The Yankees announced that they have fired their pitching coach Dave Eiland yesterday, but left us with know idea of whom they would hire to replace him.
Here is a mostly random list of 10 potential replacements that the Yankees could hire (these are not rumors, just pure speculation):
- Mike Harkey – Worked was manager Joe Girardi’s bullpen coach with both the Marlins and the Yankees. Was pitching coach for the Cubs Triple-A affiliate and served in that role for a month with the Yankees this year.
- Scott Aldred – Has served as pitching coach for Double-A Trenton in ’07 and ’08 and Triple-A Scranton for the last two seasons.
- Rick Kranitz – He was Girardi’s pitching coach in Florida. He’s currently the Orioles pitching coach since 2008, but new manager Buck Showalter may replace him with one of his own guys.
- Nardi Contreras – Has served as pitching coach in the past for the Yankees, Mariners, and White Sox. Is currently a roaming pitching coach for the Yankees organization commonly referred to as their “pitching guru.”
- Leo Mazzone – Legendary pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves. Has been out of a job since getting fired by the Orioles in 2007.
- Joe Kerrigan – Former Yankees bullpen coach from ’06 till ’07. He is currently unemployed after getting fired from his job as Pirates pitching coach this season. He has also served as pitching coach for the Expos, Red Sox, and Phillies.
- Dave Righetti – Former Yankees pitcher, has served as pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants for a number of years now. I’ve heard he might not be interested in leaving San Fran though.
- David Cone – Former Yankees pitcher had a large repertoire of pitches and arm angles that may help him in dealing with other pitchers. Has no experience as a coach though.
- Al Leiter – Two time former Yankee with no experience as a coach. He does have a good knowledge of baseball though, but as a pitcher he had a smaller repertoire than Cone.
- Mike Mussina – I’m not even sure if he would be interested in such a job, but he was a smart player who threw pretty much every pitch except a knuckleball. He could potentially be a very good instructor.
River Ave Blues also listed Athletics former pitching coach Curt Young and Seattles former pitching coach Carl Willis as possibilities. They are both intriguing names especially since Willis was also a longtime Cleveland Indians pitching coach who worked with both CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee.