Yankees Need a Clean Sweep of Current Coaches

The current Yankees coaching staff is simply not doing the job. After looking at the 2016 team stats, it’s easy to see that a change of personnel is needed before 2017 rolls around.

Notice that the title of this piece reads coaches, not manager. These are two totally separate things. So even though most fans weren’t too pleased with the way Joe Girardi handled Alex Rodriguez‘s last few games a member of the New York Yankees, Girardi has still done an admirable job of keeping this team in some sort of playoff contention.

Is admirable enough for Girardi to continue leading this club in 2017 and beyond? That argument is better served for another time and article.

The one thing that is rather apparent though is the disconnect between the other men who currently reside as mentors, motivators, teachers. I mean, if you yourself can name the Yankees’ hitting coach, pitching coach, bench coach, and first and third base coaches off the top of your head, then give yourself a pat on the back.

By now, as a professional watcher of the Yankees (patent pending), you know that in the event that a team in underachieving, the first people to go are usually the assistant coaches. From time to time, a fed up organization will act swiftly and axe the manager, but Girardi has been in his stead since 2008.

And since he only has one-year remaining on a four-year, $16 million contract, it’s likely that Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman will allow Girardi the opportunity to see out the duration of said contract.

Whether you agree that Girardi is the man to motivate a club that could start as many as three rookies (Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin, and Gary Sanchez) in 2017 is another story. In his one and only season as manager of the then-Florida Marlins, Girardi led his uber-young club to a 78-84 record, while maintaining striking distance of a Wild Card spot for most of the 2006 season.

Oh yeah, and Girardi was named the NL Manager of the Year. So give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his ability to groom and manage young players. Besides, if the Yankees falter worse than expected in ’17, they’ll likely use Girardi as a scapegoat.

As for the current coaches making up the Yankees’ staff; they gotta go. Hitting–inconsistent. Pitching–inconsistent. Baserunning–inconsistent. Inventive gameplay–inconsistent.

The Yankees’ hitting coach for a second consecutive season is Andy Cockrell. After splitting duties with Jeff Petland in 2015, Cockrell took over the day-to-day duties, while former big leaguer Marcus Thames was brought in to be his assistant.

As for the numbers that Yankees bats have compiled under the duo: 24th in the majors in hits (981), 28th in doubles (172), 22nd in HR (123), 27th in total bases (1556), 24th in RBI (458), 19th in batting average (.250), 23rd in OBP (.311), 26th in SLG (.397), and 23rd in walks (332).

Let’s move onto the base coaches, shall we? After five seasons as Girardi’s right-hand man and bench coach, former catcher Tony Pena was reassigned as the first base coach. Not a glowing endorsement of job security, but Pena’s acted as a base coach before, from 2006-2008.

While Pena’s main value lies in working with the team’s catchers, his placement at first simply seems as a placeholder after 11 seasons with the Yankees.

On the other side of the diamond, Joe Espada is now at the tail-end of his second year as the Yankees’ third base coach. Espada quickly gained a reputation in his first season for being way too conservative in knowing when to send runners home.

So for 2016, it appears Espada has thrown caution to the wind, acting as a windmill of sorts. The issue with this is that the Yankees are not a very fast team. Even the clubs two quickest players, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner don’t run like they used to.

Whether it’s a miscommunication in the scouting reports, or an inability to judge opposing outfielders arms, Espada is having trouble finding a middle ground in the ability to know when he should or shouldn’t advance runners.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Surprising stat could breed Yankees-Reds deal at 2023 trade deadline
• Is anybody going to sign Aroldis Chapman away from Yankees?
• Diamondbacks outfielder’s comment on Carlos Rodón’s IG raises eyebrows
• Reflecting on the 2013 New York Yankees’ top 10 prospects
• Did Andrew Benintendi contract help Yankees with Ian Happ trade?

Then there is arguably the most important coach of the entire team (again, not counting the manager), the pitching coach. Larry Rothschild has now been in charge of Yankees pitchers for six seasons.

As a whole, the Yankees pitching staff has one reliable arm, Masahiro Tanaka. And he has a partially torn UCL. After that, it’s a crap shoot as to whether or not a starter will make it out of the 5th inning.

Yankees pitchers rank 20th in ERA (4.27), 20th in shutouts (5), 27th in innings pitched (1030.1), 21st in quality starts (50), 20th in SLG% (.426), sixth in home runs (152) while not having a single complete game all season.

The overall ineffectiveness by Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi (currently on the 15-day DL), Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova (now a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates) and others has been absolutely maddening.

Lastly, there is the bench coach. He’s the manager’s consigliere of sorts; there to offer sage advice, inspired perspective, and a charismatic attitude when the going gets tough. Among many reasons, why do you think Joe Torre was so successful for so long? It’s because he had Don Zimmer, a venerable Google database of baseball knowledge sitting beside him from 1996-2003.

For the past two season’s, Rob Thomson has been in this all too important role. No offense to Thomson, but he seems a bit passive. He too was once the Yankees’ third base coach and the same was said about his ineffective management of baserunners.

Whether it’s the playful moniker of the Yankees (Bronx Bombers), or just a tired and true method, Girardi, Thomson, and the Yankees have relied on the long ball for far too long. It’s actually a bit interesting, considering Girardi spent 11 of his 15-year playing career in the National League (a league that relies on small-ball because of having the pitcher bat).

Check out these deflated numbers: the Yankees rank 24th in sacrifices (15), 17th in stolen bases (53), 17th in grounding into double plays (92), 21st in pinch hit-hits (11), 29th in extra base hits (312), and 27th in total plate appearances (4345).

Yes, the Yankees do rank ninth in at-bats per home run (31.9), but going forward, Girardi needs to look at his team as a whole, instead of a collection of parts. The big boppers who couldn’t run are gone (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran).

The time to utilize young–fresh legs is now. Put on hit and runs, run and hits (yes, they are different), bunt men into scoring position, hell, call a suicide squeeze! Play baseball the way it was meant to be played, exciting.

The days of waiting for the three-run home run are a thing of the past. Unless of course Girardi and company are stuck in limbo, waiting for cargo shorts, CD players, and GMOs to come back into style. If that’s the case, the can we please fast forward to 2018?

Next: A Fantastically Strange Time to Be a Yankees Fan

I hope for the Baby Bombers and the loyal fan base (that likely won’t be going anywhere anytime soon), that a new coaching staff, even led by Girardi, is ready, willing, and able to unleash these young guns amongst the American League’s best sooner rather than later.