For the first time 26 seasons as the general manager of the New York Yankees, Brian Cashman has fired a coach mid-season. Heading into the All-Star break, the Yankees are fourth in the AL East at 49-42, eight games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, and 4-6 in their last 10.
The Yankees have fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson. It’s the first time GM Brian Cashman has fired a coach in the middle of a season. This is his 26th season as GM. Yankees’ hitters have severely underperformed. And Lawson takes the fall.
— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES) July 9, 2023
Brian Cashman, via #Yankees press release:
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) July 9, 2023
“It has been well documented that I have been reluctant in the past to make changes to our coaching staff in the middle of a season,” said Cashman. “I am a big believer that successes and failures are collective efforts. However, I…
Why the Yankees made a tough coaching decision
2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge hasn’t played since he injured his toe at Dodger Stadium during the first week of June, and the offense has been pretty helpless since then. As a team, the Yankees are slashing .231/.300/.410. Judge still leads the team in home runs, RBI, average, OBP, and more. Anthony Rizzo hasn’t hit a home run in a month; Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson are all struggling, so it’s easy to see why Cashman felt a move like this was necessary. Lawson’s exit was on the wall, his methods were not working.
However, you could make the case firing Dillon Lawson might be one of those last ditch efforts to improve a roster totally constructed year after year by Cashman. The injury-riddled season of Carlos Rodon certainly hasn’t helped things, considering Rodon was the only meaningful free agent singing the Yankees made. But if you really look at the roster of New York, they have been trotting out the same lineup for the past four years, expecting things to change, and they don’t. It is the very definition of insanity.
To Yankees fans and baseball enthusiasts alike, it is clear that Brian Cashman is afraid of making any type of major shakeup. Outside of the Cole and Rodon signings, the only big contract dealt out was to retain Judge. He refuses to trade prized prospects Jasson Dominguez and Oswald Peraza (I’m not saying he should), despite the latter tearing it up in Triple-A, while the previously mentioned LeMahieu and Donaldson continue to decline. Outside of Judge (which should go without saying from now on), no one on the Yankees hits for average, and the power numbers aren’t anywhere near what they were on years past to make up for that fact.
Bottom line, changing the hitting coach probably won’t make a huge difference to the Yankees output. Maybe if Judge comes back soon he can help right the ship more than any coach can.
With that being said:
Sean Casey will indeed be the Yankees’ next hitting coach, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 10, 2023
Sean Casey was announced today as the Yankees new hitting coach. A former teammate of Aaron Boone in Cincinnati, Casey will have the pleasure and pressure of trying to get the Yankees to hit the baseball effectively.
The move feels inconsequential. The Yankees roster is the same as last year, and the year before, with worse output from players they relied on in the past. This all comes down to Brian Cashman, who feels like he should be at the end of his rope, but was just awarded a new contract from Hal Steinbrenner. Rumors of acquiring Cody Bellinger would certainly help the Yankees, but it doesn’t make them World Series contenders by any means. However, it would align with Cashman’s M.O.
Every time it feels like there will be some change in the Bronx, the Yankees front office doubles down on what they have an insists the roster can compete for a Championship.
Good luck to Sean Casey, who was excellent on MLB Network, but has no coaching experience. A tall task, but it doesn’t look like it could get any worse in New York.