This Day in New York Yankees History 10/30: Joe Replaces Joe

On this day in 2007 the New York Yankees signed manager Joe Girardi to a three year deal worth $7,500,000 to replace longtime manager Joe Torre. Girardi was coming off of a Manager of the Year award with the Miami Marlins in 2006 and beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena for the job. Girardi would be the Yankees 42nd manager in their storied history.


Also on this day in 2001 President George W. Bush became the eight President to attend a World Series game and the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. This all obviously came on the heels of the September 11th terrorists attacks. Bush brought the nation back together with his thumbs up and his perfect strike off the mound. 'Merica!

Trading Brian McCann Without Hurting Gary Sanchez

There has been some backlash to the idea of trading Brian McCann, and at one point I joined them. The reason for doing so stemmed from my belief that catchers are perhaps the most intelligent and well-informed players on the field.

A catcher has to learn the tendencies of his pitching staff, so that he knows what pitches his pitcher likes to throw in certain situations. He also needs to learn about opposing hitters, and what pitches they're good at hitting and in what situations.

But it doesn't end there...

Catchers also need to be aware of what's going on throughout the game, as they sometimes have to call plays. Most notably when there are runners on first and third.

Having a good rapport with pitchers can help a ton, as there are times a pitcher needs to be talked to. Whether that be because a certain hitter is coming up, and they need to discuss strategy to get him out. Or perhaps the pitcher is struggling, and the catcher either needs to give that pitcher a break or communicate a possible reason for the struggling.

It's safe to say that a catcher's value goes way beyond the numbers on the back of their baseball cards. Heck, I didn't even mention pitch-framing, which is something Brian McCann is known to be very good at.

"Are you questioning how much I make? Really?"

As good as Gary Sanchez has looked at the plate, to go along with much praise on how he's improved defensively behind the plate, he can learn a ton from Brian McCann over the last two years of McCann's contract (assuming the Yankees don't exercise their team option for Brian in 2019).

But how do you play both of them?

Do you simply let them alternate days as the team's designated hitter and catcher? Although, it's not as though the team couldn't use the DH spot to give at bats to others. For example, Greg Bird could DH every so often while Austin Romine played a game at first base. Or Aaron Judge could get a half day off and DH while Tyler Austin starts in right field. Not to mention that Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury are no longer young, so they could use a DH-day, too.

I suppose Brian McCann could start at first base every once in a while. He has appeared at 1B in 29 games since coming to New York a couple of years ago. Although McCann has made it clear he's not comfortable over there. Plus, the Yankees have Greg Bird and others that could get time at first base, like the aforementioned Tyler Austin or Rob Refsnyder.

Like with trading so many other players, it all comes down to what the Yankees can get in return. You don't want to give away Brian McCann for next to nothing. This is not a "money dump" situation. If somebody such as the Atlanta Braves offer a couple of good to great prospects, then go ahead and do it. But the return has to be something the Yankees can use, if not right away at least sometime down the road, at the MLB level.

That's not to say I expect the Yankees to get another prospect the level of Clint Frazier or Gleyber Torres. But I'm not talking about a player(s) to be named later, either.

One last thing to keep in mind...

While McCann has all those things I mentioned earlier to offer Gary Sanchez, Brian isn't the only person around the Yankee clubhouse that could do that. There is another person that had a long catching career, saw things from both the American League and National League side of things, and has mentored another catcher before he had a great career...

I know that Joe Girardi has a lot on his plate as the team's manager, so he may not have a lot of time to offer Gary Sanchez as a mentor. But Sanchez won't be on his own when it comes to learning how to catch in Major League Baseball.

And Girardi's not the only guy on the coaching staff with plenty of MLB catching experience...

Current Yankees' First Base coach, Tony Pena, spent 18 years as a catcher in MLB. Seven plus years of that was spent in the American League. And you can't say Pena wasn't any good as a catcher, as he was a five time All Star and four time recipient of the Gold Glove Award.

