New York Yankees: Hensley Meulens as manager candidate

We review the candidacy of Hensley Meulens who was recently interviewed by the New York Yankees for their open managerial position.

It hasn’t gotten a lot of coverage but the New York Yankees have been busily working to fill their open managerial position. My wife actually sent me a video from the YES Network that indicated five candidates that Brian Cashman and staff have interviewed so far. One of the candidates is a name from the past, Hensley “Bam Bam” Muelens.

Some of you may remember when he came up. For the rest of you let’s take a look at Meulens and whether or not he makes a good candidate.

Meulens came up with the Yankees back in 1989, but never really found a home in the lineup. Over five years with the team he hit .221. He went overseas and helped the Yakult Swallows to a Japanese championship in 1995.

Unlike Aaron Boone, Meulens has coaching experience, and at the MLB level. He joined the San Francisco Giants as the hitting coach back in 2010 and currently remains on the Giants staff. If the Yankees bring him on board it would be his first MLB managerial job.

Here would be an interesting choice. Even George wasn’t adverse to selecting a first-time manager to lead the team. Buck Showalter coming to the Yankees was his first job. So the Steinbrenners would not necessarily be against hiring a new manager, one without experience.

The difference is the fact that Meulens has been in a major league dugout as a coach. He has led men in this league before. He wouldn’t be going from the broadcast booth to his first dugout job the way Boone would if he were hired. It’s more than a subtle difference. Some experience makes a big difference.

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Now is he the best choice? That is a completely different discussion. Current bench coach Rob Thomson might be a smarter choice being around the current team. It’s not as if Joe Girardi did a bad job, and Thomson could step right in and continue the program in place. But as far as new managers go, Meulens isn’t a bad idea.