Yankees need to be first in line to steal ex-Red Sox hitting coach

The New York Yankees‘ hitting coach vacancy opens up, and all of a sudden, the man behind the league-leading offense of the past four years declines to re-up with his previous employer to “pursue other opportunities”?

Boston Red Sox offensive architect Tim Hyers, welcome to the cause!

Typically, when someone willingly departs one big-league job and opens up their recruitment, it’s because they’re trying to get a promotion. It would certainly make sense if Hyers declined to re-up with the Red Sox because he’s hoping to get his feet wet with some managerial interviews, and not because he’s trying to cause chaos and defect to the rival Yankees.

But … what if that’s exactly what he’s doing?

We’re trying not to get our hopes up, but the man who joined the Red Sox in 2018 and immediately preached getting the ball in the air and ripping elevated line drives is now a free agent.

That seems like a particularly helpful message for the Yankees, a team that absolutely refused to stop hitting ground balls at any point in 2021, and could use a roster-wide refresh.

Yankees need to steal ex-Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers.

Here come the Boston replies crediting JD Martinez and JD Martinez alone for the Sox offensive prowess. Here they come! Hear them rolling in now! Very smart stuff. Y’all definitely know exactly what occurs in that clubhouse on a daily basis. You are the only real fans.

Strangely, Sox fans have reached the point with their team where they appear willing to welcome a “new voice” in the locker room to clean up “inconsistency,” a first-world problem if we’ve ever heard one. Much like Yankees fans who wasted a lot of breath demanding Marcus Thames vacate his post, someone with a long track record of success experiencing failure probably isn’t done as a viable coach, nor are they solely responsible for the issues you’re perceiving.

The fact of the matter is Hyers oversaw the top offense in the sport since 2018 — in basically every category. If all of this is due to JD Martinez telling his teammates to peek inside the video room, then call me a monkey’s uncle.

It’s important to note that Hyers’ Red Sox are legitimately great at all the things Yankees fans perceive that their team can’t do. That seems important.

Why’s he leaving? Who knows. Maybe it’s the inconsistency thing. Maybe it’s a cost demand. Maybe he didn’t like watching the Laundry Cart down seven runs in the ninth. Regardless, this feels like a golden opportunity to revamp your offensive philosophy with a guy who just lived through the success you’re hoping to achieve.

Similar to the Bob Melvin departure, this one just fell into the Yankees’ laps. Unlike the Melvin move, there’s still a vacancy to fill in the Bronx. Tick, tock.

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