m proud of him because he has been able to influence players very, very quickly.”

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Cora has interviewed with the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Rangers in past years but an admitted lack of experience held him back. Now working alongside Hinch for a team with a 1/4 chance of winning the World Series Cora’s cut his teeth enough to receive consideration from the Phillies.