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2018 Offseason is Critical for Outlook of the Yankees

October 27, 2018 by Bobby Montano

The following is the first post from our newest writer, Bob Montano. You’ll see his work every Saturday morning here at RAB. You can follow Bob on Twitter at @mr_bobloblaw.

The Yankees face many significant questions as they prepare for what will be their most important offseason in recent memory. Not only are Bryce Harper and Manny Machado younger and more talented than any players to hit the market in recent years, but the Yankees have clear areas to improve the roster. The team will need to find solutions to new problems in the infield now that Didi Gregorius will miss considerable time and it will need to add starting pitching. But any strategy the Yankees have for the offseason is based on whether or not Hal Steinbrenner is willing to flex his financial muscles to augment one of the most talented cores in all of baseball.

Team brass has been open about their goals to get underneath the luxury tax threshold and they finally accomplished that goal in 2018 for the first time by shaving $50 million off of 2017’s payroll, bringing the payroll to a total of $192.5 million. This does more than just save the Steinbrenners money: it also resets the penalty for exceeding the threshold to the minimum 20 percent for each dollar over as opposed to the maximum 50 percent the team had been paying. In other words, should the team exceed the $207 million threshold in 2019 by $10 million, they’d pay a $2 million tax instead of $5 million. It goes without saying that these numbers are significant at the scale of MLB payrolls and it is not clear if the Yankees are willing to take the financial hit.

Hal has long said that teams do not need a $200 million payroll to win the World Series and that has technically proven to be true – but the reality is that the league has changed in recent years. Many MLB teams have been reticent to add salary, treating the luxury tax as a de facto salary cap, and many teams simply don’t appear interested in spending to win. This presents an opportunity for the Yankees that they should not squander.

Not only do the Yankees have a roster that is as well-positioned for success over the next five years as any in baseball, but they are an exceptionally wealthy franchise. If most other teams are unwilling to spend – and we’ll have to see if this offseason is a repeat of last year’s, but I don’t expect many surprises – then the Yankees simply have no excuse to waste their biggest competitive advantage.

The Red Sox are a perfect illustration of why this is the case. Boston had a frustrating 2017, with a regular season that felt underwhelming — despite the team’s success on paper — and a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the eventual champion Houston Astros. A big reason it felt like the team was underwhelming was its offense, so the Red Sox aggressively pursued J.D. Martinez. They eventually signed him to a five-year, $110 million contract and he hit .330 with a wRC+ of 170 in 2018 alongside Boston’s formidable young core. Thanks in large part to JD’s exceptional season and Mookie Betts’ even better one, the Red Sox are poised to win the World Series after a regular season campaign netted them 108 wins. (For what it is worth, they have the league’s largest payroll by a wide margin.)

Boston was not the only team to follow this strategy to considerable success. The Milwaukee Brewers finished at 86-76 in 2017 and clearly saw an opportunity to improve, signing Lorenzo Cain to a 5 year, $80 million contract. The Brewers added $30 million in salary, and Cain hit .308 with a 124 wRC+ in 2018. Along with likely NL MVP Christian Yelich, Cain helped guide the Brewers to a 96 win season that ended in Game Seven of the NLCS. Much like the Red Sox, the Brewers aggressively added to their payroll and it paid dividends.

Mike estimates that the Yankees will have $50 million to spend after arbitration before surpassing the $206 million cap. That is a significant amount, but it will go fast – especially if the team pursues top talent like Bryce Harper, who is reportedly asking for a 10 year, $350 contract or Manny Machado, who will have similar demands. That is without the additional salary of a potential arm like Patrick Corbin or a lefty bat like Michael Brantley, let alone supporting depth pieces. It does not even consider the fact that key pieces like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino will get significant pay raises through arbitration over the next few years.

We’ve heard a lot about the need to cut salary in recent years, and the team has achieved that goal. Now, the Yankees are a very good team that is on the verge of being a great team — and spending on elite talent in the next few weeks might be the difference. But if they let this moment pass them by, they will have nobody to blame but themselves if they are sitting at home late in October again, watching their bitter rivals beating them at what was supposed to be their own game.

