Joey Cora a candidate for Mets bench coach

Joey Cora, older brother of Red Sox manager Alex Cora, is a candidate for the Mets’ vacant bench coach job, according to Jon Heyman. As Heyman notes, two other candidates for the job are former Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and Jerry Narron, a former major league player who has had several coaching jobs over the years.

After Carlos Beltran was hired as the Mets’ new manager, he spoke highly of Alex Cora, specifically referencing conversations they had as Beltran underwent the interview process with the Mets in which he sought Cora’s advice.

The Mets’ bench coach this year was Jim Riggleman, whose experience was thought to be valuable for sophomore manager Mickey Callaway. But that didn’t work out, as Callaway was fired following the season after managing basically the same way in 2019 as he had in 2018.

Aside from Beltran as manager, the team has only settled upon retaining Chili Davis as hitting coach and Tom Slater as assistant hitting coach.