So I don't think trading McCann would necessarily hurt the development of Gary Sanchez. Not that Brian's presence wouldn't be a good thing for Gary, but there are others around that can help. The main thing for the Yankees, should they deal away McCann, is to get something good in return. Perhaps some pitching help, now that Nathan Eovaldi's days in pinstripes may be over.

Yankees Announce 2016 Coaching Staff

Mike Harkey is back as the bullpen coach of the New York Yankees. Harkey, a close friend of manager Joe Girardi, was recently relieved of his duties as the pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks after a losing season in 2015. Harkey replaces the man that replaced him, Gary Tuck. Tony Pena will take over the duties of working with the catchers now that Tuck is gone.

Manager: Joe Girardi
Bench Coach: Rob Thomson
First Base Coach: Tony Pena
Third Base Coach: Joe Espada
Bullpen Coach: Mike Harkey
Pitching Coach: Larry Rothschild
Hitting Coach: Alan Cockrell
Assistant Hitting Coach: Marcus Thames

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/30: Joe Replaces Joe

On this day in 2007 the New York Yankees signed manager Joe Girardi to a three year deal worth $7,500,000 to replace longtime manager Joe Torre. Girardi was coming off of a Manager of the Year award with the Miami Marlins in 2006 and beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena for the job. Girardi would be the Yankees 42nd manager in their storied history.


Also on this day in 2001 President George W. Bush became the eight President to attend a World Series game and the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. This all obviously came on the heels of the September 11th terrorists attacks. Bush brought the nation back together with his thumbs up and his perfect strike off the mound. 'Merica!

2015 Yankees: Best Team in Instant Replays

Again...

Quick Hit: Coaching Changes on the Way in the Bronx?

The 2015 season is over for the New York Yankees and I am turning almost all my focus to the 2016 season. I know I've said this before but I want to drill it into everyone's heads when they ask me why the blog is not posting more about the postseason or the World Series, it's because the Yankees aren't in it. I'm still watching, don't get me wrong, but this blog is a Yankees-based blog for a reason. With that said I got thinking the other day that widespread change could actually come to New York this offseason, but it will have to come in the way of coaching changes.

The contracts of bench coach Rob Thomson, first base coach Tony Pena and hitting coach Jeff Pentland expire when the 2015 World Series comes to an end and there is no guarantee that any of the three will be back in 2016. It seems like Pena will be back if he doesn't find a managerial position elsewhere but Pentland may fall on the blade after the team's offense disappeared for much of the last month and a half of the season.

Thomson was a terrible third base coach, let's not equivocate, but seemingly did better as the team's bench coach. It's hard to quantify how well he did but he has been with the organization for a while now and the team may look to head into a new direction in 2016 with a new and maybe a familiar face for the young guys like Dave Miley.

Yankees Announce Staff.. Finally

Press release from the Yankees:

The New York Yankees today announced Joe Girardi’s coaches for the 2015 season, with Jeff Pentland (hitting), Joe Espada (third base) and Alan Cockrell (assistant hitting) joining the staff. Larry Rothschild (pitching) and Gary Tuck (bullpen) will each return to the roles they served in 2014, while Rob Thomson will now be the club’s bench coach and Tony Pena will serve as first base coach.

Pentland, 68, begins his 17th season as a Major League hitting coach, having previously served in that role for the Marlins (1996), Cubs (1997-2002), Royals (2003-05), Mariners (2006-08) and Dodgers (2008-11). In 2012, he was the hitting coach for Seattle’s Triple-A club in Tacoma and during the 2014 season, Pentland held the position of hitting coordinator in Miami’s player development system. He was a scout for the Marlins from 1992-93 before becoming a minor league hitting coach from 1993-96. In 1997, he was a minor league hitting coordinator for the Mets before joining the Cubs.

Prior to coaching at the professional level, Pentland was an assistant coach at Mesa Community College (Ariz.) in 1972, Arizona State University from 1983-91 and the University of California, Riverside in 1974. He was also the assistant athletic director for Wichita State University in 1973.