End-of-Season Notes: Gray, Sabathia, Coaching Staff

October 12, 2018 by Mike

In case you missed it earlier, Didi Gregorius will undergo Tommy John surgery. He suffered the injury at some point during the first two games of the ALDS and played with it the rest of the series. That really stinks. Poor Didi. Here are some other notes from Aaron Boone’s and Brian Cashman’s end-of-season press conferences today:

Gray’s getting traded. Cashman was unusually candid about the Sonny Gray situation. “I think we’ll enter the winter, unfortunately, open-minded to a relocation. To maximize his abilities, it would more likely be best somewhere else,” said the GM. Cashman added they’re willing to keep Gray next year, but only because he has to say that to maintain some semblance of trade leverage. Sure seems like Sonny is as good as gone.
Sabathia has knee surgery. For the third consecutive offseason, CC Sabathia underwent a cleanup procedure on is right knee earlier this week. It is part of his regular maintenance routine now. It’s a relatively minor procedure and Sabathia will be ready in time for Spring Training. Of course, he’s a free agent now, so who knows where he’ll be reporting to camp.
The coaching staff remains. Cashman said he anticipates the coaching staff remaining intact. He didn’t mention this, but bench coach Josh Bard and third base coach Phil Nevin could get managerial interviews elsewhere, which could force a coaching change. Otherwise the Yankees plan to stay status quo.

Free agency and the offseason are still a few weeks away, and Cashman said the Yankees will begin their annual pro scouting meetings soon. Sir Didi’s injury really throws a wrench into things.

2018 Midseason Review: The New Manager

July 19, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Ninety-five games into the 2018 season, the Yankees are on pace for 106 wins and every other day it seems like they do something that hasn’t been done since the 1998 Yankees. That includes a 17-1 stretch earlier this year, with eight of those wins coming against the Astros, Indians, and Red Sox. Some quick numbers on the 2018 Yankees:

Run Differential: +131 (third best)
Runs Scored per Game: 5.19 (second best)
Runs Allowed per Game: 3.81 (third fewest)
wRC+: 115 (tied for best)
ERA+: 124 (second best)

A powerhouse team, through and through. At the All-Star break it is clear the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox are the three best teams in baseball. Order them however you want. Those three stand out from the other 27 clubs. The 2018 Yankees: They’re good, folks. Really good. Great, in fact.

The 2018 Yankees have a rookie manager in Aaron Boone, who came into the season about as inexperienced as possible. Yeah, he played for a while and comes from a baseball family, though he’d never coached or managed at any level. Boone went from player to broadcaster to 2018 Yankees manager. It was a risky decision for a team with World Series aspirations.

Evaluating a manager is so incredibly difficult — remember the days when we used to look at the difference between actual record and expected record based on run differential, and pin that on the manager? — because the most important part of their job happens behind the scenes, either in the clubhouse or on the team plane or at home. It’s not just an X’s and O’s gig.

Because of that, I’m not going to bother to slap a grade on Boone as part of our midseason review like we have with the players. Instead, I’m just to pass along some thoughts and observations about the new skipper as the Yankees prepare to head into the second half.

1. Last week was a bad week. Might as well start here. Last week was Boone’s worst week as a manager in terms of on-field decisions. He got burned trying to steal outs against the Orioles with CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka, who were clearly running on fumes and were left in long enough to give up big home runs. Ditto Chad Green, who was also left in too long against the O’s and Indians and got burned because of it.

There was also the decision to save pinch-hitter Brett Gardner for two outs in the ninth rather than use him to hit for Kyle Higashioka, who was allowed to face Zach Britton with a runner on third and one out with the Yankees down a run. (He struck out.) There’s also the whole “not giving runners the red light when Giancarlo Stanton is at the plate in a close game” thing that has burned the Yankees several times. Just let the man hit with men on base!

Last week was Boone’s worst week in terms of obvious managerial decisions (leaving a pitcher in too long, etc.) that didn’t work out. There have been other instances like that this year where the decision did work out — I remember Sabathia being left in to get the final few outs against the Braves a few weeks ago when he was on the ropes, but he got the outs — so we all kinda forgot about them. Last week, they came back to bite the Yankees.

2. There hasn’t been a radical shift in on-field strategy. If you didn’t know any better, it would be hard to look at the on-field decisions and tell whether Boone or Joe Girardi was the manager. Like Girardi, Boone has a set seventh (Green) and eighth (Dellin Betances) inning guy in the bullpen. He doesn’t like lefties (or righties) hitting back-to-back in the lineup. He’s not a fan of bunting and, despite statements to the contrary in Spring Training, he’s not opposed to letting a pitcher (Sonny Gray) have a personal catcher (Austin Romine).

The on-field decisions are generally similar and it’s either because a baseball manager can only do so much to impact a game, or because so many shots are called from the front office. Or both. The Yankees are a very analytical organization and I’m not sure whether directives have been handed down, though I do know information is provided for Boone and the coaching staff. Perhaps that information has led to Boone making similar decisions as Girardi. Point is, there doesn’t seem to be a big difference between the two in terms of their on-field strategy.

