RealGM

MaseInYourFace wrote:

levendis wrote:

MaseInYourFace wrote:
It's the most prestigious team in baseball and a lot of expectations. Yes I think it's a tough job and a big deal.

Girardi was a bench coach for Yankees before Marlins hired him to be a manager.

exactly. like I said, he only coached for 2 years before the Yankees gig. He wasn't THAT much more experienced than Boone was. The players on this team will determine how far they'll go period. Boone must have impressed at the interview. And really they're going full circle. Replaced a hard ass Schowalter with a more relaxed Torree. And doing the same now swapping Girardi with Boone

I'd say way more experienced he was a bench coach here then managed another team.

MaseInYourFace wrote:

thebuzzardman wrote:Ok. Maybe I'm being a little obnoxious with the Meulens thing, but I'm basing it things I've seen the Yankees do in the past.

I think the Yankees, as an organization, have a lot of faith in their scouting and drafting in terms of the "type" of player that they go for, and that is a player who is a good teammate, solid citizen, mostly self motivated and of course talented. And this has been mostly who they go for.

Anyway, this fits the Showalter out\Torre in scenario. They Yanks back then were confident in the minor league talent they had assembled, in ability and MINDSET, and they wanted to pair a more genial, laid back, but professional manager, who understood NY and NYC. Torre had the Brooklyn upbringing, time with the Mets as manager and most importantly, disposition to manage basically self motivated players. How he handled the Boss was a bonus.
Now, also around this time the Yankees had Gus Williams as a LF/4th outfielder. He was making life miserable for a certain other young Williams. Might have heard of him. First name Bernie. Yanks quickly traded Gus for next to nothing. Point is, when they had a player who could be a little sensitive, but a good guy and talented, they dropped Gus like a hot brick. The Yankees will nurture worthwhile young talent.

I think (bit of a stretch here) that the situation is similar. The thought isn't unique to me - Joel Sherman made this connection and it rings true. This is a team that has a number of solid young leaders - Judge and Gregorius for starters. I think the Yanks are comfortable with the clubhouse and know this team will compete for a while, so they want that more light hearted, but still competitive guy, and I think Meulens fits the bill. He knows NYC from his time in the minors and brief playing career. He doesn't have any managerial experience and isn't an analytics guy, but I think he fits the more modern role of manager as a piece of the puzzle and not almost the whole thing. My own theory is that Sanchez to a degree is Bernie - the talented but somewhat sensitive guy the Yanks didn't want Girardi to ruin, and the Yanks let talent trump each time, as long as the player isn't a sh*thead. I also think Girardi is viewed as stubborn, and looking ahead to Otani didn't want a guy like that to blow up the Otani deal with some sort of "I''m opposed to him hitting" or "Not a fan of 6 man rotations" mess. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Girardi was as wound up as Showalter, but Sherman spoke with pretty strong authority that he's viewed that way, so there must be something to it.

Finally, per the link above:
Meulens speaks spanish. Hmm... Torres, Sanchez etc
Meulens speaks Japanese and played in Japan for 11 years. Tanaka....and Otani?
Meulens coached and managed the Netherlands bball team, where Gregorius played for him when was manager - he speaks Dutch, same as Didi.
He speaks English - so thats the Judge, Frazier etc.

The guy has the ability to communicate in the native languages of the Yankees best domestic and international players and the international player they most hope to land and Meulens had a strong tie to Japanese baseball. Plus as a rookie manager he'd be amenable to the "modern" notion a manager is a piece of organizational puzzle, even on the field, as opposed to "the man".

Connect the dots.

I say Meulens gets announced shortly.

I think Meulens will be the manager as well.

Still think firing Girardi was a mistake and I think comparing him to Showalter when Showalter was manager here is a bit OD. First it was a different time most managers were still a bit old school and mean and no I don't think Girardi is that type of manager either. He's a bit of both the old school type and the new. Girardi is a really smart guy (BS in engineering) although he is stubborn but I don't think analytics would have been a deal breaker. BTW Showalter adapted and has had success working with young player's in Baltimore.

Dr. Detfink wrote:Meh. Cashman wanted a sabermetrics guy. I'm assuming Aaron *bleeping* Boone uses stat sheets a little more than Girardi who was more on gut and organic feel for the game. We'll see how it goes but the Yankees have a lot of talent, I feel Boone is managing with house money.

Sark wrote:Torre, when he was hired had one of the worst records of all time as manager. We saved his legacy.

Not that he had one really.

MaseInYourFace wrote:Not really. They didn't call him binder Joe for no reason.

levendis wrote:Lineups, pen roles, defensive shifts, ways to attack opposing pitchers/ hitters are determined by front offices. And the most successful/praised ones are the ones that follow their "suggestions". Managers primary responsibility have been reduced to pen usage, challenges, and managing the club house. This isn't basketball or football. There are no great tacticians in baseball. Boone is going to listen to front office suggestions, not crap on his star young catcher in public, and bring a more relaxed atmosphere in the clubhouse. We'll see how it goes, but those are the biggest reasons as to why he was picked.