After firing Alex Cora, the Boston Red Sox are searching for a manager. They’ve targeted New York Mets’ bench coach Hensley Meulens.
The Boston Red Sox are embroiled in scandal. Former manager Alex Cora was fired amid two electronic sign-stealing scandals, one with the Houston Astros and one with Boston.
The Red Sox are looking to act fast in their managerial search with spring training just weeks away. According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Red Sox have interest in New York Mets bench coach Hensley Meulens.
Red Sox have shown interest in Mets bench coach Hensley Meulens. Presumably, he’s a potential candidate for Mets job, too.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 20, 2020
Hensley Meulens was a candidate for the San Francisco Giants managerial opening earlier this offseason. He’s drawn interest from multiple teams in the past, including being a finalist for the New York Yankees job in 2017.
Meulens had been the San Fransisco Giants hitting coach from 2010-2017. He earned a promotion to bench coach in 2018 and stayed in that position last season. After Bruce Bochy retired at the end of the season, Meulens and the Giants mutually parted ways.
Meulens joined the Mets in November to be Carlos Beltran‘s bench coach. He’s also considered a candidate to fill the managerial opening in Flushing, though Luis Rojas is thought to be the more serious internal candidate.
Meulens has limited managerial experience. He’s never managed in the majors or minors before. However, he has been the manager of the Netherlands for each of the last two World Baseball Classics.
Meulens’ communication ability is revered league-wide. Meulens is the only coach in MLB who can speak five languages—English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, and Papiamento.
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has knighted Hensley Meulens, an honor he received for being as Queen Beatrix put it, “A hero to all of us.”
Meulens has been pining after a managerial job for a long time and this opportunity may never arise again. If he receives an offer from the Red Sox expect him to take it.
