Intriguing Yankees coaching candidates emerge after Brad Ausmus, James Rowson departures

For the first time in forever, the Yankees' coaching staff is being picked dry to begin the offseason (the front office, of course, remains untouched). New York worked overtime to retain Matt Blake, but vaunted catching coach Tanner Swanson handed the reins to his protege after he left for a promotion in Seattle. On Wednesday, Brad Ausmus became the Houston Astros' manager, while hitting coach James Rowson — a "free agent" — signed on with the San Francisco Giants as their "offensive coordinator," an extremely normal title.

That leaves vacancies for the Yankees at bench coach and hitting coach, and they have just over three weeks to bring in someone while they can still contact the players, pre-lockout. While the manager-in-waiting role would've been a great spot for a promotion for someone like Shelley Duncan, I can't think about that right now. I have to shove that deep down inside my soul.

On the hitting coach front, the Yankees have spoken to Aaron Bates, who just departed the Dodgers after eight years on the offensive side of the ball in LA in a cloud of dust. What led to the dustup? Who knows. But that's someone who has been a key cog in a remarkably successful program, to say the least.

Yankees' bench coach candidates include a familiar name

When it comes to the bench coach, there are hilariously two key members of former Yankees staffs who were recently dismissed and are currently available. Joe Espada, who was dismissed as Astros manager, came up repeatedly on Wednesday as someone who's maintained a good relationship with the Yankees since departing. Lest we forget that Joe Girardi's bench coach, Rob Thomson, still doesn't have a new job since being fired by the Phillies midseason.

Then come the weird ones. As Chelsea Janes of SNY noted, the Yankees have interviewed Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey in the past. Just how tight is his bond with Craig Breslow?

David Bell, formerly the manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 2018 until Terry Francona's arrival, just ducked out of the Blue Jays' front office to try his hand in the dugout again. With the Yankees? Perhaps?

The early tea leaves make it seem like Espada will be the bench coach favorite, stepping in after an embarrassment a la Luis Rojas a few years back. Hitting coach? That's anyone's guess, but it'd be hard to snag more of a winner than Bates, unless the Yankees went entirely off the board.

The clock is ticking. Loudly.

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