Born in Hollywood, Calif., Pentland earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State University where he was a member of the school’s 1967 NCAA championship team and was later inducted into the University’s Hall of Fame in October 2002. He also spent three seasons in the Padres’ minor league system (1969-71) as a left-handed batter, playing first base, outfield, catcher and pitcher.

Espada, 39, will begin his fifth season as a Major League third base coach, having held the same position for Miami from 2010-13. Prior to joining the Major League club with the Marlins, he was the hitting coach for Single-A Greensboro in 2006 and Single-A Jupiter in 2007. From 2008-09, he was Miami’s minor league infield coordinator. His current position is his second in the Yankees organization, having been a professional scout for the club in 2014. This offseason, he is managing the Gigantes de Carolina of the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League.

The Santurce, Puerto Rico, native was selected by Oakland in the second round of the 1996 First-Year Player Draft. He played in nine minor league seasons (1996-2004) in the Athletics, Marlins, Rockies, Royals, Cardinals, Rangers and Rays organizations, as well as one season with independent-league Pensacola (2005), combining to bat .286 (811-for-2,838) with 24HR and 287RBI in 779 games.

Espada attended the University of Mobile, where he still ranks among the offensive leaders in several categories, owning the school’s top two single-season batting averages (.468 in 1995 and .446 in 1996) and top career batting average (.442). From 2004-05, he was the school’s assistant hitting coach.

Cockrell, 52, will begin his fourth stint as a member of a Major League coaching staff, having served as hitting coach for Colorado (2002 and ’07-08) and Seattle (2009-10). In 2007, the National League-champion Rockies led the NL in batting average (.280), hits (1,591) and on-base percentage (.354). He was also a minor league roving hitting coordinator for Colorado in 2001 and hitting coach for their Triple-A affiliate from 2003-06. He served as manager for rookie-level Portland in 1999 and Single-A Salem in 2000. He most recently served as a roving hitting coordinator in the Diamondbacks organization, holding the position from 2011-13.

Cockrell was born in Kansas City, Kans., and attended the University of Tennessee, where he was an All-American baseball player. He was also the Vols’ starting quarterback for two seasons (1982-83) and helped lead the team to a Citrus Bowl victory in 1983.

The former outfielder was selected by San Francisco as the ninth overall selection in the 1984 First-Year Player Draft. He played in 1,414 career minor league games from 1984-96, batting .278 (1,322-for-4,760). Cockrell made his Major League debut with the Rockies in 1996, playing in nine games and batting .250 (2-for-8) in his final professional playing season.

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Pena, 57, will enter his 10th season on the Yankees’ Major League staff and fourth as first base coach, having also held the position from 2006-08. He served as the club’s bench coach from 2009-14 and was the Yankees’ catching instructor from 2006-13. Prior to the 2013 regular season, he managed the 2013 World Baseball Classic-champion Dominican Republic team and became the first WBC manager to lead his team to an undefeated record (8-0).

Rothschild, 60, will begin his fifth season as Yankees pitching coach and his 41st in professional baseball as a player, coach or manager. Since joining the Yankees in 2011, the club’s pitchers own a 2.90 strikeout-to-walk ratio (5,143K/1,773BB), the best such mark in the Majors over the four-year span. In 2014, Yankees pitchers posted a 3.44K/BB ratio (1,370K/398BB), the second-highest such mark in the Majors since 1900, trailing only the 2014 Nationals (3.66). The 1,370K by Yankees pitchers set a single-season franchise record, surpassing their 2012 mark (1,318). Prior to joining the Yankees, Rothschild spent nine seasons (2002-10) as the Cubs’ pitching coach.

Thomson, 51, will enter his 26th season as a member of the Yankees organization and eighth on the club’s Major League coaching staff. The 2015 season will mark his second as the Yankees’ bench coach, having also held the position in 2008. From 2009-14, he served as the club’s third base coach. The Ontario, Canada, native also oversees the Yankees’ outfielders.

Tuck, 60, will begin his second season as Yankees bullpen coach and 33rd year in professional baseball as a player, coach or scout. Prior to joining the Yankees, he served as Boston’s bullpen coach for six seasons (2007-12) and as Joe Girardi’s bench coach for the Florida Marlins in 2006. Tuck’s current assignment with the Yankees marks his fourth stint with the club, having served in various other roles for the organization from 1989-90, 1996-99 and 2003-04. Overall, he has coached or scouted for seven teams that have reached the World Series, with five of those clubs—including the 1996, ’98 and ’99 Yankees—going on to become world champions.

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/30: Joe Replaces Joe

On this day in 2007 the New York Yankees signed manager Joe Girardi to a three year deal worth $7,500,000 to replace longtime manager Joe Torre. Girardi was coming off of a Manager of the Year award with the Miami Marlins in 2006 and beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena for the job. Girardi would be the Yankees 42nd manager in their storied history.

Also on this day in 2001 President George W. Bush became the eight President to attend a World Series game and the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. This all obviously came on the heels of the September 11th terrorists attacks. Bush brought the nation back together with his thumbs up and his perfect strike off the mound. 'Merica!

Bring me Ron Gardenhire

I was scrolling around in the comments section of the site when one of our friends and daily frequenter patrick (always a little “p”) mentioned bringing the recently dismissed Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to New York. Why didn’t I think of that? What a great idea!

Gardenhire is a great baseball mind, a player’s manager, and is available for the low, low price of just a contract offer. The biggest issue here is Gardenhire is likely to, and deserves to, get a managing job elsewhere. The best we could theoretically offer him is a third base or first base coach job unfortunately with the promise that once Tony Pena gets the managerial job that he deserves that a promotion for Gardy would follow.

I don’t think I necessarily have to defend a Gardenhire signing to any one reading this but I will hit the high points just to be on the safe side. The Twins organization has shown a reluctance to spend money for quite some time now and instead have relied on their farm system to re-stock the big league club. When the Twins would get some star power in Minnesota they would either lock them up to financially crippling contracts (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau come to mind) or trade them away for less than their worth (Denard Span comes to mind). When the Twins do decide to spend a little they throw money at players and hope that they stick, for every Phil Hughes they had three Ricky Nolasco’s as of late. None of this is or was Gardenhire’s fault. He did the best he could with what he had or what he got in return when the team traded a versatile Sam Fuld.

In my opinion the GM in Minnesota should have lost his job, not the manager. Minnesota’s loss should be the Yankees gain. Bring me Ron Gardenhire. 

One Last Rally Cry For The 2014 New York Yankees

You will never hear anyone on the Yankees team or in the front office admit it but the chance for an AL East division crown came and went this week with the sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles took two games from the Yankees and Mother Nature took one as the Yankees fell to a season high nine games out of first place. If the team had any aspirations of making a comeback and taking a division crown those dreams went out over the left field fence in Camden Yards along with a few home runs balls. Should the Yankees sell?

The quick answer, and probably the correct answer, is no. The Yankees are still within striking distance of a Wild Card spot and have a talented enough team to make a run this late in the season. New York received a very encouraging start from Michael Pineda Wednesday night as he made it all the way back from his teres major shoulder strain and Masahiro Tanaka may not be all that far behind him. If the Yankees can hold on for just another week or so and make up some ground on the Detroit Tigers/Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and others there is definitely a shot.

The Yankees seemingly have a favorable schedule with Tampa, a fourth place team in the division, for three games, the Chicago White Sox at home and the Houston Astros next week to finish out the schedule. The problem is the margin for error with this team is dwindling and it’s getting close to being in the “must win every game” territory for the Yankees.

Can they do it? Sure they can, the second Wild Card game is very much attainable. Should they go for it? Absolutely! In a one game playoff with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim anything can happen, a bloop hit, a balk and a blast, anything. Do I feel confident? Right now it’s hard to even fake it.

