Brad Ausmus kicks off Yankees coaching carousel

New York Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus is expected to be named the new manager of the Houston Astros, with whom he spent ten of his 18 MLB seasons.

Ausmus, a former Yankees prospect, had spent the last three seasons on manager Aaron Boone’s staff while also managing the Israeli National Team in the World Baseball Classic. This is his third managing job in MLB. Ausmus previously managed the Tigers and Angels, and went 386-422 across five total seasons.

However, Ausmus is not the only Yankees coach on the move. Hitting coach James Rowson is taking a job with the Giants after the team’s offense torpedoed following Aaron Judge’s rib injury in late May. This despite the Yankees leading baseball in wRC+ in Rowson’s first two years as the hitting coach.

Who will succeed each man? It’s too soon to tell. However, Heyman himself mentioned someone with Yankees ties who could succeed Ausmus: former Astros skipper and Ausmus’ immediate predecessor, Joe Espada.

Bringing Espada back to the Bronx would make sense, no different than Brad Ausmus taking the Astros job. Ausmus won all three of his Gold Gloves in a Houston uniform. Similarly, Espada spent three years as the Yankees’ third base coach before offered a promotion to—you guessed it—bench coach in Houston the following year. Espada won a World Series ring in 2022 and parlayed that experience into succeeding the retiring Dusty Baker.

Moreover, hiring Espada to be the bench coach could telegraph the front office’s plans should they choose to move on from Aaron Boone after 2027.

Finding a new hitting coach, however, is a different story. The Yankees’ hitting coach job is almost like the Cleveland Browns’ head coaching gig. The difference being that while the Browns are a garbage fire, the Yankees are set up for great success…but with ridiculous pressure. From both fans and media alike.

Put another way, the Yankees fired Kevin Long after eight seasons and a World Series ring in 2014, and it’s been a roller coaster since. New York has hired six men since Long: Jeff Pentland, Alan Cockrell, Marcus Thames, Dillon Lawson, Sean Casey, and the now-departing Rowson. Thames himself lasted the longest, four seasons before deadened baseballs sunk both him and the team.

Long, meanwhile, won a second World Series ring with the Nationals in 2019. He also won a Pennant with Philadelphia in 2022. He’s back on the market himself, but will New York want him back as he approaches his 60th birthday in December?

Maybe, but one thing is certain. Brian Cashman and his front office will cast a wide net. New York is data-oriented (Sorry to those who long for “old school”), so former players are probably out.

In fact, it’s more likely the Yankees’ next hitting coach will be more in the Matt Blake vein. Blake was an assistant director of pitching development in Cleveland when Cashman hired him to succeed veteran Larry Rothschild in 2020. Since then, the team has produced two Cy Young winners and consistently sports a dominant pitching staff. So dominant that Blake just inked a new three-year contract.

It’s going to be a long, cold offseason. The impending lockout means whomever the Yankees hire, it could be a while before we see their plan or philosophy in action.