Yankees Fire Hitting Coach Dillon Lawson...

 

Aaron Judge, Dillon Lawson, and Giancarlo Stanton (Photo Credit: Conrad J Williams/Newsday)

First In-Season Coaching Staff Purge by Brian Cashman…

The Yankees may not be in last place in the AL East (yet), but their bats have shown it is only a matter of time. Only a single game separates the Yankees from the last-place Boston Red Sox as we enter the All-Star Break. The Yankees are among the worst-hitting teams in the American League, and surprisingly, the Red Sox are among the best. It does not bode well for the second half unless there are changes. 

Through ninety-one games, the Yankees (49-42) are hitting .231/.300/.410 (.308 wOBA). Only the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics are worse. Something had to give. Since Aaron Judge injured his toe at Dodger Stadium, the Yankees' team offense has been inept at best. I am not saying that we, as fans, are smarter than the Yankees’ Front Office (we are not), but the roster flaws were evident to the most casual of fans. Attempting to fill the left field vacancy with many Quad-A types has been unsuccessful. Sure, they have had moments to shine, but collectively, they have not performed. Injuries have played a role, yet the greater problem is shared by the team. An inability to hit, particularly with runners in scoring position.

On Sunday, the Yankees finally took some action. While you can argue that the manager, Aaron Boone, should have been held accountable, GM Brian Cashman, probably the man most responsible for the team's current state, chose to fire the team’s hitting coach, Dillon Lawson.  It was an overdue move.

Before his promotion to the Major League coaching staff, Lawson did an effective job as the minor league hitting coordinator. Unfortunately, his skills did not translate to the game’s highest level. The downside of the firing is Lawson is no longer in the organization. In retrospect, the Yankees should have left him in charge of minor league instruction, taking a more conventional route to replacing former hitting coach Marcus Thames. Let the assistant hitting coaches have the necessary mix of analytics-driven coaches. The main hitting coach needs to understand both analytics and old-school baseball. 

Word that the Yankees have already narrowed their coaching search to two men currently outside of the organization shows they already had some idea about who would be the team’s next hitting coach. I do not mind the firing of Lawson. The stories of Anthony Volpe turning around his season thanks to advice from prospect Austin Wells reflected poorly on Lawson. Aaron Hicks’ rediscovery of hitting in Baltimore is another sign that something is not working in the Bronx. I certainly do not wish the Yankees had retained Hicks. It was time for a change of scenery for all concerned, but it does underscore the Yankees’ inability to get the most out of their players. 

Brian Cashman received permission from managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner on Saturday to replace Lawson. Cashman, in making the change on Sunday, said, “There’s an opportunity here.” He went on to say, “I believe that we do have more than capable players to find higher ground than we found in the first half. I’m looking for a unique personality that will blend and connect with that group of players, as well as some of the players that I currently have on the injured list.”

Fans quickly speculated about names like Paul O’Neill and Jorge Posada. I doubt that ‘Grandfather Paul’ will leave the cozy part-time schedule of the television booth, and I am not sure what Posada is up to these days but I am equally unsure about how his intensity would play as a coach. If the Yankees take the ex-player route, Brett Gardner stands out as a former team leader who could connect with the players and help improve performance. 

Brett Gardner (Photo Credit: New York Yankees)

I think it is more likely the Yankees go with a proven hitting coach than take a chance on another first-timer. I am not sure who it will be, but hopefully, Cashman is right about finding a unique personality who can connect with every hitter on the active roster. 

If the Yankees continue to under-perform in the second half, Steinbrenner needs to, finally, re-evaluate his current manager and general manager. Firing Lawson does not guarantee success. It is simply the first change that could lead to a bigger coaching staff purge if things do not get better. At some point, Hal must look at the man most responsible for the current mess…Brian Cashman. 

I hope the Lawson firing leads to better results. I hope the Yankees can kick it into high gear in the second half to get back into the playoff hunt. Any team with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón leading the starting rotation has a chance (so long as the Yankees can stop the current hemorrhage caused by Luis Severino). Admittedly, I am skeptical about this year and whether the Yankees can improve. I want the team to succeed but I am just not confident they will. If they do not, the team must make greater changes. You cannot keep doing the same thing expecting different results.

