BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox have picked up Alex Cora’s option for two more seasons, rewarding their manager for taking them to the AL Championship Series in his first year back after serving his one-year sign-stealing suspension.

Cora, 46, is now under contract through 2024.

“Alex’s leadership of our staff and our players was critical to all that we accomplished in 2021,” Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said. “Along with the entire Red Sox front office, I am excited for many years of continued partnership as we work together to bring another World Series trophy to Fenway Park.”

A former infielder who was a member of Boston's 2007 World Series championship team, Cora is 284-202 in three seasons as manager.

In his first year, 2018, he led the club to a franchise-record 108 victories and a World Series title. Cora was let go a year later when he was identified as the ringleader in the Houston Astros cheating scandal.

After Ron Roenicke managed the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Cora was brought back to the Boston dugout. The Red Sox went 92-70, then beat the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game and the Tampa Bay Rays in the divisional round before losing to the Astros in the ALCS.

“I am beyond grateful for this opportunity to manage the Red Sox,” he said. “We experienced so many special moments as a team and as a city in 2021, but we still have unfinished business to take care of.”

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