New York Yankees: Five candidates to replace Joe Girardi as manager

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 21: Joe Girardi (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 21: Joe Girardi (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Kevin Long

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Long would be an interesting choice. No, he has no managerial experience, but was on the Yankees bench for eight years, serving as their hitting coach. He is the guy that was credited with recovering the home run stroke of Curtis Granderson. Long also has big game experience as he was part of the 2009 championship run.

Long has spent the last three years on the bench of the cross town New York Mets. As their hitting coach, he has been there for the rise of Lucas Duda and Michael Conforto, just to name a couple. He clearly has the ability to make batters perform. Long was in Queens when the Mets faced the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. Translation, Long was there when the lineup turned it on in the final portion of 2015, led by Yoenis Cespedes, and turned it into a run at a title.

As liked as he is by players, this one might be a long shot for a return. Long had an acrimonious divorce from the Yankees in 2014 before heading to Queens. As bad divorces go, the makeup sessions are less frequent. If the two sides swallow their pride they could make this happen. There are a lot of pros to this choice.