Meet the 2019 Yankees: Marcus Thames

The New York Yankees are expecting to have an offensive juggernaut take the field day in and day out throughout the 2019 season with nine-or-ten guys that are capable of coming up with a big hit, drawing a big walk, and keeping the line moving on any given night. With a lineup that will consist of some combination of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, Didi Gregorius (eventually), DJ LeMahieu, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Troy Tulowitzki, and Gleyber Torres you have to think the easiest job in all of baseball here in 2019 has to belong to the Yankees hitting coach, Marcus Thames. Now while I exaggerate just a tad about his job being easy, I don’t exaggerate at all when I say that his job has to be one of the more fun jobs to possess here this season working with that cast of guys. Let’s meet the man in charge of keeping the Yankees offense up to the task of putting up crooked numbers in any inning of any game this season. This is Meet a Coach: The Marcus Thames Edition.


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 then Yankees top prospects Robert Refsnyder and others.


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 had defied the odds once again with his promotion to assistant hitting coach with the club before the 2016 season. Thames has continued to impress with the Yankees young hitters and has worked his way all the way to Yankees hitting coach for the 2018 season. Congratulations to him, his family and all the young Yankees hitters that he once mentored when they were in the various Yankees Minor League affiliates. Thames will return to the position in 2019 under Aaron Boone and along with assistant hitting coach P.J. Pillitiere. It should be a fun season to watch, and you would have to think that Thames will be the envy of all hitting coaches around the league here in 2019.


I mean, come on. Who doesn’t want to coach the Yankees potential offense this coming season? I know I would if Thames doesn’t want to. Just let me know. Thanks in advance.

Meet a Coach: Marcus Thames

The New York Yankees are expecting to have an offensive juggernaut take the field day in and day out throughout the 2018 season with nine-or-ten guys that are capable of coming up with a big hit, drawing a big walk and keeping the line moving on any given night. With a lineup that will consist of some combination of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Greg Bird, Didi Gregorius, Neil Walker, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Brandon Drury, and Gleyber Torres (eventually) you have to think the easiest job in all of baseball here in 2018 has to belong to the Yankees hitting coach, Marcus Thames. Now while I exaggerate just a tad about his job being easy, I don’t at all when I say that his job has to be one of the more fun jobs to possess here this season working with that cast of guys. Let’s meet the man in charge of keeping the Yankees offense up to the task of putting up crooked numbers in any inning of any game this season. This is Meet a Coach: The Marcus Thames Edition.

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 then Yankees top prospects Robert Refsnyder and others.

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 had defied the odds once again with his promotion to assistant hitting coach with the club before the 2016 season. Thames has continued to impress with the Yankees young hitters and has worked his way all the way to Yankees hitting coach for the 2018 season. Congratulations to him, his family and all the young Yankees hitters that he once mentored when they were in the various Yankees Minor League affiliates. It should be a fun season to watch and you would have to think that Thames will be the envy of all hitting coaches around the league here in 2018.

I mean, come on. Who doesn’t want to coach the Yankees potential offense this coming season? I know I would if Thames doesn’t want to. Just let me know. Thanks in advance.

Most Popular Article of the Week: A Plan for the DH Position & The Youth Movement

EDIT: Well this has been settled, it won't be Aaron Judge, but it's the most popular article nonetheless. Happy Monday all. 

You guys know me by now, I don’t go into anything without a plan. Now whether my plans are good plans are not is another discussion for another day but rest assured, I have a plan. My plan for the DH position is simple, cost effective and it fits in with the current Yankees youth movement as it involves relying once again on the Yankees farm system. In a rotation the Yankees young hitters should go in and out of the DH position but one man should be listed as the “every day DH” and that man is Aaron Judge. So who plays right field you ask? Well between Tyler Austin, Aaron Hicks and/or Mason Williams the Yankees should have that covered but just in case it may be a good idea to call up the Yankees top prospect Clint Frazier as well.


I know what you’re thinking, I’m nut. Well, I am but that isn’t the point. I know Frazier is young and has less than a full season at the Triple-A level and believe me that I am well aware that he struggled some in his limited time there. I get it. I also get that Judge has struggled with MLB pitching, again in a small sample size, but Judge focusing on hitting only can only help him in my eyes. Frazier on the other hand is talented and would step into a right field that doesn’t come attached to a “World Series or bust” type expectation level. The Yankees aren’t planning on competing in 2017 so why not let Frazier get his feet wet?