This is not a rally cry for Brian Cashman’s job, I don’t want to see Kevin Long or Larry Rothschild fired. I don’t want Tony Pena or Joe Girardi’s head on a stake, and I don’t want to see Hal and Hank Steinbrenner crucified outside of Yankee Stadium. I just want to win, is that too much to ask?

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/30

On this day in 2001 President George W. Bush became the eight President to attend a World Series game and the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. This all obviously came on the heels of the September 11th terrorists attacks. Bush brought the nation back together with his thumbs up and his perfect strike off the mound. 'Merica!

On this day in 2007 the New York Yankees signed manager Joe Girardi to a three year deal worth $7,500,000 to replace longtime manager Joe Torre. Girardi was coming off of a Manager of the Year award with the Miami Marlins in 2006 and beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena for the job. Girardi would be the Yankees 42nd manager in their storied history.

Did Jim Leyland Retiring Hurt The Yankees?

Before we get going I want to point out that this is pure speculation and we have not have a report come down substantiating this. With that said how in the world can Jim Leyland retiring as the manager of the Detroit Tigers hurt the Yankees you ask? Tony Pena, that's how.

Pena has been linked to job after job over the years but the jobs are always teams like the Kansas City Royals or other "unattractive" offers. The Detroit Tigers though, how could someone logically turn that down? How fun is it to watch Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer pitch four times a week and how fun is it to fill out a lineup card with Miguel Cabrera, Torii Hunter, Austin Jackson, etc. The core is there, the future is there, the ownership is willing to spend, and the division that they play in is weak.

The thing that worries me the most about losing Pena to Detroit is the fact that he has done more than enough to deserve it and to have earned it. Pena has managerial experience with the Kansas City Royals leading them to their first winning season in 2002 in over eight seasons and also won the Manager of the Year Award in 2003 in Kansas City. Pena almost already jumped ship in 2011 when Terry Franconca was fired, which the job eventually went to Bobby Valentine, so the fear that Pena would take a job if the job was right should be real. Pena has been a coach on the Yankees since the 2005 season under Joe Torre and even interviewed to manage the Yankees in 2008 when the Yankees hired Joe Girardi which shows his willingness and will to manage. I think that will and his success over the years will find him in Detroit in 2014 and I will be sad to see him go.

Brett Gardner Represents Yankees For An Award

Brett Gardner has been chosen along with 29 other winners for the Heart and Hustle award, an award that Brett himself won in 2010 as well. Basically 30 players win and then the field gets narrowed by fans, players, and alumni voting until an ultimate winner is chosen in November. Brett will be honored before tomorrow nights game by Tony Pena, the Yankees bench coach, and the Major League Baseball Alumni Association. You can read the entire write up HERE by Chad Jennings at Lohud if you're interested.

Baseball Cards: Tony Pena

Yankees bench coach to Joe Girardi, Tony Pena, spent time behind a lot of home plates for a lot of different teams. I was going through my baseball cards and found a few of Tony that I would like to share with you guys. Enjoy and comment in the box if you like this new baseball card feature and maybe I will scan some more for you guys.

Tony Pena Still A Yankee, For Now Anyway

The Red Sox interviewed many candidates in their search to fill their vacatan managerial position including Yankees bench coach Tony Pena. Yankees fans can take a collective sigh of relief this morning as the Sox announced that they will hire John Farrell as their manager. I sound selfish in saying I am relieved to keep Pena as he probably deserves to be a manager again but I am glad he is still a Yankee, even if it is for just a little while longer.

Red Sox To Interview Yanks Bench Coach Tony Pena

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly set to meet with Yankees current bench coach Tony Pena in their search for a new manager for 2013. Tony has been with the Yankees coaching staff since 2005 as their first base coach and current bench coach. The Yankees did have to grant him permission to be interviewed for the job but it seems like he would be a strong candidate for the job.