The Surprising Draft Pick…

While the Yankees had been linked to shortstops as a possible first-round pick in the latest MLB Draft, I thought Sammy Stafura would be the choice. So, it was a little surprising to see the Yankees select high-schooler George Lombard, Jr with their 26^th overall pick while Stafura was still on the board. Stafura slid into the second round where he was taken by the Cincinnati Reds. 

George Lombard, Jr (Photo Credit: Mark J Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)

The first question about Lombard, Jr is whether the Yankees can sign the 18-year-old. The son of former Major Leaguer and current Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard has committed to Vanderbilt University. Of course, Anthony Volpe had committed to Vandy once upon a time, and he is currently the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. I assume the Yankees have held exploratory talks with Lombard, Jr, his family, and his agent, to have some degree of confidence they can sign him.  While it is possible Lombard, Jr can raise his stock by going to college and landing higher placement in the first round, not many teams will beat the Yankees’ financial resources and there is prestige in being taken in the first round by the Yankees. It does not guarantee success, but Lombard, Jr is positioned for baseball’s greatest stage if he continues to advance as expected. 

I have seen many complaints on social media about the Yankees taking yet another shortstop. A twenty-two-year-old, only four years older than Lombard, Jr, is currently the Yankees starting shortstop. Oswald Peraza is Major League-ready in Triple-A, and there are other fine young shortstops in the organization, such as Trey Sweeney and Roderick Arias. I am not concerned about the position. There is some talk that the 6’3” and 190-pound right-handed Lombard could eventually be moved to third base or possibly to second base or the outfield. I am not going to worry about the position. It will be a few years before Lombard, Jr makes his Major League debut. The MLB Draft is littered with players who never make it.  If/when Lombard is ready for The Show, he will find his place.

MLB Analyst Harold Reynolds compared Lombard to Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers. “The work ethic, and just the body time and body size,” according to Reynolds.

The slot value for the Yankees’ first-round pick is $3.065 million, although it seems the Yankees will need to go above slot value to discourage Lombard from heading to Vanderbilt.

Hopefully, this is the start of a long and beautiful relationship between George Lombard, Jr, and the New York Yankees.

Left Field Audition

The Yankees fared poorly in the weekend series with the Chicago Cubs, taking only one of the three games. Nevertheless, a potential left-field candidate was on display for the games. Former Los Angeles Dodger centerfielder Cody Bellinger, who signed a one-year contract with the Cubs through free agency in the off-season, homered to the right field porch Friday night, and the ease of his shot magnified how nicely the lefty-hitting Bellinger could fit into the lineup.

I know he has had his struggles, but Yankee Stadium seems tailored for him. Even in his downtimes with the Dodgers, Bellinger always kept his head held high, putting the team first, and his defensive skills never left him. Bellinger has rebounded nicely this year. He is hitting .298/.355/.491 (.359 wOBA), good for 126 wRC+ and 2.0 fWAR. He has nine home runs, twenty-nine RBIs, and eleven stolen bases. Say what you will, but he would be an upgrade in left field. 

Cody Bellinger (Photo Credit: ESPN)

Bellinger, a former NL MVP, seems like a good fit to me. He can play first base, so he represents an option other than DJ LeMahieu to back up Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo, as we know, needs his fair share of rest.  His father Clay is a former Yankee, so he has the bloodlines. Listening to Paul O’Neill talk about little Cody playing with his sons at the old Yankee Stadium was enjoyable. Cody has proven to be a better Major Leaguer than his father, and regardless of whether his family has ties to the Yankees, Cody can help make the next Yankees hitting coach’s job a little easier. 

The Bellingers: Clay, Cody, and Jennifer (Photo Credit: Jon Soo Hoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

So, I am in favor of a potential trade for Bellinger. I realize he is just a rental, but also means that the team will not have to part with high-end talent. If Bellinger is successful and the Yankees like him, I would have every expectation for the Yankees to sign him to a new contract in the off-season. Left field has been abysmal for the Yankees this season. The Yankees failed to fill their most glaring need and they are paying the price for it. Bellinger would go a long way toward righting the ship.