3. There have been no egregious rookie mistakes. Every manager, no matter how experienced, will make a pitching change that doesn’t work out or a lineup decision that doesn’t make sense. That’s baseball. The egregious rookie mistakes I’m talking about are Managing 101 stuff. Consider some of the other rookie managers:

Mickey Callaway, Mets: Gave the umps the wrong lineup card and batted out of order.
Gabe Kapler, Phillies: Forgot to warm up a reliever before taking out his starter.
Dave Martinez, Nationals: Changed pitchers before the pinch-hitter was announced and lost the platoon advantage.

That’s really bad! Managing 101 stuff, like I said. It’s a low bar, I know, but Boone hasn’t done anything like that so far. Callaway in particular seems in over his head — last week he changed his pitcher before the pinch-hitter was announced a la Martinez — and we haven’t seen anything like that with Boone yet. Bad pitching or lineup decisions are whatever. Everyone does that. The basic stuff? No issues there.

4. He’s great with the media. And that’s not nothing. Boone is a natural with the media — surely his time as a broadcaster helps with this — and he’s quite good at diffusing potential controversies. Remember when Aaron Judge got thrown out trying to steal with Stanton at the plate against the Indians last week? After the game Boone said he second guessed himself, he screwed up, and that was it. End of the story.

Girardi could be a little stubborn with the media and it created some unnecessary headaches. Remember the non-challenge in the ALDS? After the game Girardi wouldn’t admit the mistake and his excuse was he didn’t want to throw off his pitcher’s rhythm with a challenge. Only digging a deeper hole with an excuse like that. Boone is much more personable and much more adept at diffusing any problems with the media. It’s a very Joe Torre-esque quality.

5. So what happens when the intensity increases? Let’s be real here, the players have made Boone’s job incredibly easy so far this season. The Yankees have not experienced anything close to a crisis. Their worst stretches this year are .500 ball. They haven’t had that ugly 3-9 stretch where the sky starts falling, you know? The players have made the first 95 games of Boone’s managerial career very easy.

Going forward though, the games will become more important and more intense as the postseason race heats up, and we don’t know how Boone will react in that environment. He seems to be the exact opposite of Girardi. Girardi was very intense and high strung, and hey, that can work. It did work for a long time. Boone is pretty much the opposite. He’s very even-keeled and relaxed, and I think that is reflected in the team. The Yankees seem much more loose this year than they have the last few years. The manager sets the tone.

Will that change as we get deeper into the postseason race? Who knows. Boone’s never managed and we’re not going to know how he handles those pressure situations until the team actually plays in those situations. Hasn’t happened yet. I think Boone will be fine. His big thing is staying in command and controlling emotions. I’d be surprised if, coming September when a postseason spot is on the line, we see Boone with that strained look on his face like Girardi.

* * *

The Yankees are so good and so talented that Boone’s single biggest job is don’t screw it up. Give your best hitters the most at-bats, use Green and Betances and Aroldis Chapman in the late innings of close games, and things’ll be fine. Keep everyone happy and make sure there isn’t a mutiny in the clubhouse. That is the Boone’s single most important responsibility, and he’s done that. So far, so good, though a postseason race remains uncharted territory for the new manager.

Saturday Links: Boone, Sixth Starter, Power Rankings, YES

March 31, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees and Blue Jays continue their season-opening four-game series with the third game later today. First pitch is scheduled for 4:07pm ET. In case you’re wondering, the minor league regular season begins this coming Thursday, so that’s cool. Anyway, here are some links and notes to hold you over until first pitch.

Boone interviewed with Twins, Cubs

Prior to being named manager of the Yankees, Aaron Boone interviewed with the Twins for a front office job and the Cubs for a coaching position, reports Ken Davidoff. In the weeks after being hired, Boone admitted he was preparing to leave his ESPN gig to get back into the game, and hinted at interviewing with other clubs in addition to the Yankees. Now we know it was with the Twins and Cubs, for different roles.

I know Boone kinda came out of nowhere as a managerial candidate — it sure surprised me when the Yankees interviewed him — nevermind as a managerial hire, but it sure seems like he’s highly regarded within the game. Multiple teams were interested in bringing Boone aboard in a rather significant capacity despite his lack of experience. Smart teams interested in adding smart personnel to their organization. News at eleven.

