How about Leo Mazzone as the Yankees -- or even the Mets -- pitching coach?

As soon as I heard the other day about Dave Eiland getting the old heave-ho as Yankees pitching coach, I wondered if Leo Mazzone would want to throw his baseball cap into the ring for the job. And guess what -- he does! He wants to bring his rocking motions -- and coaching skills -- to the Big Apple.

I just got this info from Sirius XM about Mazzone's appearance today on their network. Mazzone spoke with  Gary Williams and Steve Phillips of the Mad Dog Radio channel about coming to New York:

Gary Williams: “There are a lot of new staffs and, obviously, there’s an opening with the Yankees. Steve was effusive in praising you. Have you been contacted? I know you want back in. Any job in particular that is of interest to you?”


Leo Mazzone: “Yeah, there certainly is. And it has New York in front of it, too. I mean, it can be in the American League or the National League.”

Very interesting!

I also noticed that after Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell left Boston to become the Toronto Blue Jays manager, that they interviewed former Oakland Athletics pitching coach Curt Young, after Young left Oakland earlier this week. You know, back in the days of The Boss, George Steinbrenner might have swooped in to make Young a better offer, so he didn't go to Boston!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

So why is Brian Cashman giving Dave Eiland the old heave-ho?

Just heard the news, that Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland is out. Brian Cashman said he fired him, but wouldn't say what for. Instead, Cash said that the reasons were "private."

Chad Jennings of LoHud reports:

“It has nothing to do with what took place in the playoffs,” Cashman said.


Cashman said the decision is not based on performance. He labeled the reason as “private.”


“It was my decision,” Cashman said.

I could be wrong, but I can't say I remember hearing a coach's firing being explained as "private" before. Either they point to performance when getting rid of them, or they let the coach leave on his own with the old "wants to spend more time with his family" excuse. There's something strange here.

I wrote earlier today that I still want to know why Dave Eiland took that leave of absence this year -- nobody ever explained it. And him being gone from the team for a month sent A.J. Burnett into a downward spiral.

I  wonder what the deal is. I think there's some bigger story here, something the media has kept quiet until now. I think there is something going on that the team wants to keep private, but I wonder, now that Eiland is gone, if we'll hear what really happened.

So, who should replace Eiland? Some of my Facebook friends suggested Leo Mazzone, and another brought up Dave Righetti's name. Don't know what Rags' contract status is, but I hope the Yankees bring him home next year!

One other note: Wally Matthews is reporting that Cashman admitted to making mistakes last offseason. Wally writes on Twitter that Cashman said, "I didn't have a great winter last year. A lot of the things I did didn't benefit us." Gee, ya think?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

With Jorge Posada, do the Yankees have a brewing catcher controversy?

I was on Albany's Sound Off With Sinkoff radio show yesterday, and one of the things I told host Brian Sinkoff that I'm worried about regarding the Yankees these days is Jorge Posada's apparent inability to throw out baserunners anymore.

Remember, not only did the Red Sox steal four bases off him in the ninth inning in the last Yankees-Red Sox series at the Stadium, but they also had two double steals off him in the season finale, including the Sox's first steal of home since Jacoby Ellsbury did it against Posada and the Yankees last year.

Anyhow, New York Post columnist Joel Sherman had some interesting stats about Posada today:

The Red Sox failed to make the playoffs, but they do get this concession prize: Their going-away gift for the 2010 campaign was showing the rest of the postseason field how to bedevil their most hated rival:

Run on Jorge Posada and then run some more.

Boston went 18-for-18 stealing bases against Posada this year and 44 out of 61 against every other opponent. The Red Sox all but handed their scouting report to playoff teams late in the year, going 16-for-16 against Posada over five games from Aug. 9 until the final game of the season. In that span, Boston had games of four, five and six steals. Only one other time in the last two years had the Red Sox successfully stolen even four bases against any other team.


Were you watching Minnesota? Did you see how the Red Sox grew more brazen and Posada’s throws even more scattered and unappealing?

An aside -- this is why I find Joel Sherman such a frustrating columnist. He'll do all sorts of whiny, overwrought analysis, then he'll do a great fact-based, original column like this to make you think. These stats are really illuminating, as is the fact that Posada had 72 bases stolen against him this year in 83 games, and only caught 15% of baserunners. That caught-stealing rate is the worst of his career.


Anyhow, it gets worse. Here are some quotes Sherman got yesterday (emphasis added):

But pitching coach Dave Eiland said the flaw was not Posada’s alone, insisting the staff “had a lack of concentration (on the running game) down the stretch. We haven’t paid attention the way we should.” 

Posada went further in assessing blame, saying, “They ran on the pitching. There was not an opportunity to get any of those guys.”

I don't know what's worse -- Eiland blaming this problem on the pitchers not having their head in the game, or Posada throwing his batterymates under the bus like he did, and failing to take any responsibility. Good grief.

Unless Posada was pretending to not throw the Sox out, to make it look like his arm was shot (remember Brian Cashman saying that the Yanks were holding back their big plays), this is really bad news for the Yankees. And Francisco Cervelli hasn't been any great shakes behind the dish this year, either -- he has 13 errors and has only thrown out 14% of baserunners.

It's possible that it is indeed partly the pitchers' fault, which makes one wonder why they don't have their head in the game. But for Posada to refuse to take one bit of blame is a bit much. When the Sox double-steal on you twice in one game, you just might have a little something to do with it.


What do you think? Tell us about it!