How Long is the Leash on Alan Cockrell?

Ever since the Yankees let their hitting coach Kevin Long hit free agency and head over to the crosstown rival New York Mets the position has been filled by a few names that not many really know. Since the Kevin Long firing in the Bronx the Yankees have watched as Jeff Pentland and Alan Cockrell took the bull by the horns and watched as the duo helped the team to the second highest scoring total in all of Major League Baseball in 2015. 2016 brought new change with Pentland now gone and Cockrell in charge and Marcus Thames as his assistant but despite having much of the same cast of characters the Yankees offense has gone from Bronx Bombers to Bronx Bombless leaving me to wonder just how long the leash for Cockrell truly is in New York.

Before simply blaming the coach and not the players, which is not what I am doing whatsoever, one must keep a few things in mind. Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and the core of the Yankees is another year older and another year past their primes so a regression was to be expected but if it works for one it works for the other. At this point in the season Didi Gregorius has been much better in 2016 than he was at this point in 2015 while Beltran looked like Beltran in his prime for much of the 2016 campaign, another big shot in the arm when comparing this year to last year. Starlin Castro has led the Yankees in most offensive categories after the team suffered through Stephen Drew for much of last year and McCann has been McCann and possibly the MVP of the club when you factor in his defense and game calling. So what has changed?

Mark Teixeira is nowhere to be found and continues to refuse to make any adjustments at the plate while also sticking to his “I’m not going to beat the shift I’m simply going to hit over it” mantra. That isn’t exactly working out this season and for much of the season anything Chase Headley has done hasn’t worked out either. We never heard talk of adjustments being made or anything, just excuses, and while Headley had a stretch of about a week where he was hitting well he is seemingly heading back into his old ways. Gardner’s numbers are seemingly down across the board as are Jacoby Ellsbury’s and Alex Rodriguez’s. Rodriguez has an excuse, a pair of injuries and a 40-year old body are expected to slow you down, but Ellsbury, Gardner, Headley and Teixeira do not.

So will the Yankees fire Alan Cockrell if things don’t turn around and should they? Hal has already stuck up for his coaches and blamed the players so the first question is a likely a hard “no” but the second one is a little harder to judge. How much bearing does a coach really have on a veteran team like the Yankees? Very little to none? Am I correct in that assumption? If I am than why even bother firing him? Fire the players. That would be my plan but I guess that’s why I’m sitting here in my office writing about it and not making the decisions, huh?

Meet a Prospect: Marcus Thames

The New York Yankees went their separate ways with hitting coach Jeff Pentland after what was deemed a successful 2015 campaign by many and decided to promote Pentland’s assistant hitting coach Alan Cockrell to fill the void. The Yankees needed someone to fill the vacancy left behind by Cockrell and that man was former Triple-A hitting coach Marcus Thames. Marcus Markley Thames, born March 6, 1977, played with four different teams including the New York Yankees three separate times during his playing career from 2002 to 2011 and has since spent his time in the minor leagues with the club as a coach. During the 2013 season Thames was the hitting coach for the High-A Tampa Yankees and was promoted to the Trenton Thunder in the same position for the 2014 season drawing rave reviews from one of the Yankees top prospects Robert Refsnyder. So without further delay, and with a bit of irony, I bring you this Meet a Prospect: The Marcus Thames edition.

Thames was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 1996 MLB Draft but did not make a true impact in the minor leagues until 2001. Thames was with the Double-A Norwich Navigators that season and he batted .321 with 31 home runs and 97 RBI where he was named to Baseball America’s minor league All-Star team and where he put himself on the map for the Yankees. New York was so impressed with Thames that they called him up before a June 10 game in 2002 and Thames responded immediately. Thames, facing the Arizona Diamondbacks big left-hander Randy Johnson, hit the first home run of his career on his first at bat becoming just the 80th player in MLB history to do so. Thames earned his first curtain call from the Bronx faithful, what a moment if you were fortunate enough to see it live.

