Yanks hire Merrill for Trenton

TRENTON, N.J. – Former New York Yankees manager Carl “Stump” Merrill, who finished last season managing their Triple-A team at Columbus, was hired Wednesday as manager of their new Double-A team in Trenton.

Merrill, 58, led Norwich to a 20-14 start last year, then took over the Clippers on May 24 after they went 15-30 under Brian Butterfield and interim manager Frank Howard. Under Merrill, Columbus went 44-53.

Merrill, a Brunswick native and catcher for the University of Maine’s 1964 College World Series team, will be in his 27th season with the organization. He replaced Bucky Dent as the Yankees’ manager on June 6, 1990, and led New York to a 49-64 record. The Yankees went 71-91 the following year, and Merrill was replaced by Buck Showalter.

Dent was hired Tuesday to replace Merrill in Columbus.