Frazier is the Yankees top prospect and the 15th best prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com and he comes with raw power and the ability to play any of the three outfield positions and do it well. That’s the kind of versatility and talent the Yankees need at the MLB level. Frazier could slowly get his feet wet and get acclimated to the Major Leagues by the team having that outfield rotation we discussed earlier while gaining invaluable experience and knowledge at the MLB level. Plus I think Judge would be helped as well as he can work with Marcus Thames, one of the Yankees hitting coaches, more one-on-one this winter.





It likely won’t happen because the Yankees are seemingly against rushing their prospects but it makes a bit of sense in my eyes so I presented it. What say you? Leave it below, thanks.

A Plan for the DH Position & The Youth Movement

You guys know me by now, I don’t go into anything without a plan. Now whether my plans are good plans are not is another discussion for another day but rest assured, I have a plan. My plan for the DH position is simple, cost effective and it fits in with the current Yankees youth movement as it involves relying once again on the Yankees farm system. In a rotation the Yankees young hitters should go in and out of the DH position but one man should be listed as the “every day DH” and that man is Aaron Judge. So who plays right field you ask? Well between Tyler Austin, Aaron Hicks and/or Mason Williams the Yankees should have that covered but just in case it may be a good idea to call up the Yankees top prospect Clint Frazier as well.

I know what you’re thinking, I’m nut. Well, I am but that isn’t the point. I know Frazier is young and has less than a full season at the Triple-A level and believe me that I am well aware that he struggled some in his limited time there. I get it. I also get that Judge has struggled with MLB pitching, again in a small sample size, but Judge focusing on hitting only can only help him in my eyes. Frazier on the other hand is talented and would step into a right field that doesn’t come attached to a “World Series or bust” type expectation level. The Yankees aren’t planning on competing in 2017 so why not let Frazier get his feet wet?

Frazier is the Yankees top prospect and the 15^th best prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com and he comes with raw power and the ability to play any of the three outfield positions and do it well. That’s the kind of versatility and talent the Yankees need at the MLB level. Frazier could slowly get his feet wet and get acclimated to the Major Leagues by the team having that outfield rotation we discussed earlier while gaining invaluable experience and knowledge at the MLB level. Plus I think Judge would be helped as well as he can work with Marcus Thames, one of the Yankees hitting coaches, more one-on-one this winter.

It likely won’t happen because the Yankees are seemingly against rushing their prospects but it makes a bit of sense in my eyes so I presented it. What say you? Leave it below, thanks. 

Remembering Yankees of the Past: 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. Now, in a bit of irony, we remember a Yankee of the past (as a player, not as a coach) and we remember Marcus Thames during his playing days.


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 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?

ARod, Yankees Reunion in 2017?

Did Alex Rodriguez drop a bombshell over the weekend while working as an analyst for Fox Sports? Maybe so and it may have included Alex’s future plans for the 2017 season. Do the Yankees know? Was he just doing it for television? Is the Centaur coming back and will it be in the Bronx? So many question, so few answers unfortunately and I think that was part of Alex’s plans all along. You know, because he’s Alex Rodriguez after all.

So where did all this come from? Well on Saturday during the Nationals and Dodgers game Pete Rose asked Alex on air about what he thought about David Ortiz lacing up his cleats for his final games of his career since Alex had just gone through the same thing, so we thought anyway, and Alex responded with a very vague “stay tuned.” What else could “stay tuned” mean if Alex did not have plans to return to Major League Baseball in 2017?

Alex is well within his rights to come back to MLB in 2017 and on the Yankees dime as well at the tune of $21 million so would the former Yankees slugger be willing to return to New York? Would he prefer to stay closer to his hometown and his children while playing in Miami with the Miami Marlins as their first baseman or bench piece? I can tell you this I can’t see the Yankees taking him back after finally committing to a youth movement so it may be Miami or bust… and I’m leaning towards bust.

And really, so what if it is bust? What does Alex have to lose? If a team invites him to spring training and he doesn’t make the team he would presumably still have a job with the Yankees as a special advisor. If not he’ll have plenty of time on his hands to count his $21 million in the bank for 2017. Here’s an idea though, what about if he returns to baseball and to Miami but not as a player but as the team’s hitting coach? Barry Bonds didn’t work out, could Alex be next? Honestly, I think so. Stay tuned because somehow, even in retirement, Alex has made himself front page news again like he always does, he is Alex Rodriguez after all you know. 

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?

Alex Rodriguez & the Idea of Being a Hitting Coach after Retirement

Across the career of one Alex Rodriguez everywhere he has gone and every stop he has made he has always garnered the attention of the room. Whether that be the fans, the women that surrounded him, his teammates or his coaches he always had all eyes on him. What Alex did with that attention rubbed many the wrong way in the past but it seems like Alex has turned a new life, maybe matured a little and turned his life around and now where he used to receive criticism he is receiving great praise all around. Alex has always been a student of the game and a virtual baseball genius so it seems like a no-brainer that he may want to get into coaching and/or managing one day when he decides to hang up his playing cleats, glove and bat.

