Astros Hitting Coach to Manage in Puerto Rican Winter League

Following a nine-year Major League Baseball career, Alex Cintron abruptly retired in 2011, as the former infielder was in the Minor Leagues, looking for a final shot to get back to the Bigs.

After announcing his retirement mid-season, Cintron made a return to playing in 2012, joining the Sugar Land Skeeters in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. This marked the final team Cintron played for, before turning to coaching.

Now, Cintron is one of the three hitting coaches for the Houston Astros. The 43-year-old has been on staff since 2018 from a base coach to the dugout.

Cintron started his professional coaching career in Puerto Rico’s Superior Baseball League (Double-A Category), managing the the Azucareros de Yabucoa (his hometown). With that behind him, Cintron is now slated to manage another Puerto Rican baseball club.

Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron will manage the Cangrejeros de Santurce, starting in October.

On Tuesday, Edwin Hernández Jr. and Michael Schwab reported that Cintron will be managing the Cangrejeros de Santurce. This marks a return to Puerto Rico, after managing the Gigantes de Carolina in 2018 and 2019.

In those two seasons, Cintron managed the Gigantes de Carolina to a 34-33 record with one postseason birth, ending in semi-final departure. During the 2018 season, he won the manager of the year.

The team was formally managed by Astros bench coach Joe Espada. Espada managed his way to a 50-71 record without a postseason appearance. Although sought out by major-league clubs this offseason, he returns to Houston for a fifth season in 2022.

Cintron’s new project is the Cangrejeros of Santurce, who sat out for the 2020-2021 season. In their last go around, the Cangrejeros de Santurce won four championships in six years, while making the final in all six seasons.