Yankees have date in mind for sixth starter

The Yankees are targeting Tuesday, April 24th as a day to bring up a spot sixth starter, Boone told Billy Witz near the end of Spring Training. They’ll play the second game of a four-game series against the Twins at Yankee Stadium that evening. Boone and the Yankees have said they plan to use a spot sixth starter to give the regular starters extra rest from time to time. They’ve done that a whole bunch over the years. Nothing new here.

Thanks to April off-days, the Yankees won’t need a starter to make a start on normal rest until Monday, April 16th, and even then only Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka would have start on normal rest. There’s an off-day on April 18th, giving the other three starters an extra day. Weather could always throw a wrench into things, but right now, whoever starts the third game of the season for Triple-A Scranton would line up for that April 24th start. My guess is Domingo German is atop the sixth starter depth chart the moment.

Yankees top ESPN’s future power rankings

Earlier this month ESPN compiled their annual future power rankings, in which they rank the 30 MLB teams based on how they “will fare over the next five years.” The rankings are based on four components (MLB roster, farm system, finances, front office), which are weighed differently. The Yankees rank first. The Dodgers are second and the Astros are third. (The Marlins are 30th). Here is a piece of write-up:

A strong case could be made that the Yankees are better positioned than any team in baseball, because they have some of the best of all types of elements right now. They have a top farm system, including high-end infielders Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar; their major league team is loaded with young and old talent, from power-hitting outfielders Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to 24-year-old ace Luis Severino; and they have the greatest payroll flexibility of any Yankees team since the early 1990s — right before the Paul O’Neill-Tino Martinez dynasty.

The Yankees’ biggest problem? Jacoby Ellsbury and his contract, according to the ESPN crew. And you know what? If Ellsbury and his contract are their biggest problem, that ain’t so bad at all. The big league roster is loaded, the farm system is loaded, the front office is shrewd as hell, and the Yankees have lots of money to spend. They’ll have even more to spend in the future, once they rest their luxury tax rate this season. Yep, the Yankees are in really great shape going forward.

YES Network ratings skyrocketing

The Yankees have a great team and they were one game away from the World Series last season, so, not surprisingly, television ratings are up big time so far this year. The YES Network announced Grapefruit League ratings were up 80% from last year even though only one of their eleven spring broadcasts was in primetime. The spring ratings were better than March Madness ratings, on average.

Furthermore, Opening Day was the YES Network’s highest rated season-opening broadcast in seven years, since the 2011 opener. The Opening Day broadcast drew more viewers in New York than all other sports broadcasts that day, including nationally televised NBA and MLB games on TNT and ESPN, respectively. The Yankees are good, they’re fun, and people are excited. I reckon attendance will be up quite a bit this year as well.

The New Manager and Coaching Staff [2018 Season Preview]

March 27, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Managerial job security isn’t what it used to be. Joe Girardi, in his tenth season with the Yankees, led a team that exceeded all expectations to Game Seven of the ALCS last year. His reward? Unemployment. The Yankees cut ties with Girardi after the season and Hal Steinbrenner said he probably would’ve authorized the managerial change even if the Yankees had won the World Series. Ouch.

“We do not make changes at that level lightly, so it was a very difficult and challenging decision,” said Brian Cashman soon after it was announced Girardi would not be retained. “Easiest call would be plug and play and continue in safe harbor arena. I have never been safe harbor kind of person … Our issues and concerns were the ability to engage, fully communicate, and connect with the playing personnel.”

Rather than recycle an experienced big league manager or promote someone from within, the Yankees took a risk and named former Yankee Aaron Boone their new skipper. He has no prior coaching or managerial experience. None. Nada. Boone went from playing to the broadcast booth to managing. He reportedly blew the Yankees away during the interview and convinced Cashman & Co. that he’s the right guy for the job.

“I wanted this opportunity and I wanted this challenge. I wanted to be back on this side of things. I want to chase the prize,” said Boone to Mike Lupica earlier this month. “I’ll say it again, what pulled me back to this side of things was chasing that prize.”

That prize is, of course, a World Series championship, something Boone never won as a player. (The 2003 postseason was the only time he played in the postseason in his career.) And that’s the goal this year: Win the World Series. This is a win-now roster and a win-now organization. The Yankees brought a rookie manager into a situation where the goal is to be the last team standing, and, to be fair, they are not the only team in recent memory to do that. The Dodgers (Dave Roberts) and Nationals (Dave Martinez) both hired inexperienced managers in recent years.

