Carlos Beltran: Alex Cora’s intensity makes him a fine managerial candidate

HOUSTON — Take it from someone who knows a lot about Alex Cora and the Mets. If the two came together, with the former managing the latter, it would work for both.

That is the opinion of Carlos Beltran, former Mets star and friend of Cora, who now is the bench coach for Beltran and the rest of the Astros. Cora’s name has surfaced as a managerial candidate, with qualifications endorsed by his current boss, Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

Beltran offered a player’s perspective on Cora. “He has a great personality. He’s intense, players like to see that. But at the same time, he’s a guy that can sit down in the clubhouse with the players and have a baseball conversation,” the designated hitter said on the eve of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees.

“Sometimes, you know, managers and players, they draw a line. They don’t want to step in the players’ clubhouse and things like that,’’ Beltran said. “But me, being a player, I love when the manager comes to the clubhouse and I love when the manager sits in the clubhouse and has a conversation with the players, gets to know the players. Get to know them on a personal level. He’s got the skills. He has been a big help for this organization.”

But managing is not coaching, and managing at Citi Field is different from anything else. “He played in New York, he played in Boston. He knows it’s not going to be easy,” Beltran said. “There might be games when a decision that he might make might be second-guessed. You have to deal with that. Hey, you have to address the media, you have to be accountable.”