Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
The chaos enveloping around the Mets appears to be leaving Hensley Meulens untouched.
Bam Bam is not being promoted to manager and reportedly has not been contacted by the Red Sox, as the former longtime Giants coach seems to be staying on as Mets bench coach in the wake of Carlos Beltran’s firing. Instead, quality control coach Luis Rojas — Felipe Alou’s son — will take over the top seat in Queens.
Meulens was once regarded as a shoo-in future manager, a baseball lifer who speaks five languages and is well-liked around the league. But he’s fallen just short often and appears to have again. He also was a runner-up when the other team in New York, the Yankees, hired Aaron Boone.
The trend is toward the younger communicators over the older, more grizzled veterans to lead dugouts, and the 38-year-old Rojas beat out 52-year-old Meulens. The Mets are going with in-house stability — Rojas has been with the organization for years and managed young stars like Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil in the minors — over baseball experience after Beltran was canned because of his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
Presuming the Red Sox don’t call, Meulens will be a bench coach for a third straight season, having served in that role under Bruce Bochy the last two years.