Boone’s first Spring Training as manager went, well, like any other Spring Training. And that’s a good thing. It was business as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary happened — aside from that whole “forget to warm up Adam Warren” incident — and, to paraphrase Boone’s predecessor, that is what you want. A normal spring. By way of a preview, I have some thoughts and observations about the new manager.

1. Boone has a Torre-esque quality. Specifically his calm and the way he’s able to diffuse things with the media. Girardi was a great manager. He was not so great with the media, which is not insignificant. They can make your life miserable. Joe Torre’s best trait was, by far, the way he handled the media and diffused unfavorable situations. He was asked about whatever, he shot it down in a way that closed the book, and that was that. Girardi had a tendency to ramble and let things fester for a few days.

This spring Boone has been more Torre than Girardi when it comes to his daily briefings with the media. That Warren situation a few weeks back? It would’ve been easy for the rookie manager to blame someone else — calling down to the bullpen to tell a reliever to warm up is definitely something that gets delegated to a coach — but instead Boone took the blame, owned up to the mistake, and that was it. It was a non-issue going forward. Boone will be under the microscope all year and he could’ve shifted blame for that mistake. He owned it and that was that.

The Yankees hired Boone partly because of his communication skills, specifically his ability to interact with his players, but those communication skills also apply to the media. Torre was a master at keeping the peace and limiting distractions. Boone seems to have a similar quality, though, to be fair, he has yet to face a real crisis or even manage a regular season game. We’ll see if things change once the games start to count.

2. He’s willing to be open-minded. Everyone seems to be looking for the new Joe Maddon, that manager willing to be unconventional and try new things. Why? Because it’s different, mostly. Maddon has had success doing that but many managers have had success not doing that. To each his own. But many fans seem to want their team to hire the next Maddon. The next smart manager willing to think outside the box.

Boone, if nothing else, seems to be open-minded. He’s talked about batting Aaron Judge leadoff against lefties and Cashman confirmed that was a conversation initiated by Boone. Boone also said that, aside from Aroldis Chapman at closer, he plans to use his setup relievers interchangeably, rather than assign set roles or innings. He doesn’t want his speedy baserunners to risk outs on the bases because the Yankees have so much power. Who knows whether anything will actually come of this. For now, Boone is talking the talk. We’ll soon see if he walks the walk too.

3. Let’s talk about the rest of the coaching staff. When the Yankees cut ties with Girardi, they also cut ties with much of his coaching staff. Joe Espada left to join the Astros, and Tony Pena and Alan Cockrell weren’t retained. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild stuck around, as did assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames and bullpen coach Mike Harkey. Otherwise the coaching staff is full of fresh faces:

Bench Coach: Josh Bard (had been Dodgers bench coach)
Pitching Coach: Larry Rothschild (retained)
Hitting Coach: Marcus Thames (promoted from assistant hitting coach)
Assistant Hitting Coach: P.J. Pilittere (promoted from Triple-A Scranton)
First Base Coach: Reggie Willits (promoted from player development staff)
Third Base Coach: Phil Nevin (had been Giants third base coach)
Bullpen Coach: Mike Harkey (retained)
Catching Coach: Jason Brown (promoted from bullpen catcher)
Quality Control Coach: Carlos Mendoza (promoted from player development staff)

Bard was Boone’s teammate with the Indians back in the day, and he spent time with the Dodgers (another progressive analytics driven organization) in both the front office and on the coaching staff, so has experience on both sides of the table. He’ll help Boone quite a bit, I imagine. Nevin is more old school and that’s a necessary balance. Sometimes you need that tough love.

The coaches who were promoted from within all have experience with the young Yankees on the roster. Willits, formerly the minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator, worked with Judge during his days in the minors. He also worked with Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade and others. Mendoza was the minor league infield coordinator, meaning he spent time with Wade, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar. Pilittere has been a hitting coach at various levels over the years and he’s worked with pretty much every young Yankee at some point.

Brown, interestingly enough, is making the jump from bullpen catcher to full-time catching coach, meaning he will be tasked with helping Gary Sanchez improve his defense. He and Cashman spoke to Billy Witz about this recently:

“Everything we do as catchers starts from that stance, that setup, whether it’s the receiving, the blocking, the throwing,” said Jason Brown, the Yankees’ new catching coach. “That’s the foundation. It’s more natural for smaller guys. For Gary, it’s something that he’s been working on.”

…

(Cashman) also said Sanchez was uncomfortable with the pregame workout routine that last year’s catching coach, Tony Pena, and manager, Joe Girardi, had implemented.

