Red Sox interview Cora, ask to talk with Gardenhire

Oct 16, 2017 - 1:31 AM Astros bench coach Alex Cora took a break from Houston's playoff run to interview for the Boston Red Sox's vacant managerial position Sunday.

Cora met with Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in New York on the Astros' off day. Houston, which won the first two games of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees, plays Game 3 on Monday at Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox previously asked for and received permission from the Astros to speak with Cora, 41.

Dombrowski told the Boston Herald in an email that the interview "went fine."

Baseball analyst Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and The Athletic reported that Cora is the Red Sox's top choice.

Multiple media outlets reported that the Red Sox also asked for permission to interview Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach Ron Gardenhire. The former Minnesota manager spent the last year in Arizona after compiling a 1,068-1,039 record in 13 years with the Twins.

Gardenhire, 59, was the 2010 American League Manager of the Year.

Cora played for the Red Sox from 2005-08, part of a 14-year major league playing career that included time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals.

ESPN reported that Cora is also a possible managerial target of the Mets and the Detroit Tigers.

"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," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "For him to be able to learn, to grow, to evolve, become a better bench 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 and why one day he's going to manage, whether it's now or later."

Boston fired manager John Farrell after the season even though the team won the AL East with a 93-69 record. The Red Sox fell in four games to the Astros in the AL Division Series. Farrell, who led the Red Sox to the 2013 World Series title, had a 432-378 record over five seasons in Boston.