Alex Cora Jokes About Seeing Former Red Sox Star

It’s always nice to get dinner with an old friend, especially when they offer to pay.

When the Red Sox travelled to San Diego to take on the Padres, manager Alex Cora was happy to see the former Boston star Xander Bogaerts. While he’s always glad to see Bogaerts, the 32-year-old paying for food makes the trip even better.

“It’s great because now he pays for dinner,” Cora joked about Bogaerts, according to MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “He has a lot of money. I tried yesterday and he’s like, ‘Nah, nah, don’t even do it.'”

Bogaerts signed a big 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres during the 2022 offseason. This season, the former Red Sox shortstop is batting .271 with a .340 on-base percentage, .737 OPS with nine home runs.

“He’s hitting for average. He’s hitting the ball hard, playing good defense,” Cora said. “So it was good to catch up with him and (Jose Iglesias) last night. And now hopefully he picks it up again on Monday. Not this week.”

He spent 10 seasons in Boston before moving to San Diego, making his MLB debut with the team in 2013. Bogaerts has appeared in 1264 games, which is the 15th most in club history.

Throughout his time with the Red Sox, he won two World Series rings in 2013 and 2022. He also accumulated many other accolades, including five Silver Slugger awards and four All-Star appearances.