Yankees replace Josh Bard as bench coach with infield coach Carlos Mendoza
According to a report from Sweeny Murti of WFAN, the Yankees made another coaching change on Monday. Josh Bard is out as the bench coach after holding the job for the past two seasons and will be replaced by infield coach Carlos Mendoza.
Earlier this offseason the Yankees fired Larry Rothschild as pitching coach after he held the job since 2011 and hired former Indians’ assistant director of player development Matt Blake. Rothschild wasn’t unemployed for long after it was reported over the weekend that he’s been hired to be the new pitching coach for the Padres.
The 33-year-old Blake will be joined on the bench by the returning Mendoza after he had been the quality control and infield coach since 2018. He’s coached throughout the organization for the past 11 years and has built a strong connection with a lot of the Yankees young infielders. He managed at Single A-Charleston back in 2012 and is highly regarded as someone who really embraces analytics per Erik Boland of Newsday.
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As of right now, it looks like Mike Harkey (bullpen coach), Marcus Thames (hitting coach), Phil Nevin (3B coach) and Reggie Willits (1B coach) will all be returning next season as well. The Yanks also recently hired Twins catching coach Tanner Swanson to join the staff. He’ll be tasked with trying to help Gary Sanchez continue to make positive strides defensively. Whether or not he’ll also be coaching Austin Romine, who’s now a free agent, remains to be seen.
Based on the recent string of hirings it seems like there was a collective effort by Brian Cashman and the front office to put together a more youthful coaching staff for the 2020 season. In today’s day and age that might not be such a bad thing as a lot of contenders have followed that same trend in recent years.
Aaron Boone and the rest of last year’s staff did an outstanding job helping the team to a 103-win season and Boone, in particular, has proven to be a very solid hire and should only get better as a manager in year three.