Two days after the second-worst season in San Francisco Giants’ history concluded, general manager Bobby Evans addressed the state of the franchise and said the club was not prepared to discuss the possibility of coaching changes on manager Bruce Bochy’s staff.
The Giants’ decision to wait to address the fate of hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens was a sign of the deep respect many around the franchise have for him, but also likely a symptom of the fondness San Francisco has for its greatest achievements. Meulens was in the dugout for all three of the Giants’ recent World Series titles, a rookie Major League coach in 2010 and a grizzled veteran by the time the club laid claim once again to its even-year magic in 2014.
At the end of this year, it was possible Meulens’ pedigree could have convinced another franchise, namely the Detroit Tigers or Boston Red Sox, to hire the Giants’ hitting coach away for a managerial opening. Now, the former Yankee could be a candidate to replace Joe Girardi. As the end of October approached, though, San Francisco couldn’t wait on other franchises to hire Meulens away.
The Giants’ front office needed to publicly acknowledge Meulens’ weaknesses, and formally reassign him.
Six days after 18-year Giants’ pitching coach Dave Righetti was reassigned, Meulens was also removed from his role, but reassigned to a more prominent position. While Righetti is headed upstairs to answer to general manager Bobby Evans, Meulens will replace longtime bench coach Ron Wotus, earning a coveted role after shouldering the blame for much of San Francisco’s 2017 struggles.
In the Giants’ postseason press conference, Evans admitted that San Francisco could not return with the same roster come 2018 and expect different results. The Giants have had nearly 15 months to study their shortcomings in real-time, and it doesn’t take a Harvard wunderkind to diagnose the root of the club’s on-field issues. San Francisco can’t keep up at the plate, and regardless of which players the Giants sign or trade for to bolster their lineup, they couldn’t expect entirely different results with the same instructor, either.
After a 64-98 campaign, a year in which the Giants produced the second-fewest runs in the Major Leagues, the fewest home runs in baseball and the worst OPS among 30 teams, Meulens became an easy target. Because San Francisco’s coaching staff shakeup claimed more popular figures like Righetti and Wotus, Evans couldn’t risk alienating the Giants’ fan base by allowing Meulens to return in the same capacity.
Shifting Meulens’ responsibilities is a step in the right direction for the franchise, but it wasn’t as obvious of a step as Giants’ fans might think.
While many fans wanted Meulens out entirely, he’s considered a coach on the rise, and gained credibility as a potential Major League manager after drawing praise from the way he handled the Netherlands squad in the World Baseball Classic this spring.
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, players reported that Meulens is a strong communicator and Meulens said he hoped that Major League teams were taking notice, because he does have managerial aspirations. Because it’s possible the Giants will be looking for Bochy’s successor after his contract runs out following the 2019 season, San Francisco’s front office knows it would be wise to keep prospects waiting in the wings, or more specifically, the dugout.
For as much good will as Meulens has built up, and for as much promise he may show as a potential manager, remaining in the dugout couldn’t involve keeping the same title. When you look at the stats the team has produced over the last several years, it all makes sense.
Though Meulens could argue the Giants’ home ballpark and their relative lack of power on their roster were too large of factors to overcome, on a macro level, San Francisco still produced at a far worse rate at the plate than its Major League counterparts. Aside from the obvious struggles they encountered in 2017, the Giants finished with a team OPS below the league average in four of the last five seasons, and scored fewer than 700 runs (4.32 runs per game) in six of the last eight years. Ultimately, as power numbers increased throughout the game, particularly in 2017, San Francisco failed to keep pace, as the Giants ranked 27th or worse in home runs five times over the last six seasons.
It didn’t help Meulens that his top home run hitter, Brandon Belt, missed most of the final two months of the season with a concussion. Or that all eight Opening Day position players landed on the disabled list at various points during the 2017 season. Or that the Giants’ cleanup hitter, Buster Posey, is miscast in the fourth spot in the order and hit there as a result of the Giants’ other shortcomings.
Still, there were plenty of factors working against him.
Prospects Christian Arroyo and Ryder Jones failed to adjust to Major League breaking balls. Veterans Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford both failed to produce at the levels they did a season ago. And the Giants gave Meulens AAA-quality talent to work with in left field and at third base for extensive portions of the season.
In the end, it couldn’t have helped Meulens that Madison Bumgarner represented one of the Giants’ best late-game threats off the bench.
Ultimately, as the game evolved into a power hitters’ paradise, the Giants’ inability to keep up in the arms race was bound to force a shift in philosophy.
Now, the Giants’ most significant coaching staff shakeup in more than a decade will allow Meulens an opportunity to fit in a role he appears better suited for. He speaks five languages, has a rapport with most of the Giants’ core players, and has an opportunity to prove himself in a capacity that will provide San Francisco with a better indication of whether Meulens is ready for a Major League managerial job.
Bochy won’t manage the Giants forever. There’s a growing possibility the skipper won’t manage the team after his contract expires following the 2019 season. Is Meulens a good fit as a successor? San Francisco will know a lot more after he’s worked as a bench coach as opposed to a hitting coach.
Perhaps Meulens would make an excellent manager, or maybe he’d flop. But the Giants couldn’t afford to retain him as a hitting coach, so they opted to put Meulens, and the team, in a better position to succeed.