The Yankees will promote Alan Cockrell into the head hitting coach job and Marcus Thames will be brought on to be his assistant, according to George King of The Post. Cockrell and Jeff Pentland tag-teamed the hitting coach duties this season before Pentland was let go last month.
Thames, 38, is a former big league player who broke in with the Yankees back in 2002. After a 10 year career that spanned four teams, he was hired in 2013 to be the hitting coach for the Class-A Tampa Yankees. He moved on to Trenton in 2014, and ultimately Scranton this season. Thames was in the mix last season for the big league job.
Elsewhere in the coaching staff, bench coach Rob Thomson and first base coach Tony Pena saw their contracts expire on Oct. 31, but there’s no indication they won’t be back with the team. Bullpen coach Gary Tuck will not be returning, so a reunion with former Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey could be in store. Harkey was recently fired by the Diamondbacks as the pitching coach.