In the second half of the season, Sanchez returned to the pregame regimen he had used in the minor leagues.

Hmmm. Last year Sanchez went from eleven passed balls in his first 61 games at catcher to five passed balls in his final 43 games, so he went from one every 5.45 games to one every 8.60 games. That’s better! Whether it’s real improvement or just official scoring noise is another matter. Either way, Brown is now the full-time catching coach. He is in charge of helping Sanchez (and Austin Romine) improve his catching.

The Yankees made sweeping changes to their coaching staff over the winter, but because so many of the new coaches came up from the farm system, they already have a working relationship with many players. They’re not coming in blind. Also, Bard caught CC Sabathia with the Indians and Nevin managed both Didi Gregorius and Brandon Drury in Triple-A while with the Diamondbacks, so there is some familiarity there as well. Clearly though, the Yankees wanted some new leadership and new voices in the clubhouse. They have that in Boone and they have it with his coaching staff.

* * *

My fearlessly bold prediction is the Yankees will win a lot of games this season because they are incredibly talented, and Boone will look like a genius manager. He’s in position to get a lot of credit. And, when things inevitably go wrong, he’ll get the blame. The Yankees will lose three straight at some point. They’ll score like four runs in a three-game series at some point. That’s baseball. When it happens, fingers will be pointed at Boone.

That comes with the territory. You sign up to be manager of the Yankees, you have to take the good with the bad. Boone is a baseball lifer. He knows the game. I have no doubt about that. I also have no doubt that he’s passionate about the job, that he cares for his players, and that he understands the expectations. Girardi was a very good manager and keeping him would’ve been justifiable. The Yankees decided to be bold though, and while Boone has shown some promising traits, this season will be one giant learning experience. It’s all new to him.

Update: 2018 Minor League Coaching Staffs Announced

March 22, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

March 21st: Coaching staffs for the short season affiliates have finally been announced. I’ve added them to the bottom of the post.

February 12th: Over the last several weeks the Yankees have announced their 2018 minor league coaching staffs under new farm system head Kevin Reese. Reese replaces Gary Denbo, who left to join Derek Jeter with the Marlins. There is nothing sexy about minor league coaching staffs, but these guys are important. They help mold the next wave of prospects and Baby Bombers. Here are this year’s coaching staffs.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Manager: Bobby Mitchell
Pitching Coach: Tommy Phelps
Hitting Coach: Phil Plantier
Bullpen Coach: Doug Davis
Defensive Coach: Travis Chapman
Athletic Trainer: Darren London
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Brad Hyde

Al Pedrique, who’d managed in the farm system since 2013 and was Triple-A Scranton’s manager from 2016-17, left the Yankees this offseason to become the Athletics’ first base coach. He has been very open about wanting to manage in the big leagues again, but the Yankees didn’t interview him for their managerial opening, and I assume that contributed to his decision to join the A’s. So it goes.

Mitchell joined the organization in 2016 and managed Double-A Trenton the last two seasons. Now he’s moving up to replace Pedrique. Mitchell played briefly in the big leagues (1980-83) and has extensive coaching and managerial experience in the minors. This will be his second Triple-A managerial gig after managing Triple-A Salt Lake (Angels) from 2008-10.

“From top to bottom, the Yankees have a lot of young talent moving up the ladder,” said Mitchell in a statement. “The whole system is packed with prospects and that is a really good thing. Honestly, the most satisfying part of the job is seeing guys make that jump to the big leagues. Knowing our guys are driven and are going to work hard for that goal makes us all excited to get this season going.”

Plantier is new to the organization and is replacing P.J. Pilittere as Scranton’s hitting coach. Pilittere is now the Yankees’ assistant hitting coach. Plantier played eight seasons in the show (1990-97) and, fun fact, he is the all-time home run leader among players born in New Hampshire. Since retiring as a player, Plantier has held several coaching and managerial jobs in the minors, and was the Padres’ hitting coach from 2012-14.

Phelps, Davis, London, and Hyde are all returning to the RailRiders. Phelps is entering his third season as the team’s pitching coach. Davis is not that Doug Davis, the former big league lefty. It’s a different Doug Davis. This will be his second year in the organization.