Thames’ tenure with the Yankees ended on June 6, 2003 when he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Ruben Sierra. Thames went on to hit a home run in his first at bat with the Rangers as well before moving on to the Detroit Tigers for the 2006 season. For the 2006 and 2007 seasons Thames spent time with Detroit and their Triple-A affiliate the Toledo Mud Hens due to the plethora of talent in the Detroit outfield. After injuries to Dmitri Young, Craig Monroe and others Thames worked his way into the rotation of outfielders and set career highs in every offensive category including a .256 average, 26 home runs and 60 RBI in just 348 at bats along the way. The Tigers tried to find at bats for Thames anyway they could in 2007 and had the lifetime outfielder learn first base in spring training and the team was rewarded in 2007 and in 2008 when Thames continued to impress with his power. Thames hit eight home runs in seven consecutive games from June 11 to June 17, 2008 becoming the first member of the Detroit Tigers to achieve the feat.

Thames spent the 2009 season in Detroit as well without any notable achievements but was back in the New York groove in 2010 when he signed a minor league deal with the club. Thames made the Opening Day roster and was set to be a platoon partner with Brett Gardner in left field before his defense forced him to accept a bench role. Thames was delegated to the bench behind Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Austin Kearns who was traded for before the trade deadline and ended up playing in just 82 games that season. In half of a season Kearns hit .288 with 12 home runs, mainly against left-handed pitching.

Thames elected free agency in November of 2010 but was right back with the team on July 22, 2011 after New York signed him to another minor league deal. Thames never played a game for the Yankees at any level that season and would retire from the game a member of the New York Yankees before pursuing his career in coaching with the ball club. Thames has continuously defied the odds and has defied the odds once again with his promotion to assistant hitting coach with the club. Congratulations to him and his family. You have to think that Thames is on the short list for hitting coach after Cockrell’s contract expires, no?

Meet a Prospect: Alan Cockrell

Alan Cockrell was named the New York Yankees assistant hitting coach prior to the 2015 season and the team responded with the second best offense in all of Major League Baseball. Jeff Pentland, the head hitting coach from 2015, was fired after the season and Cockrell has accepted a position as the team’s main hitting coach and will work side-by-side with former Triple-A hitting coach and current Yankees assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames. Not many players and fans knew much about Cockrell before the 2015 season and not many know him today, until now.


Atlee Alan Cockrell was born on December 5, 1962 into a Christian household. Cockrell spent his High School days at Joplin, Missouri’s Parkwood High School where he represented the Parkwood High School Bears. The Bears were the team’s football team, not the school’s baseball team as you would expect, and Cockrell was the team’s starting quarterback. During his tenure there, three seasons as the starting QB, Cockrell led the team to a 31-3 record with 3,499 yards, 44 touchdown passes, 1,541 rushing yards and 36 rushing touchdowns and even kicked 154 PAT’s with eight field goals. Cockrell did it all including the year when he led the Bears to a perfect 14-0 season outscoring their opponents 653-33 and a Missouri State Class 4A High School Championship in 1980. Cockrell’s efforts there led him to take a scholarship at the University of Tennessee to be the team’s starting quarterback.


Cockrell was the first ever true freshman to start for the Volunteers when he did so in 1981 but five games into his Tennessee football career he suffered a major knee injury that threatened his college and professional career. Cockrell led the Vols to a 6-5-1 record in 1982 and a 9-3 season in 1983 including a Florida Citrus Bowl win over Boomer Esiason and the Maryland Terrapins in his final game with the school. The San Francisco Giants drafted Cockrell in the first round of the 1984 Draft, 9th overall, and his love for baseball drowned out any aspirations to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League.


Cockrell played nine seasons in the minor leagues for five different organizations before finally making his Major League debut in 1996 with the Colorado Rockies. Cockrell had a strikeout against Billy Wagner and a double off future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine in Atlanta before playing in his final MLB game on September 29, 1996. Cockrell bounced around various minor league affiliates inside the Rockies organization as a manager and hitting coach before returning to the Majors as the Rockies hitting coach in 2007. Under Cockrell the Rockies slugged their way to a National League Championship and a trip to the World Series before running into the red hot Boston Red Sox. Under Cockrell the Rockies led the league in on-base percentage, batting average and total hits although it was not enough to keep Cockrell in a job after the team fired him before the 2009 season.


Cockrell was named the Seattle Mariners hitting coach in 2010 replacing Alonzo Powell but unfortunately for him he was the first out four coaches who were relieved of their duties alongside then manager Don Wakamatsu. Cockrell was out of the game completely until the New York Yankees came calling in January of 2015.


Cockrell and his SwingPath Coach training device he invented will now bring his talents to New York to be their hitting coach. How will the Yankees offense respond? I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned, either way congrats to Cockrell. After the career, the setbacks and the life in the game that you’ve had you have definitely earned your stay here in the Bronx.

The End of #TooManyDamnHrs Part II

The New York Yankees put an end to the #TooManyDamnHrs "problem" after the 2012 season and ultimately finished both the 2013 and 2014 seasons on the outside looking in when it came to the postseason. The Bronx Bombers returned in 2015 with the resurgence of Mark Teixeira and the return of Alex Rodriguez and the team finished with the second highest scoring offense and finished fourth in home runs in the league under new hitting coach Jeff Pentland and assistant hitting coach Alan Cockrell. Pentland is gone and Cockrell is in charge and he's already discussing potentially ending #TooManyDamnHrs again... kind of.

Cockrell, like many of the frustrated fans from 2015, wants the offense to be more multi-dimensional. New York hit 212 home runs in 2015 with 47 of them coming with runners on base. According to the YES Network a whopping 20% of the team's RBI came on the home run in 2015 but the problem was the situational hitting in 2015, not the home run ball. How many times did we see the Yankees needing to come up with the big hit or a the two-out hit and fail? I don't have a number but I can say with confidence that it was #TooDamnMany and Cockrell wants to fix that.

Cockrell wants to put an emphasis on getting on base, moving the runner from second to third base, giving yourself up with a groundball out for an RBI or to move a runner, etc. Good ole manufacturing runs when necessary. Cockrell doesn't want to ditch hitting home runs all together, especially during the 81 games the Yankees play inside Yankee Stadium every season, but Cockrell doesn't want to sit back and rely on in game in and game out... and I agree with him.

Meet a Prospect: Alan Cockrell

Alan Cockrell was named the New York Yankees assistant hitting coach prior to the 2015 season and the team responded with the second best offense in all of Major League Baseball. Jeff Pentland, the head hitting coach from 2015, was fired after the season and Cockrell has accepted a position as the team’s main hitting coach and will work side-by-side with former Triple-A hitting coach and current Yankees assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames. Not many players and fans knew much about Cockrell before the 2015 season and not many know him today, until now.

Atlee Alan Cockrell was born on December 5, 1962 into a Christian household. Cockrell spent his High School days at Joplin, Missouri’s Parkwood High School where he represented the Parkwood High School Bears. The Bears were the team’s football team, not the school’s baseball team as you would expect, and Cockrell was the team’s starting quarterback. During his tenure there, three seasons as the starting QB, Cockrell led the team to a 31-3 record with 3,499 yards, 44 touchdown passes, 1,541 rushing yards and 36 rushing touchdowns and even kicked 154 PAT’s with eight field goals. Cockrell did it all including the year when he led the Bears to a perfect 14-0 season outscoring their opponents 653-33 and a Missouri State Class 4A High School Championship in 1980. Cockrell’s efforts there led him to take a scholarship at the University of Tennessee to be the team’s starting quarterback.

Cockrell was the first ever true freshman to start for the Volunteers when he did so in 1981 but five games into his Tennessee football career he suffered a major knee injury that threatened his college and professional career. Cockrell led the Vols to a 6-5-1 record in 1982 and a 9-3 season in 1983 including a Florida Citrus Bowl win over Boomer Esiason and the Maryland Terrapins in his final game with the school. The San Francisco Giants drafted Cockrell in the first round of the 1984 Draft, 9^th overall, and his love for baseball drowned out any aspirations to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League.

Cockrell played nine seasons in the minor leagues for five different organizations before finally making his Major League debut in 1996 with the Colorado Rockies. Cockrell had a strikeout against Billy Wagner and a double off future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine in Atlanta before playing in his final MLB game on September 29, 1996. Cockrell bounced around various minor league affiliates inside the Rockies organization as a manager and hitting coach before returning to the Majors as the Rockies hitting coach in 2007. Under Cockrell the Rockies slugged their way to a National League Championship and a trip to the World Series before running into the red hot Boston Red Sox. Under Cockrell the Rockies led the league in on-base percentage, batting average and total hits although it was not enough to keep Cockrell in a job after the team fired him before the 2009 season.

Cockrell was named the Seattle Mariners hitting coach in 2010 replacing Alonzo Powell but unfortunately for him he was the first out four coaches who were relieved of their duties alongside then manager Don Wakamatsu. Cockrell was out of the game completely until the New York Yankees came calling in January of 2015.

