Brad Ausmus departure leaves Yankees searching for answers they already had

Dating back a couple weeks, there was a realistic possibility that New York Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus was going to leave to join the Houston Astros in some capacity. He interviewed for the GM position and then the manager position. On Wednesday, he accepted the latter role, and now the Yankees do not have a bench coach.

What makes it worse is that Yankees just saw two key coaches leave their organization for other opportunities. And both would have been very good fits to succeed Ausmus.

Yankees put themselves in a terrible position prior to Brad Ausmus joining Astros

First, it was Triple-A manager Shelley Duncan, who took a job on the AL East rival Boston Red Sox's major league coaching staff. Then, it was catching coach and field coordinator Tanner Swanson, who left to become the bench coach of the Seattle Mariners. The Yankees reportedly offered Swanson a raise in his current position but didn't view him as a bench coach candidate.

The timeline of these hirings haven't worked out in the Yankees' favor since either Duncan or Swanson would've been logical solutions to slide in alongside Aaron Boone. And with the hitting coach situation up in the air, that leaves the Yankees with another void to address.

One internal name that could make sense to be Ausmus' replacement is third base coach Luis Rojas. Rojas managed the cross-town rival New York Mets from 2020-2021 and has been on the Yankees' coaching staff since 2022. His two seasons of experience leading a dugout in a big market should make him a fine selection. Plus, Yankees fans don't really want to see him handling third base duties any longer.

However, the Yankees are in need of change this offseason and team owner Hal Steinbrenner hinted at changes coming to the coaching staff. But that hasn't occurred, and the Yankees have instead suffered losses without meaningful upgrades of any kind.

The most obvious move would be altering the hitting staff, but it's unknown if hitting coaches James Rowson, Casey Dykes and Jake Hirst will return or not. The Yankees need a new voice (or voices) on their coaching staff. That being said, they aren't in a great position to replace Ausmus at bench coach since they have been waiting around to make changes.

It's not like Ausmus felt like a needle-mover or a manager-in-waiting for whenever Boone departs. But this is not something you want to add to your docket with an extended lockout looming in a few weeks.

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