The Yankees have hired Brad Ausmus to be their bench coach, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. The position was left vacant when Carlos Mendoza was hired away to be the manager of the Mets.
Ausmus, 55 in April, played in the big leagues from 1993 to 2010. After his playing days were over, he quickly jumped into coaching and was a manager not long after, getting the skipper job with the Tigers in 2014. He held that job for four seasons, running through the 2017 campaign. The club made the postseason in his first year at the helm but missed in the next three and he wasn’t brought back after his contract expired.
He then joined the Angels as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler but moved back into the skipper’s chair going into 2019. He signed a three-year deal but was fired after just one season in which the Halos went 72-90. He returned to a big league dugout in 2022, working as bench coach for the A’s, providing first-time manager Mark Kotsay with an experienced lieutenant. He didn’t return to that job for 2023, reportedly seeking a front office position. He was considered by the Astros for their general manager vacancy, but Dana Brown ultimately got that job and Ausmus is now set to jump back into a bench coach role for 2024.
This will be the first time the Yanks have a new bench coach in a while, as Mendoza had held steady in that gig for the past four seasons before moving to Queens. The Yanks also made a change at hitting coach, with Sean Casey opting not to return and getting replaced by James Rowson.
MattyD 2
Why???
just_thinkin
I promise it won’t matter literally at all who the bench coach of the Yankees is. Of all the things for a Yankee fan to worry about, this one ain’t it.
Love,
An O’s fan
Captain-Judge99
@just_thinkin- I hope you’ve recovered from that spanking the Orioles received from the Rangers in the postseason. It doesn’t really matter that you won the AL East last season. Let’s see if Baltimore can do it all over again, only to get ousted again in the playoffs? I hope you aren’t too worried?
Love,
A Yankees fan
StusFirstDollar
They probably will, Os have prospects unlike the Yankees
Captain-Judge99
Doubt it. The Yankees don’t have any good prospects? We’ll see. I’ve never seen so many Oriole fans all of a sudden. Why do so many Oriole fans root for the Yankees when they play the O’s in Baltimore? It’s interesting.
Sideline Redwine
LOLOLOL…what do we have here, a butt-hurt yankee fan? Lose with class, dude. The O’s won the division going away…the yankees didn’t even smell the playoffs. I’m a Rays fan, and even I know the future belongs to the O’s…for how many years, that is up to them. A lot of good young prospects to go with a team that mashed this year. And how was the post incorrect? Yankees do have some needs and concerns…and a bench coach is not near the top of the list.
Captain-Judge99
@Sideline Wino-Butt hurt, Seriously? The Rays are winning the AL East next season? Are you going to bail Wander Franco out of jail or something? If the Rays didn’t win a championship last year, you really expect them finally win a World Series this year? Lol. Thanks for the laugh with all your delusion. Go back to sleep now!
larkraxm
Yankees have money, unlike any other franchise in professional sports. So that helps close the “prospect” gap. Every team has prospects. The Orioles are turning them into MLB players, which is the key!
StusFirstDollar
Nothing like a cool 278m for the worst Yankees season in a generation. What is that equaled out to like $3,000,000 a win last year? Maybe they should of put that in prospect development and the analytic department
larkraxm
Yeah, maybe? Also they have the worst manager in MLB, the reigning AL MVP missed 1/3 of the season, and every member of the initial starting rotation spent time on the IL except the AL CY Young Award winner. The Yankees still kept their streak of 30 years of having a winning record intact because they cut a bunch of overpriced not producing veterans and turned it over to their developed “prospects” which delivered winning baseball down the stretch. 278 million is nothing.
JRW 2
Interesting and comical you believe their winning season had nothing to do the the Yanks and Sox losing.
The_M4N
@MattyD 2, uggghhhh…. because they don’t have one.
Ejemp2006
Brad Ausmus is oatmeal.
Hired Gun 23
Cuz the position was vacant and needed to be filled. They could’ve done alot worse…
dano62
This gives me hope that they’ll continue to suck for the foreseeable future…
TrillionaireTeamOperator
I know I’ve been begging them to prioritize fixing their coaching and training staff, but I have literally no clue if this is good, bad or neutral change.
I know who Ausmus is as a player, but as a coach, I take it from the other comments that he leaves something to be desired?
Hexbreaker
TrillionaireTeamOperator
It’s not good.
TrillionaireTeamOperator
Yeah I looked it up and it seems he can talk his way into managerial positions and then proceeds to be bad to terrible at it. In reminding myself exactly what a bench coach does, I see he is practically co-manager, so yes, this is concerning.
TB Sox NY
I think you could do worse.Remember the Bench coach usually takes over when a manager gets fired.But think of all the coaches who have sucked.then think of all the truly outstanding coaches.Each year people think our coach is amazing.So many times they by the end of the year want them fired.
Subatomicbunt
TTO, based on what I saw of him with the Halos, Ausmus is as fearsome as a slice of white bread. He leaves much to be desired as a coach. My opinion..
Joe says...
I’m surprised they didn’t give the job to third base coach Luis Rojas.
not alkaline
Ausmus is very intelligent very knowledgable baseball man. Should do a great job.
YankeesBleacherCreature
At least the bench will be handsome.
This one belongs to the Reds
But will it be coached well?
Jm207* 2
He inherited a loaded Tigers team and ran it into the ground immediately. Good luck Yankees
Joe says...
He’s going to have to stand in line to ruin the Yankees.
TroyVan
The rumor in Detroit was the players didn’t like him. It wasn’t surprising the Angels canned him after 1 year, with 2 left on his contract. You can be a smart guy (which he is). You can have a great baseball resume (his includes a respectable career as a catcher). But, if the players don’t like you, you won’t succeed.
Yanks2
Why didn’t they like him? Ausmus seems like a nice guy
TroyVan
I really don’t know or don’t remember. The media didn’t care for him much either, too (in Detroit).
He’s a smart guy tho. Hopefully, with all the stops he will have made, he is able to learn from his past mistakes. Maybe someday, he will be a great manager. I wish him the best.
84LeFlore
True. Ausmus was not an inspiring skipper.
Unclenolanrules
That’s because Don Dombrowski didn’t discover bullpen arms until two years ago.
Not Brad Ausmus.
Rsox
Is Brad going to start every press conference with “ask the next bench coach”?…
Ebjr
Yalls is screwed Yankees!
Bigtimeyankeefan
That’s right, hire a guy to help make decisions who couldn’t do it on his own
27Angel17
What a move!!! The Yankees are certainly going places. Guess the downward trend will continue. Way to go less competition for 29 other teams. Yankees to stankees.
Deadguy
Da Jankees win! Da Jankees win! Da Jaaaaaaaaaaankies WIN!
Gasu1
As a catcher, Ausmus was regarded as possibly the best handler of pitchers of his day, and one of the smartest athletes in sports. So what are you all bitching about?
27Angel17
Just a track record as a manager.
jjd002
Plenty of great managers started off terribly.
Stat_head
After 5+ years of failure the conclusion is obvious. Have fun.
Stat_head
Not much to be jealous of these days. Most of us just enjoy the ongoing mediocrity.
YankeesBleacherCreature
I’ll be happy if can help groom Austin Wells into a f/t catcher.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Kyle Teel > Austin Wells
YankeesBleacherCreature
Teel looks very promising.
its_happening
That it wasn’t true and he proved it as a manager with the Tigers.
BloodySox
The Yankees new fall guy
yankswillbeback
yankee jealousy sucks guys
BloodySox
It’s not 1960 anymore
yankswillbeback
so many anti yankee people sucks to be jealous
Buzzz Killington
These damn Dixie folks jealous.
MPrck
Brad Awful come on down, Manager in waiting ? For N.Y. ?
The Saber-toothed Superfife
? Cashman has time for this?
JPR
Is he a friend of Boone. Only asking since that seems to be #1 on the Yankee checklist.
LordD99
Experienced. Seems fine for the bench-coach position.
ArianaGrandSlam
This guy will be the interim manager this summer, could it be any dumber?
mlbnyyfan
Bench coach should have been Willie Randolph. It’s a shame he doesn’t get another job
64' Yanks
I agree, bui the bench coach for the Yankees is nothing more than an errand boy for the analytic dept sending directions to Boone. The Yamkees could do no worst by hiring two chimpanzees for manager and bench coach.. However, the bananas have been going up just like everything else in the grocery store. so Hal took that into considerations.
Yanks2
I don’t understand how they hired Matt Blake who has helped their rotation but no matter who they hire as the hitting coach, their one dimensional offense never changes. I know this is an article about the bench coach but I figured I’d mention it
DongKelly
Lulz
JasonT
For whatever it’s worth also a guy drafted and developed by the same early 90s brain trust that developed Jeter, Mo, etc.
its_happening
No ex-Yankee available to run shotgun with Boone?
socalbball
Ausmus is an ex-Yankee. He was drafted by the Yankees in 1987 and played in the Yankee farm system until the Rockies took him in the expansion draft after the 1992 season.
its_happening
He and Brien Taylor are Yankee legends then. Fred McGriff should have entered Cooperstown in a Yankees hat too.
mlbnyyfan
Swisher would have been a great choice
its_happening
Ausmus was an overrated catcher and a bad manager. He might have some wisdom to sprinkle on the players but the Yankees had an opportunity to hire a more qualified candidate who wore the pinstripes for real.