The Yankees finalized their coaching staff this evening, announcing the group that’ll be assisting manager Aaron Boone. Bench coach Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Matt Blake are each back for third seasons in their respective roles. As previously reported, Dillon Lawson takes over as hitting coach to replace Marcus Thames.
Perhaps of most interest, the Yankees announced they’ve added longtime big league third baseman Eric Chávez as an assistant hitting coach. The left-handed hitter appeared in 17 MLB seasons between 1998-2014, compiling a career .268/.342/.475 line that checked in 13 points above the league average by measure of wRC+. Chávez spent the 2011-12 seasons with the Yankees, but he’s best known for his run with the A’s. During his time in Oakland, he earned six consecutive Gold Glove awards from 2001-06. He also claimed a Silver Slugger in 2002, a season in which he hit .275/.348/.513 and earned a 14th-place finish in AL MVP balloting.
Chávez hung up his spikes in July 2014 and quickly jumped into his post-playing days in the Bronx. He accepted a role as a special assignment scout with the Yankees before making the jump to the Angels’ front office after the 2015 campaign. Chávez spent the next few seasons there — including an interim stint managing in Triple-A. The 44-year-old had been mentioned as a candidate for managerial searches in both Anaheim and Texas in years past, although this’ll be his first stint on an MLB coaching staff.
Joining Chávez as an assistant hitting coach is Casey Dykes. The 31-year-old was poached away from Indiana University after the 2019 season, part of a leaguewide trend for teams looking to the amateur ranks in search of coaching talent. Dykes spent the 2021 campaign coaching hitters with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but will now get a bump to the big league level.
In other new additions to the staff, the club confirmed the previously-reported hirings of former Mets’ manager Luis Rojas as third base/outfield coach and Desi Druschel as assistant pitching coach. Longtime minor league coach and field coordinator Travis Chapman gets a bump to the big league staff as first base/infield coach. New York also brought back bullpen coach Mike Harkey and quality control/catching coach Tanner Swanson in the same roles.
Henry Aaron is the only player with 400 total bases during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Bad Henry did this in 1959.
And from the 1940’s thru the 1980’s only Aaron Musial and Jim Rice hit the 400 total base mark.
Cool. You still paying for sad sex?
I like the Chavez hire, but I’m never sure if former-players or never-beens make better hitting coaches. Either way the players’ performance gets blamed on them, and they get the ax. Definitely nice to see to a former player with a more consistent batting average get the job than someone like Marcus Thames. We’ll see if that difference in approach translates to better results from Yankee hitters…
Interesting. I do really like Dillon Lawson, but Eric Chavez is a fantastic get as an assistant hitting coach. When he was his prime, he was probably one of the best third basemen in baseball. He was a very balanced hitter over his career, even though he mainly excelled in the homerun department.
Yea, gotta figure he’s gonna be a help to the infielders as well
I agree. For better or worse, the old As teams let Giambi, Tejada, and others walk, but they signed Chavez long term. Probably was a bad move as injuries derailed him. He became an awesome spare part on the 11-12 Yankees because when asked to contribute 50-60% of the time, he thrived (versus all on him in Oakland)
Anything on them hiring a new head groundskeeper
I heard the guy in AAA is fantastic
I wonder if any of them will comment on Clint Frazier.
Or Rob Refsnyder…
One thing kind of lost in the shuffle here is how these hires extend Cash’s influence even further into the dugout. Nevin was the only coach that Boone was “allowed” to hire. & he gone. Replaced with another Cashman guy. Now he is adding even more coaches to the equation all of whom are His Guys.
This team has become all Brian Cashman.
I can’t think of another GM that has the sweeping authority that Cash does.
While he may have extreme influence in the dugout, if Hal ever wants him gone then having his guys in the dugout won’t save his job. Might even give his hires less job-security if he’s ever gotten rid of (unlikely as that seems)
Oh, for sure.
I’m just pretty impressed with how Cash has infiltrated & influenced basically every aspect of the NYY; personnel, coaches, manager, MiLB, pitching, hitting, training, analytics, finances… His influence is everywhere by now.
Some pretty Machiavellian stuff.
His guys compile the roster, make out the lineup, script the bullpen, call the game, etc. That seems like an unprecedented amount of power on an MLB team for one individual.
When viewing Cash’s history, it’s easy to see why he *may* have had that much influence at one time. But, post-dynasty, not so easy, and it’s only increased. It does make sense because he’s earned Hal’s trust, thus, the team is entrusted to him.
And, I’m not saying Cashman was in any way responsible for the 90’s dynasty, because he had as much to do with it as Hal did.
Luis Rojas isn’t a Cashman guy. He vibed with Boone during the interview and wad brought in from the outside.
For those suggesting that the Yankees will win it all simply because they followed up both the 1957 Braves championship and the 1995 Braves championship with championships of their own, the Yankees were nowhere to be found in 1915. It means absolutely nothing in 2022. It’s just something that happened decades ago.
Teams with poor speed, defense and one pitcher capable of 200 innings aren’t ever going to win it all, according to history.
The next four World Series winners (in no particular order) will be the Giants, Dodgers, Red Sox and Braves..
None of this matters
Honestly, who really cares? Let’s get labor crap fixed… and if coaches were that important Carlos Beltran would be on coaching staff as well.
@ Bigtimeyankeefan;
No.
