About The Off-Season: Help Wanted

About The Off-Season: Help Wanted

By Tim Kabel

November 12, 2026

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The Yankees have some job openings. At the very least, they need a new bench coach and a new hitting coach. Brad Ausmus, the former bench coach, will now be the manager of the Houston Astros. James Rowson, the former hitting coach who was rumored to be on thin ice anyway, will be the new offensive coordinator for the San Francisco Giants. Maybe the Giants think that they are the football Giants instead of the baseball Giants. The status of the Yankees two assistant hitting coaches, Casey Dykes and Jake Hirst is unknown. 

It will be very interesting to see what the Yankees do in regard to the new hitting coach and bench coach. Hal Steinbrenner in his State of the Union address, made it clear that he viewed the offense as a major problem in recent years, and essentially shifted some of the blame for that onto Rawson and his staff. If I were Dykes and Hirst, I wouldn't be buying any green bananas right about now.

The largest issue regarding the new coaches is the status of Aaron Boone. Aaron Boone is under contract but only for 2027. He was not given an extension, and it is unclear if he will be offered one. It seems more likely that his fate depends on the Yankees success or lack thereof in 2027. By success, it would seem likely that Boone will only be around past 2027 if the Yankees win the whole ball of wax.  That is one of the factors that will make the hiring of the hitting coach and the bench coach very interesting.

If the Yankees hire someone to be the bench coach who has no managerial experience or aspirations in that regard, it will seem to indicate that they are not putting Aaron Boone on notice and are more or less going through the motions. In other words, Joe Torre had a very strong bench coaches in Don Zimmer, Willie Randolph, Joe Girardi, Lee Mazzilli, and Don Mattingly. All those men were very well-respected Major League managers at one point. The Yankees need a solid and well-regarded individual to fill that role now. Manny Ramirez or Clint Frazier would not be ideal choices. 

Two of the people who just left the Yankees organization, Tanner Swanson and Shelley Duncan, will now be coaches for American League rivals. Swanson will be the bench coach for the Mariners. It is unclear what role Duncan will have with the Red Sox. Either of those two gentlemen could have been the bench coach for the Yankees. They will not be. If the Yankees fill those spots with uninspiring, unknown, nondescript individuals, it will be an indicator that we are in for more of the same.

However, if the Yankees were to hire someone like Jorge Posada for example to be the bench coach, that would be something altogether different. Posada recently stated that he didn't feel welcome by the Yankees management any longer. This would be a great way to show that he is welcome. He would be someone who would be a fiery individual who would hold players accountable. In other words, I don't think Jazz Chisholm junior, or any other player would be chomping on a lollipop during a game with Jorge Posada as a coach. If they did, they would regret it. To be clear, I'm not saying that the Yankees need to hire Jorge Posada as the bench coach for 2027. He might not even want the job. However, they need to hire somebody who will be a strong presence and will send a message to the team, the fans, and to Aaron Boone. It could be Brett Gardner. It could be Albert Pujols. It needs to be someone who will make the fans and media sit up and take notice when he is announced as the coach.

The same applies to the hitting coach. If the Yankees name some obscure 40-year-old person who never actually played baseball but spent fifteen years analyzing swing patterns in his basement, that's not going to get it done. They need someone who can relate to the players and who knows about hitting. They don't necessarily need someone who was a batting champion. They need someone who knows how to hit, how to get on base how to work counts, how to do more than just swing for the fences and strike out. Whoever the Yankees hire as a hitting coach has to realize that not all players are the same. The coach cannot view Anthony Volpe as the same as Spencer Jones. They're not the same type of hitter, or at least they shouldn't be. Jones is a power hitter, who may hit for a reasonably high average but will also strike out a lot. Volpe should be more of a spray hitter and a contact hitter who gets on base a lot and has some power. 

The Yankees need to be a more effective and diverse offensive team. A lot of that will be the responsibility of the hitting coach. The bench coach should be someone who could be a potential manager in waiting when Aaron Boone leads the Yankees into their annual Boone-Swoon, which we all know he will. It happens every year. This year, if Aaron Boone has to look over his shoulder at his bench coach during the Boone-Swoon and worry that person might take his job, that would be a good thing. 

If the Yankees just bring in two people who serve no function other than to keep Aaron Boone company and maintain the status quo, it will indicate that the Yankees are really not interested in making changes The people whom the Yankees hire to be the bench coach and the hitting coach for 2027 will be the first indicators of how serious they are about changing things and turning the Yankees into a World Series winning team.