FORT MYERS, Fla. – Much has been made of the offseason acquisitions of big-money free agents J.D. Drew, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Julio Lugo by the Boston Red Sox.

When you commit to spending a combined $209.1 million on three players, it’s easy to see why.

Still, lost in the Sox spending spree was a quiet little signing on Nov. 22 that could prove just as important to Boston’s pennant hopes in a much less obvious way.

Remember Alex Cora? You know, the guy who was going to be either the starting shortstop or second baseman before Lugo signed his $36 million deal and rookie prospect Dustin Pedroia was told second base was his job to lose.

You might have forgotten about Cora, but the Sox didn’t. Even while general manager Theo Epstein and the rest of the Boston braintrust were watching their grand offseason plan come together, they still considered Cora an important enough piece of the puzzle to give him a two-year, $4 million contract extension.

“Those three pieces fit pretty well together,” said Epstein. “We have an everyday shortstop with a lot of athleticism; we have a rookie, righthanded hitter who we think is going to do the job with the bat and be steady defensively in Pedroia; and in Cora you have a guy who can play both spots, is lefthanded, and has all the experience in the world.”

Sure, $4 million is a modest sum compared to $36 million, but most clubs don’t pay their backup-utility players $2 million a year.

“I would rather start, but you can’t control that stuff. You prepare yourself and they make the decisions and you’ve got to respect what they do,” Cora said. “I just respect the game and play the game right, and I guess they appreciate that.”

And Cora appreciates the respect he’s shown by the Red Sox. That’s why he opted to re-sign rather than seek greener ball fields elsewhere.

“It is a good fit for me,” says the 31-year-old Puerto Rican. “The communication is very good on this club. They trust me here.”

Cora admits he’s disappointed to be slotted in a backup role already this spring, but he’s filled that role for Boston for the last 11/2 seasons since being traded from Cleveland and he’s still been able to get 239 at-bats in 143 games at second, third and short.

It’s all about approach and preparation, says the nine-year major league veteran.

“You just have to get ready to play 162 games. I know my role here, but I have to have the mind-set that I might start so whenever my name is called upon, I’m ready,” he said. “I used to be an everyday guy, but you’ve got to live in the now and stay sharp mentally because there are no mulligans, you know?”

He hasn’t needed many of those. The slick-fielding Cora has committed just 12 errors in 453 total chances, meaning he makes an error once every 38 times he handles the ball.

“I’m not the most talented guy, so I have to learn things from the get-go to help me play better,” said Cora. “I’m also not the quickest guy, but because you’re quick doesn’t mean you have range. There are some people who are quick and others who are fast. I consider myself quick.”

Cora, who has batted .269 and .238 for the Sox the last two years, is quick mentally as well. Maybe that’s why his name keeps popping up when talk turns to players who’d make good coaches.

“I would love to. A lot of people are bringing it up, but I have a lot of baseball left,” said Cora, whose brother Joey is a former big league player and now the Chicago White Sox bench coach.

“Having Joey doing it already, I get feedback from him and it’s working out good for him,” he added. “Hopefully he becomes manager and leads the way so I can follow, because I don’t want to have to make those long bus rides in the minors.”

He’s not worried about long bus rides now. He’s just getting ready to do whatever the Sox need him to do, like all good utility players. Maybe that’s why he’s a fan favorite.

“Boston is a baseball town and people who know baseball understand there’s the star players and the role players,” said Cora. “I’ll tell you what, a lot of role players help win championships, but there are a lot of star players who don’t.”

True enough. Red Sox Nation not only remembers names like Dave Roberts, Gabe Kapler and Pokey Reese, it reveres them. Perhaps Cora soon will be joining them.