Yankees must be wary of poaching another Mets coach after petty exit message

Without too many booming moves on their docket this offseason, the Yankees' chief intention should be adding upgraded talent (even marginal upgrades) and minimizing drama. One easy way to accomplish that second task is to avoid hiring coaches who take shots at their previous employer on their way out the door. Double the strength of that avoidance if the coach happens to be someone who, I don't know, took a job with your team, then bolted for a different club before even formally starting.

Eric Chavez has long been a personal favorite of the Yankees' current regime, and was brought in as an assistant hitting coach prior to the 2022 season, building off a successful end-of-career stint in pinstripes as a plug-and-play veteran/de facto active hitting instructor. He brought with him a wealth of knowledge and veteran moxie, and even as his bat slowed down from its A's peak, he still managed to be an effective, hustle-fueled Bomber who won hearts.

Then, he lost them by defecting to the Mets in early January, mere weeks after signing a contract in the Bronx. Steve Cohen gave him the head gig. He'd never wanted the assistant title as anything more than a stepping stone anyhow. The whiplash was confounding, but Brian Cashman understood.

Did he enjoy it? Who's to say. But he understood.

At the time of his abrupt Yankees departure, it felt as if the Mets were on the right track, wooing a bright young baseball mind with an ahead-of-schedule responsibility shift that would pay off in the short- and long-term. That ... never really materialized. Chavez's tenure as Mets hitting coach lasted one year before he was shifted into a bench coach role. After a hitting coach need opened up again after 2023, he was shuffled back into his original role, but dismissed formally at the end of the 2025 season.

Now looking for work again, and with incumbent hitting coach James Rowson deep in interviews for the Minnesota Twins managerial job, Chavez and the Yankees would seem to be a plausible fit ... before you take into account his current headspace, and his history of blowing up the Yankees' plans.

We know they loved him once. But do they still love him enough to overlook the inherent drama, as well as the fact that he just posted an Instagram story celebrating the Mets' trio of Silver Slugger finalists (Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor) with the caption, "Take That In."

Former Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez posts petty Instagram story as Yankees decision looms

Yeah, uh ... yeah, man. Let me be the first to say that bragging about being the reason behind three of the game's greatest offensive players being recognized as such comes off both ludicrous and vindictive. If Luis Torrens had put up a Silver Slugger season on Chavez's dime, by all means, snipe away. But this feels like Rowson screenshotting Aaron Judge's year-end totals with the caption, "It's no fluke — if you've got me pulling the strings!"

Best for the Yankees to steer clear of a coach they once loved and forge a different path.