According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Joey Cora, the current third base coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates, has become a leading candidate to fill the position of New York Mets bench coach.
Cora, who is the older brother of Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, has coached at the Major League level for two other teams besides the Pirates, the Chicago White Sox and the Miami Marlins.
After a playing career that spanned over a decade, Cora worked in the Mets minor league system as a manager for three seasons. He also interviewed for the Mets managerial opening two years ago.
He began coaching at the Major League level in 2003 for the White Sox, hired by his good friend Ozzie Guillen. His role for the Sox was to ready Spring Training each year for the club and as third base coach. He was promoted to bench coach in 2006. He would occasionally manage the team when the fiery Guillen was ejected from a game or was away.
Cora spent eight years coaching the Sox but was let go shortly after Guillen’s release in September 2011.
Prior to this, in 2010, he was interviewed for the Milwaukee Brewers managerial position and was thought to be a finalist for the position.
On November 1, 2011, Cora was named bench coach for the Miami Marlins and was reunited with Guillen. He managed briefly for the Marlins when Guillen was suspended from MLB for comments related to Fidel Castro.
In 2016, Cora became the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A club, the Altoona Curve. After the 2016 season, he was promoted to the Major League club where he is today.
Through his travels as a player and a coach, Cora has formed ties with both the special assistant to the general manager, Omar Minaya and new Mets manager Carlos Beltran. Heyman further reports that Fredi Gonzalez and Jerry Narron are both under consideration for the bench coach position for the Mets.
