DENVER (AP) — The Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have agreed on a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2027 season.
The team announced the move Wednesday following a 20-7 loss at Colorado.
The 48-year-old Cora is in his second stint as Boston’s manager, and his contract had been set to expire after this season. He was hired before the 2018 season and led the Red Sox to a World Series title that year, his second with the franchise. He was a player on the 2007 championship team that swept the Rockies in the Fall Classic.
Cora was suspended by Major League Baseball for the 2020 season and fired by the Red Sox for his role in a 2017 sign-stealing scandal as bench coach of the Houston Astros. Boston rehired him in 2021 and he guided the club to a 92-70 record and a trip to the AL Championship Series.
Boston endured consecutive 78-84 seasons in 2022 and ’23 but is 54-47 this year.
“What this organization means to us is the world,” Cora said Wednesday. “They trusted me from day one, they doubled down on me in ’21 after everything that happened in ’17. There were a lot of conversations in the offseason, and I just want to be happy and comfortable.”
Cora, whose 494 wins rank fourth in franchise history, said in March he didn’t expect talks on an extension to continue during the season. But he said Wednesday discussions had been ongoing recently with team executive Craig Breslow.
“Sometimes I put an act on for (the media),” Cora said with a chuckle. “I was actually telling the truth. We’ve been talking for a few weeks and the relationship between me and Craig has grown the last six, seventh months.”
Cora said his wife, Nilda, and their children are happy living in Boston.
“I promise you, this decision was more based on the comfort of my family than my professional career,” he said.
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