How about Leo Mazzone as the Yankees -- or even the Mets -- pitching coach?

As soon as I heard the other day about Dave Eiland getting the old heave-ho as Yankees pitching coach, I wondered if Leo Mazzone would want to throw his baseball cap into the ring for the job. And guess what -- he does! He wants to bring his rocking motions -- and coaching skills -- to the Big Apple.

I just got this info from Sirius XM about Mazzone's appearance today on their network. Mazzone spoke with  Gary Williams and Steve Phillips of the Mad Dog Radio channel about coming to New York:

Gary Williams: “There are a lot of new staffs and, obviously, there’s an opening with the Yankees. Steve was effusive in praising you. Have you been contacted? I know you want back in. Any job in particular that is of interest to you?”


Leo Mazzone: “Yeah, there certainly is. And it has New York in front of it, too. I mean, it can be in the American League or the National League.”

Very interesting!

I also noticed that after Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell left Boston to become the Toronto Blue Jays manager, that they interviewed former Oakland Athletics pitching coach Curt Young, after Young left Oakland earlier this week. You know, back in the days of The Boss, George Steinbrenner might have swooped in to make Young a better offer, so he didn't go to Boston!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

So why is Brian Cashman giving Dave Eiland the old heave-ho?

Just heard the news, that Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland is out. Brian Cashman said he fired him, but wouldn't say what for. Instead, Cash said that the reasons were "private."

Chad Jennings of LoHud reports:

“It has nothing to do with what took place in the playoffs,” Cashman said.


Cashman said the decision is not based on performance. He labeled the reason as “private.”


“It was my decision,” Cashman said.

I could be wrong, but I can't say I remember hearing a coach's firing being explained as "private" before. Either they point to performance when getting rid of them, or they let the coach leave on his own with the old "wants to spend more time with his family" excuse. There's something strange here.

I wrote earlier today that I still want to know why Dave Eiland took that leave of absence this year -- nobody ever explained it. And him being gone from the team for a month sent A.J. Burnett into a downward spiral.

I  wonder what the deal is. I think there's some bigger story here, something the media has kept quiet until now. I think there is something going on that the team wants to keep private, but I wonder, now that Eiland is gone, if we'll hear what really happened.

So, who should replace Eiland? Some of my Facebook friends suggested Leo Mazzone, and another brought up Dave Righetti's name. Don't know what Rags' contract status is, but I hope the Yankees bring him home next year!

One other note: Wally Matthews is reporting that Cashman admitted to making mistakes last offseason. Wally writes on Twitter that Cashman said, "I didn't have a great winter last year. A lot of the things I did didn't benefit us." Gee, ya think?

What do you think? Tell us about it!