Meulens gets to work, minor league skippers about to shuffle, A-Rod makes history

Posted by Andrew Baggarly on November 7th, 2009 at 6:40 pm | Categorized as Uncategorized

New hitting coach Hensley Meulens gave up his job in the Venezuelan winter league so he could begin working with hitters right away - and we do mean right away.

He will be at AT&T Park on Monday for an intensive hitting clinic with four of his most important pupils: John Bowker, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa and Brett Pill.

If you haven't heard of Pill, he's a slick-fielding first baseman from Cal State Fullerton who became a legitimate prospect after a huge season at Double-A Connecticut. He had 109 RBIs. Nobody else in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League broke 100. I expect the Giants will add him to the 40-man roster shortly.

In other news …

Triple-A Fresno manager Dan Rohn wasn't invited back for 2010, but it wasn't a reflection on the job he's done skippering the Grizzlies over the past three years. (Indeed, Rohn wasn't out of work long. He was hired to manage the Blue Jays'> Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.)

I think the Giants considered Rohn a good steward at the Triple-A level until the organization could bring its own managerial talent up the ranks. And while a lot has been said and written about former big league catcher Steve Decker, who is poised, justifiably, for a promotion from Double-A, you shouldn't ignore the job Andy Skeels has done over the past two seasons, either.

Skeels managed High-A San Jose to the best record among all full-season minor league affiliates, and a league championship. A year earlier, he did the same thing with Low-A Augusta.

It would take an eon to look it up, but I'd be surprised if anyone had done that before. There's roughly 120 full-season affiliates in the minor leagues. For the same guy to manage two different clubs to the best record … well, it needs no more explanation.

As a fan of all things New Zealand (except this and this), I should point out that Skeels is a Kiwi by birth and holds dual citizenship. He's really a fascinating guy and our own Mark Emmons wrote a great profile on him earlier this Fall. Check it out here.

Minor league coaching assignments haven't been communicated yet, but it's a good assumption that Decker will be at Triple-A Fresno and Skeels will move up to Double-A, where he'd have the distinction of becoming the first manager in Richmond Flying Squirrels history.

• The Merc