Cockrell and his SwingPath Coach training device he invented will now bring his talents to New York to be their hitting coach. How will the Yankees offense respond? I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned, either way congrats to Cockrell. After the career, the setbacks and the life in the game that you’ve had you have definitely earned your stay here in the Bronx.

Yankees Promote Alan Cockrell and Marcus Thames

The New York Yankees found themselves searching for their third hitting coach in as many years this offseason but the team wasted no time filling the position. Taking over for the recently fired Jeff Pentland will be his assistant hitting coach from last season Alan Cockrell. In a similar promotion Marcus Thames, the Triple-A hitting coach for the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders, will be promoted to assistant hitting coach for the club.

I'm pretty indifferent about Cockrell but to see Thames come up to the next level is something I am personally excited about. Congrats to both men!

What About Raul Ibanez for the New Yankees Hitting Coach?

Earlier in the week I discussed the possibility of Jason Giambi replacing the recently departed Yankees hitting coach Jeff Pentland and while writing it another intriguing name came to mind, former Yankee Raul Ibanez. Ibanez spent just a short time as a member of the New York Yankees but made the most of his time here in the Bronx leaving the fans with memorable home run and clutch hit after memorable home run and clutch hit. You think he could teach some of the Yankees hitters, namely Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann, to do the same in 2016?

Raul is a 19-year veteran of Major League Baseball spending time with the Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Raul is the type of hard-nosed veteran type player that any team would be lucky to have if not for his production but what he brings to a group of young guys in the way of teaching. Much like Jason Giambi I truly believe that Ibanez is a candidate for a managerial job if that’s the route he so chooses to go in, he always seemed to have a grasp and a true knowledge of the game. That cannot be taught.

Raul has zero formal coaching and managing experience so he would likely be better suited as an assistant hitting coach or the potential replacement for Marcus Thames in the minor leagues (assuming Thames takes the big league job) but either way I think everyone would benefit from having him back in the organization. Raul, You’re so cool… now come back. 

Possible Replacements for Gary Tuck and Jeff Pentland

Late Sunday night it was announced that the New York Yankees would not be bringing back their hitting coach Jeff Pentland or their bullpen coach Gary Tuck for the 2016 season. In 2016 New York will have their third hitting coach in as many years and their second bullpen coach in three years with the departures of Pentland and Tuck. Surely the Yankees have a list of possible replacements and I will take my best educated guess at this list here for you today in order of likelihood of being hired by the club.

Hitting Coach:

Alan Cockrell

Marcus Thames

James Rowson

Jason Giambi

Dave Magadan

Bullpen Coach:

Mike Harkey

Scott Aldred

Jeff Pentland & Gary Tuck Will Not Return

The New York Yankees have announced that two of their coaches from the 2015 season will not return next season. The Yankees primary hitting coach Jeff Pentland was told when he signed that he would only be around for one year while New York's bullpen coach Gary Tuck was also informed he would not return to the team in 2016.

Pentland's assistant hitting coach Alan Cockrell could get promoted to the main position while it seems like New York will head into 2016 with two hitting coaches once again. Tuck received praise from Yankees catcher Brian McCann who cited his improvement in the throwing game and defensively can be dated back to his workouts with Tuck this season.

Jason Giambi the Next Yankees Hitting Coach?

In case you didn't know or see the post on the blog from yesterday but the New York Yankees hitting coach Jeff Pentland is set to hit free agency after the 2015 World Series. The Yankees came into the 2015 season with two hitting coaches, Pentland and Alan Cockrell, and will likely decide to do so in 2016 as well. Will that hitting coach be Pentland, assuming he gets some of the credit for having the second highest scoring offense in 2015 and the team ignores the last six-to-eight weeks of struggles with the offense, or will it be someone else? The hitting coach could be Marcus Thames, a hitting coach in the minor leagues for the Yankees, Tino Martinez, a scout and adviser for the team, or could it possibly be Jason Giambi?

Giambi was the Yankees first baseman replacing Tino Martinez from 2002-2008 as he passed the torch to Mark Teixeira and was listed as an active player as recently as 2015 at age 43 with the Cleveland Indians. Giambi hit well during his major league career but his biggest asset was getting on base. Giambi retired with a .399 OBP with 1,366 walks which is 32nd best all time. This is all before you consider his 440 career home runs, MVP Awards and hitting titles with the Oakland Athletics.