Double-A Trenton Thunder

Manager: Jay Bell
Pitching Coach: Tim Norton
Hitting Coach: Ty Hawkins
Bullpen Coach: Luis Dorante
Defensive Coach: Raul Dominguez
Athletic Trainer: Jimmy Downam
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Anthony Velasquez

With Mitchell going to Triple-A Scranton, Bell comes up from High-A Tampa to take over as Double-A Trenton manager. Last season was his first season in the farm system, and he has lots of coaching experience, including at the big league level with the Diamondbacks (bench coach from 2005-06), Pirates (hitting coach in 2013), and Reds (bench coach from 2014-15). He also worked in Arizona’s front office from 2007-09. Last year Baseball America named Bell the top managerial prospect in the High-A Florida State League.

Downam and Velasquez are returning, otherwise the rest of the coaching staff is new. Norton spent the last two seasons as pitching coach with High-A Tampa and this will be his seventh season coaching in the system overall. He pitched in the organization from 2006-11 and, as rumor has it, the Yankees were planning to call him up in 2011, but Norton came down with an injury. The Yankees then picked up Cory Wade as a replacement.

Hawkins is a Yankees lifer. This will be his 20th year coaching in the organization. He’s worked at every level at some point — Hawkins was Double-A Trenton’s hitting coach in 2005 — and most recently was a hitting coach in the rookie Gulf Coast League. Dorante has been in the system since 2011 and was rookie Pulaski’s manager last year. Dominguez was Bell’s defensive coach with High-A Tampa.

High-A Tampa Tarpons

Manager: Pat Osborn
Pitching Coach: Jose Rosado
Hitting Coach: Eric Duncan
Defensive Coach: Jose Javier
Catching Coach: Michel Hernandez
Athletic Trainer: Michael Becker
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Jacob Dunning

Yes, the Tarpons. Anyway, Tampa probably has the most interesting coaching staff in the organization, not that minor league coaching staffs are the most exciting things in the world. Osborn, who has been considered a rising managerial star the last few years, managed Low-A Charleston last season and returns to Tampa after managing the club in 2016. Javier was on Osborn’s staff as defensive coach last season, and he’s moving up as well. Becker and Dunning are returning.

Duncan is entering his fourth season coaching in the system and it’ll be his second straight season with Tampa. His mission this year: Help Estevan Florial make more consistent contact. Hernandez is the organizational catching guru. The Yankees move him from level-to-level each year to put him with a specific catching prospect. This year it’ll be Donny Sands, apparently. Hernandez has worked with Gary Sanchez and Luis Torrens in the past.

Rosado has, very quietly, played a big role in the Yankees turning around their player development system in recent years. He spent the last three seasons with Double-A Trenton and had a hand in getting pitching prospects like Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery, Chance Adams, and Dietrich Enns to take a step forward in their development. This year he’ll work with a talented Tampa staff that figures to include Freicer Perez, Trevor Stephan, and Albert Abreu.

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs

Manager: Julio Mosquera
Pitching Coach: Justin Pope
Hitting Coach: Scott Seabol
Defensive Coach: Dan Fiorito
Athletic Trainer: Michael Sole
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Danny Russo

This will be Mosquera’s 13th season in the organization and his fourth as a manager. He managed Short Season Staten Island last year. Pope and Sole are returning to the RiverDogs, and Seabol was on the rookie Pulaski staff last season. It was his first year in the organization as a coach. He’s making the jump to full season ball this year. Fiorito, a Yonkers native, was an ultra-popular organizational player from 2013-16. He was released last season and is a rookie coach this year. Pretty cool. Can’t say I’m surprised the Yankees brought Fiorito back as a coach after reading this.

* * *

The Yankees have not yet announced their coaching staffs for Staten Island, Pulaski, or the two GCL affiliates. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been finalized. It just means they haven’t been announced yet. (The GCL staffs are never announced anyway.) The Yankees had six minor league instructors take big league jobs this offseason:

Al Pedrique: Triple-A Scranton manager to A’s first base coach.
P.J. Pilittere: Triple-A Scranton hitting coach to Yankees’ assistant hitting coach.
Carlos Mendoza: Infielder coordinator to Yankees’ quality control coach.
Josh Paul: Catching coordinator to Angels’ bench coach.
Tom Slater: Double-A Trenton hitting coach to Mets’ assistant hitting coach.
Reggie Willits: Outfield and baserunning coordinator to Yankees’ first base coach.

The Yankees have a strong player development system now, and when you have a good player development system, your instructors tend to get poached. The Yankees were able to keep Pilittere, Willits, and Mendoza in the organization, albeit with promotions to the big league staff. They weren’t as lucky with Pedrique, Slater, and Paul.

