The New York Yankees have already interviewed five candidates for their open managerial position, but they’re not done. Yankees GM Brian Cashman came back from his Thanksgiving break ready to move towards finding the team’s replacement for Joe Girardi.
Carlos Beltran is the most recent candidate to be interviewed for the position of Yankees manager. He joins Rob Thomson, Eric Wedge, Hensley Meulens, Aaron Boone, and Chris Woodward, who have all been interviewed so far.
Beltran played for the Houston Astros in 2017, and announced his retirement just a few weeks after the Astros won the World Series. He played 20 years in the majors, won Rookie of the Year in 1999, and was a nine-time All-Star. He also played for the Yankees from 2014-2016. While he was a great player with great instincts, it’s the small details that make him an interesting candidate for the job.
Beltran retired just a few weeks ago, but as he mentioned in his postgame interviews, if his playing career were to come to an end, he would absolutely be interested in continuing to be around the game. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said that having Beltran on board “was like having an extra player-coach this year.” While that by no means guarantees that Beltran will be a good manager, it is definitely a good example of why so many think, if it wasn’t this year, that he would eventually become a manager in the future.
But if any team is going to find out of Beltran would work as a manager, it’s going to be the Yankees. They’re not screwing around with their managerial interviews. They’ve interviewed five candidates so far, with each one going through a five-to-six hour interview that includes a one-hour conference call with Yankees beat reporters.
More than anything, the Yankees are taking their time. There’s no rush for them to fill this vacancy, especially since they’re the only team looking. They’re interviewing so many candidates because they can, and at this stage, with a few months until spring training, they can take their time in finding the right fit. The relative peace and quiet of the offseason gives them a chance to really get to know their candidates, and to interview a few that might not have gotten long looks at other times.
The Yankees obviously want to get this right, because there’s a lot riding on their decision. They have such a dynamic, talented, and young team, and the right guy at the helm could take them even farther into the playoffs in the future.