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Boston Red Sox hire Alex Cora’s new coaching staff on Thursday

By Logan Jakubajtys

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - JULY 5: C.J. Cron
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - JULY 5: C.J. Cron /
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The Boston Red Sox announced the hiring of their bench coach, first base coach, third base coach, and bullpen coach on Thursday afternoon.

New Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is starting his first day on the job with the hiring of his coaching staff. He’s added experience and a wealth of knowledge to his staff, and Boston’s young core is sure to benefit from it.

The Red Sox announced on Thursday that 61-year old Ron Roenicke would serve as the team’s bench coach. Tom Goodwin was hired as the first base coach, Carlos Febles was hired as the third base coach, and Dana LeVangie will come back to the major league club as the bullpen coach.

Each new coach will also serve other purposes as well, but I’ll get into that below in each coach’s profile.

Bench Coach: Ron Roenicke

Roenicke brings a ton of experience with him to Boston, and that will be huge for Alex Cora as a brand new manager. The 61-year old actually has some managerial experience as he went 342-331 as the skipper for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2011 to 2015. After that stint, Roenicke spent a season as the third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The past two seasons he’s been in that role with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. That was Roenicke’s second stint with the Angels. He was their third base coach from 2000 to 2006 and then served as their bench coach until 2010. Now, Roenicke will be on board in a Red Sox uniform to assist rookie manager Alex Cora.

First Base Coach: Tom Goodwin

Longtime MLB player Tom Goodwin will step in as the new Red Sox first base coach. He will also be the team’s outfield instructor and will coordinate baserunning instruction. Goodwin played in the majors for 14 seasons with 6 different teams. The centerfielder finished his career with a .268 average, 24 home runs, and 284 RBI. After retiring, Goodwin was a coach for the Red Sox affiliate Lowell Spinners. In 2012 he took over as the New York Mets first base coach, and he was in that role until the end of this season.

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Third Base Coach: Carlos Febles

New third base coach Carlos Febles will also serve as the Red Sox infield instructor. Febles was a utility second baseman as a player in the majors, and he spent his last professional season with the Pawtucket Red Sox. After his playing career, he joined the Lowell Spinners as a hitting coach. He later served in the same role for the Salem Red Sox. In 2011 he was named the Spinners manager. He was there for just one season though as he was promoted to be the skipper for the Greenville Drive in 2012. In 2014 Febles was promoted once again. This time he was named the manager of the Salem Red Sox, Boston’s Class-A affiliate. In 2016, another promotion came and Febles was the manager for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. He remained their skipper in 2017, and now he’ll skip Triple-A to join the Boston staff. Febles has clearly earned his stripes as a baseball coach.

Bullpen Coach: Dana LeVangie

Dana LeVangie is a Red Sox talent through and through. A minor leaguer as a player, he became the Red Sox bullpen catcher for 8 seasons, including in 2004. After that, he joined the team as a scout. Prior to the 2013 season, LeVangie was named the Red Sox bullpen coach. Of course, he earned his third World Series ring with Boston (2004, 2007, 2013). He’ll be the lone coach still on the staff from the John Farrell days.

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Alex Cora seems to have assembled a pretty solid coaching staff so far, but he still needs to add a hitting coach. Last season’s assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez is still on the staff, so maybe a promotion is coming for him. Either way, I think the Boston Red Sox will be in great hands going forward as they aim to contend for the 2018 World Series title.

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