As always, Go Yankees!

Wanted: Major League Baseball...

  

Gio Urshela, Gleyber Torres & DJ LeMahieu / Credit: Getty Images

Lockout continues as meaningful negotiations remain evasive…

Normally, the end of the Super Bowl signals the switch of our full attention to America’s favorite pastime, but sadly, the MLB Lockout has forced us to look elsewhere for our sports addictions. The frustration of the short, meaningless meetings that have occurred between the MLB Owners and Players Association is worsened by the fact the MLB Owners could end the lockout with a snap of their fingers. The absence of a new collective bargaining agreement is not the cause of the lockout; it is the owners trying to squeeze the Players into a new owner-friendly deal. Now that spring training has been delayed, the pain will soon begin to reach into wallets. Since nothing else seems to be working, the loss of actual dollars will hopefully motivate the two sides to negotiate, in good faith and with a degree of urgency, to hasten the return of Major League Baseball. It is unfair, in my opinion, that it is the Players who will be hurt more than the Owners until a new CBA is reached.

On Thursday, the MLB announced the postponement of spring training games until Saturday, March 5^th. They had originally been scheduled to begin a week from today. To avoid further delays, next week looms as the most critical week to-date for the extended lockout. I do not understand why the two sides cannot lock themselves into a room (figuratively speaking) and burn the midnight oil until they can hammer out an agreement. I know, it is because the Owners want on new agreement on their terms and their terms only despite the pain inflicted on Players and Fans. Nevertheless, I hope they can find common ground next week so that we can be assured of a full 162-game regular season…and labor peace for the next five years.

As for the MLB postponement announcement, I felt the MLBPA’s response was appropriate: “MLB announced today that it ‘must’ postpone the start of spring training games. This is false. Nothing requires the league to delay the start of spring training, much like nothing required the league’s decision to implement the lockout in the first place. Despite these decisions by the league, Players remain committed to the negotiating process.”

Regardless of whether you side with the owners or the players, I think the MLB fans have suffered the most. The Owners’ disregard for the Fans, except for our money, has been apparent throughout this ordeal. I am tired of the lockout, I miss baseball, and I am ready for Owners and Players to work together for the good of the game.

Can reliever Matt Bowman be this year’s Lucas Luetge? Originally drafted by the New York Mets and claimed by the St Louis Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft before his release led him to Cincinnati, the righthanded reliever carved out an unremarkable career in his four Major League seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020. The Yankees signed him as a free agent in December 2020 (two-year minor league contract), knowing he would not pitch in 2021. Bowman appeared in 134 games for the Cardinals in 2016 and 2017, amassing ninety-eight strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, injuries have curtailed his career since that time. Blister issues plagued his 2018 season which limited his availability and led to his release by the Cardinals. He did rebound in 2019, but 2020 was lost due to elbow soreness which ultimately led to Tommy John surgery. He will be 31 in May but here is hope he will find the fountain of youth and magic in his arm like Luetge did last year. I know he has worked on cutters in recent years and will surely seek out Mariano Rivera for advice when (if?) spring training finally gets started. It is hard not to feel empathy for guys like Bowman who have worked hard to achieve their dreams despite a series of challenges.

Matt Bowman

So, DJ LeMahieu feels badly for the fired Yankees hitting coaches. I read the New York Daily News article this week which quotes LeMahieu saying “We didn’t play up to our capabilities, it’s that simple. It wasn’t their fault by any means. It’s not on them. There were the guys that helped us get to where we were the previous few years…”. Honestly, the shift in organizational philosophy over the last few years put on expiration date on former hitting coach Marcus Thames and assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere. Maybe the disappointment of last year’s hitters hastened their departures, but it was inevitable. Once the Yankees brought Dillon Lawson into the organization and the shift toward analytics-driven coaches transformed the minor league system, it was only a matter of time until Lawson was elevated to Major League hitting coach. If the Yankees had not promoted him, it is very possible another team would have poached him. I am happy for both Thames and Pilittere. They both quickly found new homes in their same roles. Thames as hitting coach for Donnie Baseball’s Miami Marlins and Pilittere as an assistant hitting coach in the Mile High City (where he can hang out with Greg Bird and his hairless cat).