* * *

Short Season Staten Island Yankees

Manager: Lino Diaz
Hitting Coach: Ken Joyce
Pitching Coach: Travis Phelps
Athletic Trainer: Jon Becker
Strength Coach: Daniel Smith
Video Manager: Joe Wielbruda

Diaz has been coaching in the minors a very long time — this is his fourth season with the Yankees — though this is only his second managerial gig. He managed a rookie ball affiliate with the Royals back in 2001. Diaz spent last season as Double-A Trenton’s defensive coach, and prior to that he was working at the complex in Tampa. This is Joyce’s second season in the organization. He was Low-A Charleston’s hitting coach last year. Phelps is entering his third season as pitching coach with Staten Island.

Rookie Pulaski Yankees

Manager: Nick Ortiz
Hitting Coach: Francisco Leandro
Pitching Coach: Gerardo Casadiego
Defensive Coach: Teuris Olivares
Athletic Trainer: Manny Ozoa
Strength Coach: Larry Adegoke

Ortiz returns to Pulaski after managing in the Gulf Coast League last year. The longtime minor league pitcher joined the Yankees as a scout in 2016 and later that year he served as kind of a jack of all trades coach with Pulaski. Leandro comes up from the Gulf Coast League with Ortiz. This will be Casadiego’s second season as Pulaski’s pitching coach. Longtime RAB readers will remember him from DotFs back in the day. Olivares has been with the Yankees for eight years now in a variety of lower level coaching positions. This is his first season with Pulaski.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Yankees East

Manager: Edgar Gonzalez
Pitching Coach: Elvys Quezada
Defensive Coaches: Kevin Mahoney and Tyson Blaser

These assignments are as reported by Robert Pimpsner. I’m not sure who the hitting coach will be for GCL East, but it might be Mahoney. He’s spent the last three years as the hitting coach in the GCL (2015), Pulaski (2016), and Staten Island (2017). Quezada is back for his fourth season as a GCL pitching coach. He, Mahoney, and Blaser are all former Yankees minor leaguers. Blaser was Triple-A Scranton’s bullpen catcher last year.

Gonzalez is new to the organization. He is Adrian Gonzalez’s older brother — Edgar did not have nearly as much big league success as his brother, though he did play in parts of two seasons with the Padres (2008-09) — and he’s spent the last few years managing in Mexico. Gonzalez also managed in the World Baseball Classic last year. I’m curious to see if this is a stopgap situation, or if the Yankees consider Gonzalez a long-term coaching keeper.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Yankees West

Manager: David Adams
Hitting Coach: Rich Arena
Pitching Coach: Gabe Luckert
Defensive Coaches: Hector Rabago and Antonio Pacheco

David Adams! This is actually his second season back with the organization. He was the defensive coach for the GCL East team last season. Adams was once one of the better prospects in the organization, though things didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. Both Luckert and Pacheco are back with GCL West after holding the same roles last year. Arena is coming up from the Dominican Summer League — this is his 12th season coaching in the system — and Rabago is coming from Low-A Charleston, where he was a defensive coach last season. This is his fifth season coaching in the system already. Feels like just yesterday the Yankees drafted him as a player. Again, these assignments come from Pimpsner.

A-Rod rejoins Yankees, Nick Swisher added as special advisor

February 25, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Alex Rodriguez is back with the Yankees. So is Nick Swisher. This morning the Yankees announced A-Rod, Hideki Matsui, and Reggie Jackson are returning to the Yankees as special advisors to Brian Cashman, and Swisher has been hired in the same capacity. I imagine this means A-Rod will be in camp at some point.

“These are exciting times for the New York Yankees, and I do not take his opportunity for granted,” said Rodriguez in a statement. “I am genuinely thankful for the trust the organization has placed in me, and I am looking forward to lending whatever support or expertise is needed of me. I continue to cherish The Pinstripes, the fans and my involvement with the Steinbrenner family, Brian Cashman, and his world-class staff.”

Matsui and especially Reggie have been special advisors for years now. They just have new contracts. Rodriguez had served as a special advisor after being released in August 2016 through the end of his player contract in 2017. Hal Steinbrenner said a few weeks ago he was talking to Alex about bringing him in back in some capacity.

As for Swisher, he announced his retirement last February and is getting back into baseball after the proverbial year away from the game. He helped out during Captain’s Camp and is in Spring Training as a guest instructor. Now he has a full-time front office gig with the Yankees. How about that?

In the past A-Rod, Matsui, and Reggie worked primarily on the minor league side, traveling to the various affiliates to work with prospects. I imagine Swisher will do the same as well. The Yankees offered Carlos Beltran a special advisor job earlier this offseason, but he opted to step away and spend a year with his family.