Giambi has quite the reputation with the players and has drawn praise from current manager Terry Francona in recent years for his leadership and coaching ability. Giambi has also been one of the few players that have used PED's, admitted it, and came back better and better for it in the league. If anyone can use Giambi as a mentor more than a coach isn't it Alex Rodriguez? A Rod, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, etc. already know how to hit but if they can learn something from Giambi I think he would be worth his weight in gold. Giambi could also be great teaching McCann and Mark Teixeira especially because he faced the shift, and went against the shift, for many years during his playing career.

Giambi was called a future manager by Terry Francona and could use the Yankees hitting coach position as a stepping stone for his ultimate goal. If the Yankees want to bring the Giambino back they have my vote of confidence.

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.

Carlos Beltran, You’re Worrying Me

* naturally this was written before last night's game where he did well. 

Carlos Beltran was one of the seemingly knee jerk reactions that the New York Yankees had when they lost out on free agent Robinson Cano just a couple winters ago. Beltran has waited patiently to play in a Yankees uniform for much of his career and when finally given the shot has really struggled in pinstripes. Last season was chalked up as a loss because of an ailing bone spur problem that bothered him and required offseason surgery to repair. Beltran is said to be healthy and feeling no pain and effects from the surgery but is still continuing to struggle at the bat not only this season but in the spring as well. When is it too early to start worrying about Beltran and what his lack of offense is doing to the New York Yankees?

When the Yankees hitting coach Jeff Pentland was asked this very question he responded that Beltran was “frustrated” and he’s “not used to struggling” according to the New York Post. Beltran has been a great hitter for his entire career, even when oft-injured with the Mets, but has struggled mightily since returning to New York. Beltran was batting .156 after hitting a double in Tuesday night’s game with four RBI in the Yankees first eight games. What also compounds the problem, and makes me worry, is that his on base percentage is only 20 points higher at .176 so without really looking he couldn’t have taken more than one or two walks this season.

Beltra turns 38 years old next week and is in the second year of a three year deal worth $45 million with the Yankees. Beltran is a career .281 hitter and has 373 home runs in his career and before coming to New York led the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series with a .296 batting average, 24 home runs and 84 RBI. Those numbers with New York are a far cry from what the Yankees were expecting when they signed him and I don’t know about you guys but I’m beginning to worry. If he was taking his walks or having good at bats or even playing adequate defense that would be one thing, when a guy is struggling and leaving me struggling to find a redeeming factor and quality about him I tend to worry. Well Beltran, I’m worried. 

Prove me wrong, please?

Meet Alan Cockrell

If you’re looking for the latest and greatest in New York Yankees trivia rest assured that this question will be asked eventually. Who was the first assistant hitting coach to be hired by the New York Yankees? The answer is Alan Cockrell as he was hired for the 2015 season to back up Jeff Pentland. Let’s meet the man and see just what he has to bring to the table in the Bronx.

Cockrell is a former major league outfielder that dabbled in both football and baseball as a player before jumping into coaching. Cockrell attended the University of Tennessee where he was an All-American outfielder for the baseball team and the starting quarterback for the football team. Cockrell suffered a significant knee injury as a QB and was never the same for the Volunteers football team and ultimately left the school before his senior season to enter the MLB First Year Player’s Draft.

The San Francisco Giants made Cockrell the ninth pick overall in the 1984 draft but unfortunately Cockrell never met the high expectations that seemingly followed him around. Cockrell spent nine seasons in the minor leagues with five different organizations, the longest coming when he spent five seasons with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, before making his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies on September 7, 1996. Billy Wagner struck him out in his first at bat but three days later Cockrell would extract his revenge when he roped a pinch hit double off Tom Glavine for his first major league hit. Nine games later Cockrell’s major league career was over for good.

Cockrell spent the next few seasons in various positions in the Rockies organization before being named the hitting coach for the Rockies before the 2007 season. During that 2007 season the Rockies slugged their way to a national League Championship and a World Series appearance against the Boston Red Sox. That season Colorado led the NL in batting average, OBP and total hits. The Rockies could not follow up that success in 2008 which resulted in Cockrell’s firing. Cockrell latched on with the Seattle Mariners for the 2009 season as their hitting coach but lasted just a year and a half before being fired once again. Now Cockrell is the assistant hitting coach to the Yankees and we welcome him to the family with open arms. 