My disappointment with Aaron Boone’s return and the new coaching staff. I was ready to move on from Boone this off-season until an extension guaranteed his return. I am not going to go into hate-Boone mode. I will support him as manager of my favorite team, and I will always pull for him to have success. I like Boone, but my biggest disappointment is the return of bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Mendoza should be part of the coaching staff, just not the crucial role as Boone’s chief lieutenant and in-game strategist. I was in favor of experience. Bring in a bench coach who had managerial experience to give Boone better options. Mendy and Boone seem too much alike. Boone needs a guy who can make him better. Watching my favorite football team (the Minnesota Vikings) so closely the last month while they assembled a new coaching staff, it really stood out to me that the Vikings chose to hire an experienced assistant head coach to support young, first-time coach Kevin O’Connell. When O’Connell was formally announced as the Vikings new head coach this week, the team also announced that former Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine has been named assistant head coach. I do not really care that Pettine did not have success as a head coach, but he brings perspective to O’Connell, a very bright and talented guy. I feel Boone could have benefited from a similar arrangement.

The shortstop stopgap solutions took a hit this week. Much of the off-season has centered on the Yankees’ plans for shortstop entering the 2022 season as almost no one except Gio Urshela expects the third baseman to be the Yankees starting shortstop this year. Aside from Andrelton Simmons (ugh), the most frequent name has been Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Texas Rangers. Kiner-Falefa was expected to be available due to the Rangers free agent signings of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. However, this week it was announced that Rangers third baseman Josh Jung may need shoulder surgery, and Kiner-Falefa is the most likely replacement at third base. With each passing day, my hope for an elite shortstop like Carlos Correa or Trevor Story fades. While it is possible the starting Yankees shortstop could be young Oswald Peraza, the more likely scenario is a starter that is not currently in the Yankees organization. God, I hope it is not Simmons. I am not energized by a potential return of Didi Gregorius even if he has been working out with Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela in Tampa. Presently I am praying for Story while bracing for Nick Ahmed. I hope the eventual answer is not worse.

Trevor Story / Credit: Matthew Stockman, Getty Images

As much as I hate to see Aaron Judge get to free agency, I think the Yankees would benefit from waiting until next offseason to extend Judge. If he stays on the field this season, he should be rewarded accordingly. I hope it is with the Yankees since he is the current “face” of the franchise. The premature extensions for Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks have not worked out and I would hate to see the Yankees make another poor financial decision that will impact the organization for years to come. But with that being said, I truly hope Judge is a Yankee for life.

Aaron Judge

Let us hope and pray that the upcoming week brings good news for baseball fans.

As always, Go Yankees!

Silent Days and Nights...

  

MLB Lockout begins but when will it end?...

November was so much fun with the flurry of free agent signings, even if the Yankees chose not to participate, but then, thud, it all ended with the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the subsequent lockout unanimously imposed by MLB owners.

As a fan, this really sucks. I know the fun of the free agent signings in November would not have happened without the impending lockout, however, my favorite time of the MLB off-season is the Baseball Winter Meetings which were cancelled this year. The Rule 5 Draft was also postponed so catcher Josh Breaux stays in the organization a little bit longer.

It sounds as though the labor dispute will extend into 2022 and perhaps even into time allotted for Spring Training. The gap between the greedy owners and the players seems so wide. To an outside observer, there have been no signs, at least to me, that the two sides are willing to compromise. After the lost revenues of 2020, it seems almost unconscionable the owners would risk harm to their game rather than negotiate in good faith with the players. Even though the fans pay for the sport, we are the least represented party in this dispute. Everybody wants our money and more of it, and we have no voice except not to pay.

I am hopeful there is progress before the end of the year, but time will tell.

Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reported yesterday the Yankees have promoted Minor League Hitting Coordinator Dillon Lawson to Hitting Coach on Manager Aaron Boone’s staff, replacing the fired Marcus Thames, now hitting coach for Derek Jeter’s Miami Marlins. This is the move I had expected the Yankees to make with their commitment to analytics and the rebounding success of hitting in the Yankees’ farm system this past year. As time moved on, I thought maybe they were looking at guys like Tim Hyers, the former Red Sox hitting coach who joined the Texas Rangers last month, or Brian Snitker’s son, Troy, the Houston Astros hitting coach. With Eric Chavez’s name on the rumor mill, I thought he might be a possibility, but at the end of the day, Lawson makes the most sense to me. The Yankees, due to the MLB Lockout, have not confirmed the promotion but I trust Lindsey and fully expect the formal announcement when MLB business resumes.

Photo Credit: Quad City Times

There is no word about the two assistant hitting coaches the Yankees plan to add, but I remain convinced Rachel Balkovec would be a brilliant and inspired addition. Her connection to Lawson, who brought her into the organization, makes it a natural choice.

Photo Credit: New York Yankees

To assist Pitching Coach Matt Blake, the Yankees, per Adler, will promote Minor League Manager of Pitch Development Desi Druschel to assistant pitching coach. As a native Iowan, I like Druschel’s connection to the University of Iowa. He served the University for five years ending in 2019 as, first, director of baseball operations, and, later, as pitching coach. Go Hawkeyes!

Druschel, right / Photo Credit: Brian Ray, HawkeyeSports.com

Note: With today’s Big Ten Championship looming between the Michigan Wolverines and the Hawkeyes, I had to find a way for a shameless plug of my favorite college football team.

There is no word who will fill the first base coach vacancy, although I will be disappointed if current bench coach Carlos Mendoza is not moved to the position to allow for a more seasoned veteran bench coach to aid Aaron Boone. Some of the names are probably holding out to see who gets the Mets managerial gig. As much as I would hate to see it, Buck Showalter makes the most sense to me. Whomever gets the job is going to benefit from the billionaire owner’s passionate desire to raise his club to greatness. Gee, I wish we had one of those kind of owners…

I get there was no reason for the Yankees to make splashy moves in November, and there are plenty of reasons why the Yankees should not have paid the exorbitant sums of money to the players who were signed. Yet, I was hoping for at least one move that could give us good feelings during this lockout. Sorry, shortstop Jose Peraza is not that guy. Fortunately, there are still plenty of unsigned players who could make the 2022 Yankees better so not all is lost.

My personal feelings about a stopgap shortstop are that it would do nothing to improve the Yankees, currently looking like the fourth best team in the AL East. Carlos Correa is going to cost a lot of money, but he brings greatness to both sides of the ball and would clearly improve the Yankees. He is young with heavy championship experience (regardless of your thoughts about how he got it) and would not be intimidated by New York. He makes the most sense to me, although I remain of the opinion that I would be incredibly happy to see Trevor Story as a Yankee. Either way, the Yankees need one of them. The whole idea of keeping the position warm for the young prospects (Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe) seems ridiculous. They are probably five years from potentially becoming what Correa and Story are today. For a win-now team, we need the best possible players now.

If the Yankees make the long-rumored trade with the Oakland A’s to acquire first baseman Matt Olson, it is pretty much a given Oswald Peraza would be included as part of the package. Everybody is getting excited about the rumors possibly linking Freddie Freeman to the Yankees, but I am skeptical on that one for no other reason than I feel he should and probably will stay in Atlanta.

I do not blame Masahiro Tanaka for declining to exercise the opt-out in his two-year contract with the Rakuten Eagles considering the MLB Lockout, but there was a little sadness when I saw it. I will admit there was a part of me hoping for a reunion with the Yankees. I would love to see Tanaka win a championship with the Yankees. With so much uncertainty surrounding Major League Baseball, Tanaka would have been foolish to opt out of a sure thing. I wish him the best of luck in 2022. Kind of funny that former Yankees first baseman Chris Gittens, released last month to play in Japan, will be Tanaka’s Rakuten teammate.

All I want for Christmas is Major League Baseball. Rob Manfred and Tony Clark, please man up and make it happen. For once in your lives, please think of the fans.

As always, Go Yankees!