Yankees use most insane logic possible to justify Sean Casey leaving

Sean Casey probably wasn't the optimal solution for the 2023 Yankees' dismal offense. After all, despite gaining the ability to be patient and take pitches, New York's vaunted bats still failed to hit down the stretch, which is kind of the whole point of baseball.

Casey appeared to connect with the likes of Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu, who either returned to form or went scorched earth under his purview. Based on rumblings out of the clubhouse, Aaron Judge very much enjoyed his time working with Casey as well -- or, at least, enjoyed the time he spent with him. He's a highly enjoyable guy.

The 12-year MLB veteran announced Wednesday he would not be returning to the Yankees' coaching staff for 2024, even though word leaked late in the season that Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman had extended an offer for him to return. Casey himself claimed Wednesday that things had never really gotten to that stage, and even though The Mayor himself tried to take hold of the narrative, the confusing Yankees spin machine still got him anyway.

According to some well-placed sources, the Yankees hired Casey to connect with their big-leaguers, but continued Dillon Lawson's teachings, almost uninterrupted, at the minor-league level. It would seem that Lawson was a uniquely ill-suited communicator, but Casey was also set up to fail unless he made stunning progress in a two-month span. He didn't.

Yankees can't decide on hitting philosophy as Sean Casey leaves

So, again, the Yankees' July consisted of:

1. A decision to remove Lawson before his approach rendered any more harm on the big-league offense

2. A decision to empower a more old-school voice in Casey to preach patience and contact

3. A subtle dedication to Lawson's principles below the surface, making Casey's teachings confusing to any prospect promoted midseason. Good thing the Yankees didn't promote many prosp -- oh.

Casey did not do enough to make any Yankee fan pledge fealty to him; the team's worst losing stretch of the season technically came under his watch, and the roster stunk to high heaven regardless of which hitting coach was poking and prodding them.

Still, it sounds like the team would prefer to find an effective communicator of Lawson's minor-league teachings (which, to be fair, have produced some fairly dominant minor-league teams with solid K rates), rather than revamp the system. That's not what we heard this summer. Regardless of which camp is right and which is wrong, it would be nice to see the Yankees agree on a system-wide philosophy rather than hang trusted voices out to dry.