Yankees announce finalists for the team’s managerial position

In a surprising turn of events, Brian Cashman has announced that the Yankees will not have a second round of interviews for the team’s open managerial position like initially believed. Instead, the six men they have interviewed for the job will be considered as the finalists. Who will they be hiring as the team’s 35th manager in the organization’s history?

The six people they have interviewed to this point include Carlos Beltran, Aaron Boone, Rob Thomson, Eric Wedge, Hensley Meulens, and Chris Woodward. On a surface level, those six candidates don’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence, which is why it was initially believed there would be a longer interview process. However, there is some evidence that suggests the team already knows who they want.

You can probably immediately throw out Eric Wedge and Chris Woodward from the group, because at this point, they just seem to be filler in order to spread out the list of interviewees. Thomson can be considered a known quantity, which is probably too close to Joe Girardi for the Yankees to see him as an upgrade. He’s also already interviewed for the Phillies’ bench coach job too. It is believed that Boone and Meulens are liked by the organization, but the real favorite has to be Beltran at this point.

Now, put on a tinfoil hat for a second as I take you through why I think this. First of all, Beltran already showed an effort to mentor many of the team’s prospects back in 2016, including Aaron Judge. Apparently he also reached out to Cashman following his trade to the Texas Rangers asking if he can be of any service to the organization in the future. He also speaks Spanish, is a respected veteran in the clubhouse, and has experience dealing with the New York media. For these reasons, the Yankees likely view him to be the superior communicator they seem to be looking for.

It’s possible that Cashman made the decision to part with Girardi knowing full well that Beltran was interested in the job. Beltran might have less managerial experience than the other candidates, but he’s already spoken candidly to the media about the prospect of managing and how he would want a bench coach with managerial experience to help him.

Hiring someone like Beltran, who only just announced his retirement, may not sound like the best course of action for a team in New York, but if these are the only candidates, he’s certainly the best of the bunch. It’s unknown at this time when an official decision will be made, but if the team is done interviewing, it shouldn’t be long now.