Among the many items on Brian Cashman’s off-season to-do list is hiring a new pitching coach to replace Dave Eliand, and the Bats blog at the Times outlines the system Cashman has devised to test those interviewing for the position. On the first day of the two-day process, Cashman will screen a specially designed DVD of Yankees pitchers and opposing batters — one that includes things the team wants candidates to notice, be it a pitcher’s awkward arm angle or an inconsistent landing spot. (One imagines that A.J. Burnett will be the star of said video.) Then as part of the interview on day two, they’ll be tested on what they saw, and if they fail to spot certain points that Cashman and Joe Girardi consider important, it could eliminate them from consideration.
Cashman explains that the Yankees won’t let the candidates take the video home with them. Says the GM: “I don’t want to put them in a position where they can have someone in their hometown wherever they live, if there are some real good baseball people, and say, ‘Hey, what do you think of this? Can you give me your views on this?’ ” You can never be too safe, we suppose, but here’s the real question: Who are these local baseball gurus, and how do they apply for the job?
Yanks’ Search for Pitching Coach Starts in Video Room [Bats/NYT]