6:21 PM UTC
NEW YORK — Over a dozen years playing in the big leagues, Sean Casey was heralded for his consistent production at the plate, as well as a genial nature that endeared him to teammates and earned one of baseball’s all-time nicknames: “The Mayor.”
The Yankees are about to find out if those skills will translate to their hitters. Casey has agreed to finish the season as the Bombers’ hitting coach, according to the New York Post. The Yankees have not officially announced the hiring.
Casey, who has no previous coaching experience, had been a longtime studio analyst for MLB Network. The move echoes the hiring of manager Aaron Boone, who had never coached or managed at any level before being installed as manager prior to the 2018 season.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Sunday that he was seeking a replacement from outside the organization, and indicated that the new candidate would have a good relationship with Boone. Casey and Boone were teammates with the Reds in 1999.
“I would never hire someone that our manager, Aaron Boone, isn’t in lockstep and in line with,” Cashman said. “It’s going to be someone that he is going to be comfortable with, because he’s on that front line and he knows our players better than anybody else.”
Cashman said that he intends for the new hitting coach to be in place when the Yankees resume play on Friday against the Rockies in Denver.
A three-time All-Star, Casey slashed .302/.367/.447 with 130 home runs and 735 RBIs for Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Boston from 1997-2008.
Casey, 49, will be tasked with improving the output of a Yankees offense that ranks near the bottom of the league in batting average (.231, tied for 28th), hits (690, 29th) and on-base percentage (.300, 26th).
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had pretty consistently high levels of offensive production,” Cashman said. “This year has been a completely different story. Ultimately, the end results are not that Yankees DNA that we’re used to seeing.”
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