Coaching staff shakeups won’t fix Yankees flaws

As expected, the New York Yankees made some changes to their coaching staff following their early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the rival Blue Jays.

Per SNY’s Andy Martino, bullpen coach Mike Harkey will not return after the Yankees’ relievers ranked 23rd in baseball with a 4.37 ERA. Nor will first base coach Travis Chapman. It’s almost an end of an era on the pitching side, as Harkey served in his role for 16 years across two separate stints with the Yankees organization.

Additionally, Martino reports the Yankees could soon lose two more coaches. Hitting coach James Rowson, after New York’s bats ranked tops in wRC+ during his two years on the job (thus far), is reportedly a top candidate to succeed manager Rocco Baldelli in Minnesota. Similarly, third base coach and former Mets skipper Luis Rojas is in the running to become the Orioles’ next manager. The Yankees seem prepared to lose at least one, as minor league hitting coordinator James Hirst has been promoted to the MLB staff.

And though the one too many million fans in the comments will celebrate the moves, they know they’ll just be crowing the next coaches’ names whenever the team struggles.

Was firing Mike Harkey the right move for the Yankees? Well, the bullpen’s ERA ranking seems to imply as much. What it doesn’t tell you is that New York relievers ranked seventh with a 3.79 expected ERA (xERA). They were also fifth in ground ball rate (GB%) and fifth in K/9. The issue was the longball haunted them all year to the tune of a HR/FB ratio of 13.1%. Fourth worst in baseball

What online fans fail to grasp daily is that the players have to show up too. You can only blame the coaching staff so much. Rare is a baseball team so out of sync that it’s obviously the manager’s fault.

Devin Williams was acquired from the Brewers to be an All-Star closer. He lost the job twice during the regular season. We’ve seen time and time again players who just can’t roll in New York. Why does Williams’ failure to thrive fall on Harkey? Or Luke Weaver’s failure to get outs in the postseason? Or Brian Cashman acquiring reliever Jake Bird from the Rockies, only to demote him to the minors after three awful games?

Firing Travis Chapman is at least explainable. He was also the team’s infield coach, and the Yankees struggled aplenty there. Just look at how Anthony Volpe’s fieldnig has declined since winning a Gold Glove his rookie year. Or how it took acquiring Ryan McMahon and his boom-or-bust bat from the Rockies just to have a reliable third baseman.

As for Harkey, despite him being blameless? It might have just been time for a change. “Big Mike” arrived on Joe Girardi’s coaching staff in 2008 and stayed through 2013. Harkey returned to the Yankees in 2016 after two years as the Diamondbacks’ pitching coach. Sixteen total years is a long lifespan in coaching, even across two stints and winning a World Series along the way.

But again. No matter what changes the Yankees make to the staff, it won’t change baseball’s one universal truth.

When the chips are down, it’s on the players to produce. And, more importantly, coaches are not magicians.