Brad Ausmus flirting with Astros job gives Yankees their clearest upgrade opportunity

With Yankees fans up in arms over the team's apparent reticence to include a "bad cop" bench coach in their recent coaching overhauls, bench coach Brad Ausmus may make their decision for them in the coming days.

As Astros insider Brian McTaggart noted over the weekend, Ausmus was spotted in Houston's offices on Thursday, over 24 hours prior to their announcement that Cardinals executive Randy Flores — and not Matt Kleine of the Brewers — would be taking over GM operations. The Astros have gone about their offseason business in a bizarre order, naming fundamental staffers prior to finding a GM. At the very least, they waited to name a manager and declare a dugout philosophy until they could put a front office leader in place.

That process includes a formal series of interviews for Ausmus, as echoed by Jon Heyman and confirmed on Monday morning. Ausmus has interviewed for both the manager and GM role in Houston in the past, and will now be considered for a promotion back to field general after once occupying the role in both Detroit and Anaheim.

Yankees can upgrade bench coach role and vary the voice as Brad Ausmus seeks Astros manager job

While it's not fair to call Ausmus' presence in the Yankees dugout a redundancy, given that we don't have an inside view on how he operates on a day-to-day basis, it is objectively true that he provides a very similar perspective to Aaron Boone.

Both were former players and peers of the same era who had similar career peaks. Ausmus does not have a unique perspective on managerial tendencies. He has not made it further than Boone as a manager. He does not have a title-winning brain to pick as a sounding board. Bringing in Ausmus felt akin to bringing Sean Casey in when the Yankees had a hitting coach vacancy a few years back — an attempt to replicate the familiarity of the Boone/Phil Nevin dichotomy by adding another old friend.

The bench coach role is intended to be a manager's mentor and direct counsel. The Yankees missed an opportunity when they never brought in an experienced name to share the reins during Boone's early tenure, and with Boone entering Year 10, that will never be the model they employ.

What they can do is bring in a different voice who comes from a unique tree. Whether that voice is gruff and aggressive/can deliver a message that Boone cannot or doesn't feel comfortable delivering is up to the Yankees. Maybe this is a chance to hiring a young managerial prospect/a clearer conduit to the clubhouse. Whatever the team chooses, fans who are seeking a shakeup should hope that Ausmus earns the role in Houston.

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