Meet Jeff Pentland

Jeff Pentland was recently hired to be the hitting coach for the New York Yankees replacing long-time hitting coach Kevin Long. Pentland comes with a lot of experience in the job and should command a lot of respect from the veterans and young guys alike on the team and the more and more I read about the signing the more I think the team is going to be okay. Let’s meet the newest Yankees hitting coach, Jeff Pentland.

Pentland has coached not only at the major league level but was a college coach as well in his 69 years of living. Pentland also played college baseball for the Arizona State University as a pitcher compiling a 32-12 win/loss record and a career 2.25 ERA. During his tenure with the Sun Devils pentland made the 1967 College World Series baseball team before spending three seasons in the San Diego Padres organization as a pitcher. Pentland quickly learned he wasn’t destined to make the majors and signed on as an assistant coach at the University of California, Riverside from 1975 through 1982 before coaching for Arizona State from 1983 to 1992. Pentland finally got his opportunity to manage and coach a major league team in 1993 when he joined the Florida Marlins coaching staff.

Halfway through the 1996 season Pentland was moved to the Marlins hitting coach which landed him a job in the same position with the Chicago Cubs. Pentland was the hitting coach from 1997-2002 including the time that Joe Girardi was there as a player. Pentland moved on in 2003 to take the hitting coach job for the Kansas City Royals where he managed a younger Carlos Beltran to one of his best hitting seasons of his career and stayed there until leaving for Seattle in 2005. Pentland stayed in Seattle as their hitting coach until the 2008 season when the Los Angeles Dodgers hired him as their secondary hitting instructor before promoting him to hitting coach in 2010. Pentland was fired in 2011 and has been out of the game until the Yankees came calling in 2015.

Now you know the man and what he has to bring to the table, now it’s time to get to work. Good luck Jeff and welcome to the family. 

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.

New York Finally Has a Hitting Coach!

Source: Yanks are expected to hire Jeff Pentland as hitting coach and Alan Cockrell as assistant. 1st time team will have 2 hitting coaches.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) January 11, 2015

The New York Yankees have finally hired a hitting coach and even hired an assistant hitting coach to go with it. The Yankees hitting coach in 2015 will be Jeff Pentland while Alan Cockrell will be the assistant hitting coach. This marks the first time that the Yankees have had an assistant hitting coach in their storied history.

Pentland was the hitting coach with the Marlins and the Cubs while Joe Girardi was there while also being the hitting coach for the Royals, the Mariners and the Dodgers. Cockrell was the hitting coach for that Rockies team that went to the World Series in 2007.

Next up, a first base coach.

Yankees to Delay Search for Hitting Coach Until Holidays are Over

In the early stages of the offseason, it was thought the Yankees would hire a new hitting coach before the conclusion of the World Series. But they haven't done so yet, nor will they try to at all in 2014.

Team GM Brian Cashman revealed that that's New York's plan going into the new year Monday, telling reporters he'll instead deal with the opening in January. The Yankees interviewed Dave Magadan and Chili Davis for the job back in October, but walked away empty-handed after choosing not to employ either. 

“I am not doing anything with the coaches until the holidays are over,’’ Cashman said, via The New York Post's George King.

The Yankees are searching for a successor to Kevin Long -- now with the Mets -- whom they fired October 10. They batted just .245/.307/.380 under Long last season, and ranked 20th in the league in runs scored. 

They aren't currently looking at anybody to fill the position, though, with the only recent news regarding the vacancy being speculation about old-timer Jeff Pentland. 

“He was suggested to me about a month-and-a-half ago,’’ Cashman said, referring to Pentland. “I haven’t called him. That doesn’t mean I won’t call him.’’

Pentland's spent 15 years as a major-league hitting coach, last working for the Dodgers from 2010-2011. His 2003-2005 stint with the Royals and 2005-2008 one with the Mariners are the only periods in which he competed in the American League, making the AL East the only division yet to acquire his services. 

Still, that doesn't mean he'd neccessarily have a tough time fitting in if signed by the Yankees, as Pentland coached club manager Joe Girardi (then a player) with the Cubs from 2000-2002 and was a colleague of bench coach Tony Pena during his aforementioned time in Kansas City.