Yankees’ VP Of Baseball Operations Mark Newman To Retire

According to the NY Post’s George A. King III, Mark Newman, who has been in a member of the Yankees’ front office for twenty-six years and has been in charge of the team’s minor league system for fifteen of them, will not be getting his expiring contract renewed and will retire. He has been heavily criticized in recent years because of a lack of position players reaching the big leagues.

Amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer appears to be safe, as the Yankees have liked his last few years worth of amateur draft picks. However, the report also says that Pat Roessler, the team’s director of player development, is also likely to depart.

There are some questions as to whether Newman’s retirement is fully his own choice, as he was asked if he knew what his future held earlier on Thursday and he said that he didn’t. Also, a message was left on Thursday night as to the possibility of his retirement and it wasn’t returned in a timely manner.

The most likely replacement for Newman appears to be former Kansas City Royals and Nippon Ham Fighters (Japan’s Pacific League) manager as well as former Dodgers’ bench coach, Trey Hillman. During his time in Japan, Hillman helped the Ham Fighters win the Pacific League pennant in 2006 and 2007, winning the Japan Series in 2006. He was a coach and manager in the Yankees’ minor league system from 1990-2001 and currently sits as a special assistant for major and minor league operations.

As for Roessler’s potential replacement, Gary Denbo, who was the Yankees’ hitting coach in 2001 and worked with Hillman in Japan, is the likely choice.

This is the first of what might be a number of changes to come.