Red Sox preferred experienced manager, but Alex Cora offers what they needed

When Dave Dombrowski announced that John Farrell was being fired as manager of the Red Sox on Oct. 11,  he noted that it was the organization’s strong preference to hire someone with managerial experience as Farrell’s replacement.

Now, less than two weeks later, the Red Sox have hired Alex Cora, who has managed only in winter ball and wasn’t part of a major league coaching staff until this past season, when he was made the bench coach of the American League champion Houston Astros.

What happened?

It’s not as though Cora is completely inexperienced. He did manage two seasons in winter ball for his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico and spent this past season as bench coach for the Houston Astros, who will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series beginning Tuesday.

But Cora is more than a resume. He also spent nearly four seasons in Boston and understands the culture of the city and demands of the market.

“As someone who has played in Boston and knows what it takes to win here,’’ Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said in a press release by the team announcing Cora’s hiring, “Alex is uniquely positioned to instill a championship culture.’’

In working for perhaps the most data-driven organization in the game with the Astros, Cora has also been exposed to every facet of analytics, which will aid him in preparing to manage the Red Sox.

“Alex has a full appreciation for the use of analytical information in today’s game,’’ said Dombrowski.

It helps, too, that Cora is bilingual, which Dombrowski noted was “very significant’’ in the release. Nearly 32 percent of MLB players were Latino in 2017, a number that is expected to rise. And several key members of the major league roster – from Eduardo Rodriguez to Rafael Devers to Christian Vazquez – are Spanish-speaking, to say nothing of the many Latino players in the minor league system, many of whom will be in Boston during Cora’s tenure.

But while Cora’s fluency in is considered a big attribute, the Sox are likely most impressed by his ability to communicate with players in either Spanish or English.

In 2017, there was the sense that Farrell wasn’t getting through to the team’s young core. Indeed, a number of the team’s core seemed to take a step backward – Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. – and Bogaerts, in particular, seemed directionless at times.

“In Alex, we have a found a natural leader to guide our clubhouse,’’ said principal owner John Henry. “We could not have found a better match for our players, our front office and for where we intend to go over the coming years as an organization.’’

At 42, Cora becomes one of the game’s youngest managers. Only Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash (39) and San Diego’s Andy Green (40) are younger and the energy he brings is vital at a time when teams are increasingly looking for someone with the drive and commitment to guide a team through the grind of a season which begins in early February, and with any luck, can last until November.