Report: Ex-Pittsburgh Pirates Coach to Land in New York

According to multiple reports ex-Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Joey Cora is set to take the same role with the New York Mets

Earlier this offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates made multiple changes to their MLB coaching staff. The team hired Andy Haines as their new hitting coach, Christian Marrero as the assistant hitting coach, and they let third base coach Joey Cora go.

Cora had spent the previous five seasons as the third base coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates. This came after he was the manager of the Double-A Altoona Curve during the 2016 season, which started his six-year stay in the Pirate organization.

After Cora was let go, Mike Rabelo was promoted from assistant hitting coach to third base coach. Rabelo also replaced Cora as the Major League Field Coordinator for manager Derek Shelton and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Well, according to multiple reports, it appears that Cora, despite being fired by the Pirates, will still coach at the Major League level in 2022. The New York Mets are close to naming Cora as the third base coach for new manager Buck Showatler.

Even though Pirate fans were not always happy with Cora’s decisions as third base coach he is a widely respected coach around baseball. Due to this it should come as no surprise that he has landed on his feet with a MLB coaching job.

Cora is the brother of ex-MLB infielder and former World Series winning manager Alex Cora. As a player himself, Joey spent 11 years as a MLB infielder. He has spent 14 seasons as a MLB coach, which included winning the 2005 World Series with the Chicago White Sox.

The 56-year-old Cora will now be directed Mets base runners. Hopefully, when the Mets play the Pirates, Cora will make some of the same head scratching decisions he often times made as third base coach of the Pirates.