The Red Sox and Yankees are at it again.

For the past couple of years we have watched the AL East squads gear up for a new chapter in baseball’s greatest rivalry. This fall the two held court by hiring a pair of young, relatively untested managers – each of whom is expected to take his team to a championship in the near future.

New Boston manager Alex Cora poses in Fenway Park on Nov. 6 after the news conference at which the team introduced him. Cora, who's 42, and Aaron Boone, 44, are now the leaders of the rival Red Sox and Yankees. Associated Press/Michael Dwyer

On Monday 44-year-old Aaron Boone was named New York’s next manager. This comes just a few weeks after Alex Cora, 42, was announced as Boston’s new manager.

Boone only played 54 regular-season games for New York, but made his mark in the rivalry by hitting one of the most famous home runs in postseason history. His 11th inning homer off Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS put the Yankees in the World Series and extended Boston’s championship drought to 86 years.

A year later the Sox ended the dreaded Curse of the Bambino. Cora joined the Sox the following season and was part of the 2007 team that made it two championships in four years.

The two managers are part of a trend in baseball to place young men in the dugout’s hot seat. The belief is that younger managers will be better equipped to bring the most out of the game’s burgeoning young talent. When Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman decided to move on from Manager Joe Girardi, he cited “communication and connectivity” as the reasons he wanted to move in a younger direction.

We’re seeing a generational shift at the helm of big-league teams. Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski chuckles when he tells the story of sending Cora a text updating him on the status of his coaching staff. Cora sent a thumbs-up emoji as a reply. Dombrowski said it wasn’t that long ago managers didn’t carry cell phones. Now they are replying with emojis. LOL.

This move to a more youthful presence in the manager’s office began in many ways with another integral figure in the Boston-New York rivalry. Dave Roberts, who stole a base that changed the tenor of the 2004 ALCS and sparked the greatest comeback the game has ever seen, was hired as manager of the Dodgers in 2015 at the age of 43. A year later he was named National League Manager of the Year. In his second season he took Los Angeles to the World Series.

Roberts clearly didn’t have any trouble getting up to speed as an untested big-league manager.

Early on, young managers have to lean on experienced coaching staffs to help handle unexpected situations. Cora hired former Brewers manager Ron Roenicke as his bench coach for that very reason.

Roenicke told me he has no doubt Cora is up for the challenge of managing in Boston, but said it won’t be easy as the new boss learns to handle the demands of his players, the front office, the media and fans in a market with a voracious appetite for the game.

That said, Cora expects to bring the best out of young players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers. Communication and connectivity won’t be a problem in the Sox dugout this season.

The bigger question is whether or not that leads to wins on the field. The Sox finished one game ahead of the Yankees in 2017, but were already eliminated as New York battled to a game seven before succumbing to the Houston Astros in the ALCS.

Winter has yet to begin, but the Boston-New York rivalry is heating up again. Cora and Boone won’t have much time for on-the-job training. They’re expected to win now. After all, they’re taking over teams that made the playoffs last year … only to let go their managers for disappointing seasons.

Tom Caron is a studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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