Why Raul Ibanez should become the next Yankees manager

It’s hard to get excited about many of the names floating around as the next potential manager of the Yankees. That is until Raul Ibanez jumped to the front of the line.

Rampant speculation. That’s what we’ve come to expect any time a high-profile position with the Yankees comes available. The fact that details about what the organization is looking for in its next field general are beginning to come to light, should go a ways towards wading through the erroneous.

On Monday, Jon Heyman reported that the Yankees will first look to hire a new director of player development — filling the role that Gary Denbo left when he recently followed Derek Jeter down to Miami.

Once that slot is filled, the club will quickly rotate towards solidifying a manager that is relatively young, good with analytics and almost assuredly comes from outside the organization.

Joel Sherman echoed that sentiment by claiming that Raul Ibanez, who many in the game consider a managerial star in the waiting — one that is also friendly with Brian Cashman, is officially on the Yanks’ radar.

Ibanez, 45, has spent the past year as a special assistant to Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi. Heavily involved in the process of scouting prospects, signing free agents, overall player development and instituting analytic reports, Ibanez has shown an eagerness to mold young men as he did in his final season with the 2014 American League champion Royals.

Following his retirement, Cashman actually reached out to the 2012 ALDS hero with the idea of becoming the team’s hitting coach.

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Tell me you haven’t forgotten what the instant fan favorite did in Game 3 of the 2012 ALDS? A game-tying ninth-inning home run followed by a 12th inning walk-off blast showed Ibanez’s penchant for performing brilliantly on the big stage.

As manager of the Yankees, guiding a roster full of future stars that fully expect to return to the ALCS next season, will require a steadfast approach and a calming influence — something the team no longer believed Joe Girardi offered.

Throw in Ibanez’s experience as an analyst, both with Fox and ESPN, and well, there’s no doubt he would work well with the tenacious New York media.

The only omission on Ibanez’s resume is that he’s never spent a day in a dugout as a coach.

Yet if you look at the hires this offseason, the 19 years Ibanez spent as a player, along with the other attributes he’s picked up while working in the Dodgers’ front office, rival Mickey Calloway’s time as a pitching coach, Alex Cora and Dave Martinez’s stints as bench coaches or Gabe Kapler plying his trade as a minor league skipper.

Next: Tex talks next Yankees manager

All in all, the New York-born, son of Cuban emigres would be the perfect mentor for this club. In my opinion, fans should have absolutely no fear about his level of assertiveness.