Why wouldn’t he? Some of the greatest sluggers and hitters in the game are managers and coaches around the league. Mark McGwire is a coach in San Diego, Barry Bonds is a hitting coach with the Miami Marlins and Paul Molitor is a manager in Minnesota but it’s the strategy and the science behind the game that truly intrigues Rodriguez. A Rod’s coach and a former member of the New York Yankees as a player Joe Girardi has stated many times he could see Alex in a managerial job when he retires because he likes all the strategy and such that goes with the day-to-day process of playing the game and managing the team.

For what it’s worth Rodriguez was asked about a potential managerial job after he retires when he arrived at Yankees spring training camp and he was quoted as saying “I’ll be managing, but I’ll probably be managing my girls’ teams or volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, but I won’t be managing. You can quote me on that.” Well Alex, I just did. I don’t buy it though. Some players you can tell left it all out there on the field and won’t miss the game all that much every spring when it comes around, Derek Jeter for example, and others you can tell after a year or two they will miss it. Alex is a student and a prodigy of the game and he loves it, we don’t need teammate and coaches testimonies to tell us that, and I truly think he will miss it. I’ve been wrong before though. 

TGP Prospects Night Open Thread featuring Marcus Thames

What's better than seeing a Yankees prospect come through the system, make an impact at the big league level and have a long career in the show? Coming back to the organization as a coach or manager, being re-introduced in a Meet a Prospect thread as a part of TGP's Prospects Month and then telling your own story from your MLB debut in the Prospects Night Open Thread on the same blog. Boy, the Yankees assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames has been busy. 

This is a video of Thames describing in his own words what happened and what was going through his mind when he made his MLB debut for the Yankees. Spoiler alert, he hit a home run off lefty Randy Johnson in his first MLB at bat. Enjoy it from his mouth, not mine.

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.

Remembering Yankees of the Past: Marcus Thames

As we’ve all surely heard by now Jeff Pentland is out as hitting coach of the New York Yankees and Alan Cockrell is in after spending the 2015 season as the assistant hitting coach to Pentland. 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. Now, in a bit of irony, we remember a Yankee of the past (as a player, not as a coach) and we remember Marcus Thames during his playing days.

Thames was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 30^th 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 80^th 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 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?

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!

Scratch Don Mattingly off the Yankees Hitting Coach Wish List

Don Mattingly has officially signed a four-year deal with the Miami Marlins to be their new manager for the ball club. Mattingly will take over a young and talented team led by Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon, Jose Fernandez and others in hopes of toppling the top two teams I the National League East Division, the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals. The Miami job was basically Mattingly’s to lose all along and Mattingly didn’t lose it unfortunately.

I say unfortunately because I, as a fan, wanted to see Mattingly return to the city where he spent his entire playing career but I have to admit that I never fully expected the reunion of Don Mattingly and the New York Yankees to happen. I never lost hope but Mattingly deserves to manage and he can manage in Miami, good for him.

Mattingly will be Giancarlo Stanton’s eighth different manager since the beginning of the 2010 season, with a little stability in his life imagine what that kid could do. Congratulations to Mattingly but more so congratulations to the Miami Marlins organization and players, you guys got a good one. 

Don Mattingly, It’s Time to Come on Home

Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers have mutually agreed that Mattingly would not be the manager of the team in 2016. In the world of political correctness, a world that I have grown up in, I think we all know that means Mattingly got fired yesterday. They may not want to say that in order to shield the organization from the backlash that is sure to come from the fans and the media but let’s call a spade a spade, Mattingly got canned because he led the team to three straight National League West Division Championships and did not deliver a World Series title in that span despite the team’s payroll exceeding $300 million (including luxury tax penalties) this season.

Don, I’m speaking directly to you here, it is time to come on home. I know the hitting coach for the New York Yankees is probably not the most prestigious job in the world and it’s absolutely a step in the wrong direction but I can guarantee you this, NO ONE (fan base wise) is going to appreciate you more than the fans of the New York Yankees. And, just as an FYI in case you’re worried about job security and having to up and move yet again in a few years, Joe Girardi has managed teams with huge payrolls to the postseason just four times in his six seasons since the 2009 World Series championship. You’re safe here, you’re needed here and most importantly you’re wanted here.

Right a wrong, a wrong made by the organization, and come on home Donnie. We miss you. 

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.