Compare Rothschild – who actually ruined Yankee pitching prospects (not that they were necessarily as good as publicized) to what Blake has done. And the fact that Blake had no experience as a pitching coach meant nothing – he was instrumental in working with Cleveland’s pitching staff, an organization that is among the best in maximizing pitchers abilities.
As for the hitting coach – I’m not in the clubhouse or on the field, so I don’t know how much influence he had with individual players. But I thought it was silly when just about every Yankee RH batter stood in the batters box with their back foot far behind their front foot and their body twisted to hit to RF. Looked like a softball team going at a short fence in RF. And that’s what the Yankees did for years – hitting routine fly balls to the porch in RF. I had to read nonsensical comments on here about how HR’s won championships – as the Yankees couldn’t get to a WS. Finally MLB took some of the juice out of the baseballs in 2021, and many of those routine fly balls turned into routine fly balls. Hence, the need for a new hitting coach.
Yankees continue to chase their tail under Hal / Cashman. Like the diet books that come out every Spring with a new gimmick to get rid or weight put on in the winter. Exercise and eating properly year-round seems to work just fine. They get all caught up in the latest theories instead of simply stressing fundamental baseball.
Any beleive they didn’t hire Chet Lemon in any capacity. Huge mistake!
The only coach on the staff whose value I question is Tanner Swanson.
His putting Sanchez on one knee not only failed to improve Gary’s defense, but it also may have screwed up his hitting, which certainly declined after Swanson started coaching the Yankee backstops. Gary’s framing has suffered, and so has his ability to throw out runners. Many have suggested that Gary’s struggles and frustration with his defense may have infected his hitting, and it’s not a far-fetched idea. Nobody can play successfully without confidence.
Higgy also took a step back defensively this year.
I can’t think of anything that improved with Yankee backstops since Swanson was hired. To the contrary, it’s all gone south, notwithstanding Cashman’s gushing about Sanchez’s allegedly improved defense.
In sum, what the hell has Swanson brought to this team that justifies keeping him on the payroll?
The Yanks sure have bounced Gary’s development all over the place. In truth, we should have just let him be after 2016-18 & quit messing with his approach.
When he came up, he was an elite bat, controlled the running game, & was a very good framer. Yeah, he sucked at blocking. But there is a well known inverse relationship between framing & blocking. In short: only your truly gifted defensive catchers excell (or are even adequate!) at both.
Personally, I had pretty high hopes for Swanson. Twins catchers, players, coaches, etc all rave about him. But this is now Gary’s 3rd makeover & he is probably just getting confusing replies from his muscle memory at this point.
I wouldn’t go so far as to trot out the “ruined him” take. But we did his development no favors & all the changes we have foisted upon him over the past few seasons seems to have had a negative impact on him only.
Your second sentence pretty much sums it up.
We can’t know who — Swanson, the analytics department, or some other culprit — prompted the campaign to reinvent Gary’s defense, but the evidence says it was an ill-considered experiment.
I won’t feign clairvoyance, but it’s not hard to imagine Gary becoming dejected at the constant criticism of his catching and frustrated as it only got worse. When the only time he heard cheers was when he homered, it’s also easy to imagine how that might’ve adversely affected him at the plate.
Before I forget: Happy Holidays, @Mr Person.
Gary actually had defensive value his first three years in the league. He had the widely publicized problem with blocking. However, due to some pretty good framing & an excellent arm he was a positive defensive catcher. & CERA is mostly a BS stat but he ranked well there & always has.
He is not lazy.
Spent his winter in the Dominican working on his hitting. He has put in all kinds of extra work on the knee down stance.
I see a lot of Yankee fans who want to Revenge-DFA him or whatever because his tenure has become so frustrating. A struggling Gary Sanchez is probably the most difficult player I have made myself watch. & ugliness seems to occur in clusters with him.
It does seem he takes an AB with him onto the field & or a mistake defensively into an AB. I don’t care to guess at the psychology of it. But: this constant tinkering has not worked out for him. Rather, it has had the opposite effect. At this point, he is a serviceable catcher. Which – sadly enough – says more about catching as a whole around MLB than it does Gary’s ability.
But I can’t help thinking back sometimes to that kid in 2016 who kept us in the WC race all by himself through August & well into September. Can’t recall ever seeing a batter more locked in over a long stretch myself.
Thanks, Ducky.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone should have followed Thames and Nevin out the door tbh.
Fascinating discussion about the baseballs, one of my biggest problem with MLB. I find it really difficult to believe that they can’t produce a consistent baseball and determine a precise measurement for its “liveliness”. The trial and error process seems to be about a hundred years out of date. The impact on statistics is so utterly profound that it robs all credibility from a player’s performance? This seems unconscionable, but that’s MLB. Can you imagine other sports tweaking with the ball? Tom Brady? That was OK? Then wtf can MLB not get it together?
Because they want it that way. Scumbags.
The hitting approach isn’t likely to change.
how do you evaluate a hitting coach when the baseball changes from one season to the next? judge and stanton hit home runs regardless of the ball, djlm has less margin for error, and gleyber forgot to change his approach against teams not named the orioles. sanchez is the outlier. his first 750 mlb at-bats weren’t a fluke and he could be “unlocked” by the right hitting coach. still, it appears that moving on from thames was about philosophy more than results