LONG OVERDUE…LONG GONE
The Yankees made some
news today, the same day that the American League Division Series begins without
them playing in it. Today, they extended
Brian Cashman’s contract for another 3 years as their General Manager/Senior
Vice President; fired Kevin Long, their hitting coach; and decided not to renew
the contract of their first base/infield coach.
In my opinion, the re-signing
of Brian Cashman is an overall good deal.
Yes, he has made mistakes; but, what GM hasn’t? His quick deals before the trading deadline
proved to be very successful including the acquisitions of 3rd
baseman, Chase Headley; infielder, Martín Prado; and starting pitcher, Brandon
McCarthy. He works very well with the
Steinbrenners and the press - both of which add value towards the Yankees’ management. I strongly believe that Brian is underrated by
many because he always has an open wallet available, unlike other team’s GMs; but,
as I’ve mentioned in the past, he has enough history to show he’s smart, shrewd,
and owns an overall successful track record that can’t be denied - with or
without a great deal of spending money.
Firing Kevin Long, their
now-former hitting coach, is a move the NYY had to make. Some will argue that a hitting coach is more
of a mental coach for hitters who have already proven their offensive talent
doesn’t need someone to teach them, especially a former failed hitter; but, I
believe that a really good coach is needed now, more than ever, because of the
increasingly-used defensive infield shift. It was clear that Kevin got overly carried
away with his techniques as more and more hitters, under his tutelage, were increasingly getting worse (especially
their batting averages) as they worked with Kevin. I’ve spoken to many Yankees’ fans who were
rooting for his firing, so I know they’re rejoicing. Key results from this year’s team totally
support the need for a new hitting coach.
During the 2014 season the Yankees:
- had the lowest win
total in over 30 years
- scored the fewest runs
since 1990
- had their second
consecutive year with less than 150 homeruns
- only hit .253 with runners in scoring position (their lowest since 1990)
- had the least amount
of RBIs from the middle of their batting order (the lowest in the American
League)
As for the first base/infield
coach, Mick Kelleher, I don’t think he offered too much, from the little that
we get to see from someone in his position.
He was great at receiving Derek Jeter’s protective leg guard, as Derek handed it off to him each time he reached first base! Well, the infield made many blunders, so I
guess that was the key to his downfall.
I also heard Brian insinuate that there’s some availability to replacing
their first base coach and extending and/or possibly changing some of the responsibilities.
I’ve heard some rumored potential replacement names such as Luis Sojo, Hideki Matsui, and Tino Martinez. I would definitely choose Matsui for a
role. He was a great hitter and a huge
fan/player favorite. He could also help
lure some of that great talent from Japan, as he is still considered their “Godzilla”.
I can’t wait to see who
they hire for both open positions, but I am particularly anxious to see who the next hitting
coach will be. At the same time, I will be scrutinizingly watching Brian’s performance even more this year than ever before because no
Yankees’ fan wants to get to a third consecutive non-playoff year!!!
