Fans of the New York Yankees are still in shock over the defending champs quietly-into-the-night finish in the 2010 ALCS. And while there are the Knicks to look forward to, the true pinstripe die-hards are already focusing an eye on what looks to be a busy offseason.
The first move was made yesterday, as General Manager Brian Cashman announced that pitching coach Dave Eiland will not have his expiring contract renewed, and the team intends to look elsewhere for the pitching coach position in 2011.
Cashman went out of his way in mentioning to the media that Eiland was “not being blamed for…how bad (the Yankees) pitched.”
“I can honestly tell you that,” Cashman reiterated when pressed for an explanation for Eiland’s departure. The GM said several times he was “not going to comment on what the reasons are.”
Yanks fans are left wondering, if Eiland wasn’t being blamed for the failures of AJ Burnett, Javier Vazquez and Joba Chamberlain (to name a few), then why is he being fired? The only other black splotch on the guys resume was the fact that he disappeared for a month in the middle of the summer. From the NY Post:
"At the root of the problem could be Eiland's unexplained 25-day absence from the team in June. No public reason was ever given...but there is a belief around the organization the absence did not go over well with the front office.
Well, yeah, that’ll do it. you can’t just take an entire month off in the middle of the season.
Had the Bronx bombers found a way to repeat as World Champs, Eiland’s month-long-disappearance may have gone overlooked. But when the New York Yankees fall just two wins short of the World Series, someone’s gonna get punished. In this case it was Eiland, the guy who thought June was a good time for a baseball manager to take a vacation.
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