Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman met with the media this afternoon for their postmortem press conference, and Cashman announced that Dave Eiland wouldn’t be returning as the team’s pitching coach. Cashman said it was his decision, and called his reasoning “private.” He wouldn’t say if the decision not to retain Eiland had anything to do with the leave of absence the pitching coach took earlier in the season.
Some other notes from the press conference:
• Joe Girardi said that Andy Pettitte was dealing with leg and back injuries during the playoffs, and that the injuries contributed to the decision to start him in Game 3 of the ALCS as opposed to Game 2.
• Cashman said that the first order of business will be signing Girardi to a new contract, and that process will begin tomorrow. He said that the team wants to retain him, and that Girardi wants to return, as well.
• Girardi said that the Yankees would be active in the free agent pitching market, which you already knew. Cashman admitted that the rotation “became a weakness” as the season went on.
• Something else you already knew: The Yankees expect they’ll resign Derek Jeter.
• Girardi said that they consider Joba Chamberlain a back-of-the-bullpen reliever, ending the off-season “starter of reliever” debate before it begins.
• When asked if Jesus Montero was ready for the big leagues, Cashman said, “I have people who believe he is,” and that Montero will have to prove he’s ready.
• Cashman admitted he didn’t have a very good off-season, pointing to the acquisitions of Javier Vazquez and Nick Johnson. He described Johnson as a “Plan C,” saying that Johnny Damon was Plan A, and that Hideki Matsui would have been Plan B, but that he’d already signed with the Angels.
• Most importantly, Cashman revealed his Halloween costume: Nacho Libre. This needs to be photographed.