SWEET 'CHILD O' MINE
Yankees pitching coach will stick no matter who comes on to manage
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Yankees will have a new manager but will keep continuity with at least the same pitching coach. Larry Rothschild is going to fill the position for whoever replaces Joe Girardi, The Post has learned.
Rothschild has been the Yankees pitching coach since 2011, replacing Dave Eiland, who this offseason was named the Mets pitching coach.
The Yankees front office always has valued Rothschild’s ability to blend analytics with hands-on work with the staff.
In 2017, the Yankees finished with the majors’ fifth-best ERA at 3.72, and Rothschild oversaw the rebound of Luis Severino from despair in 2016 to Cy Young candidate this year, as well as the emergence of Jordan Montgomery and the reinvention of CC Sabathia.
It remains possible other members of the previous coaching staff, notably bench coach Rob Thomson and assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames, ultimately could be retained as well. Thomson interviewed for the managing position and still is in play to succeed Girardi.
Nevertheless, after his interview, Thomson mentioned his long association with the Yankees and wanting to stay with the organization even if he did not get the managing job. The Yankees value him for myriad reasons, including the fact that he organizes spring training annually.
The Yanks also could look to their minor league ranks to fill coaching spots with candidates such as Jay Bell, Josh Paul and Reggie Willits possibilities.
Last offseason, the Twins “did not try to build a championship-caliber bullpen,” general manager Thad Levine said, because the front office did not believe that is where they were in the cycle.
But by winning the second wild card, Minnesota sped up its timetable. Levine said it is unlikely the club can match the “four giants in the AL right now,” meaning the Astros, Indians, Red Sox and Yankees; however, they should be in play again for a wild card in 2018 as long as they make improvements to the pitching staff — bullpen and rotation.
Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson and Ervin Santana are the only starters assured of jobs next year, and Levine corroborated what Jon Heyman of FanRag first reported — that the team is openminded about even the top of the starting market. He did not mention names, but that includes Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta and Alex Cobb.
“Our conversations with [owner] Jim Pohlad and the Pohlad family is that they expect us to let them know the expected cost for free agents and not in one specific tier,” Levine said. “We are going to be surveying the entire freeagent market.”