The Yankees made the hiring of Brad Ausmus as their next bench coach official on Tuesday night, and C-Mac sees Carlos Mendoza’s replacement as a candidate to take over for Aaron Boone if need be.
“This is a major league player, catcher, played for many years, knows the game, has managerial experience,” C-Mac said. “This is a clear-cut guy they can go to at some point over the course of the year to step in for Aaron Boone.
“This is a legitimate guy who has managerial experience, no ties to Boone, where if Aaron Boone - if this team doesn’t play well to start…falls flat - I do think, legitimately now, they have a clear-cut guy you can easily transition to.”
Ausmus has managed the Tigers and Angels, and was most recently the A’s bench coach in 2022. So he hasn’t been a part of many successful teams in a coaching or managerial capacity, but was never provided the kind of roster that the Yankees have. With Boone coming off the Yankees’ worst season in over 30 years, C-Mac believes if the Yanks are forced to make a change, they now have someone who could take over.
“I think this clearly a step in the ‘Let’s have someone there with a different point of view,’” C-Mac said. “Someone who can step in with managerial experience who can take over if things go poorly for Boone.”