Photo courtesy of the MSG.com
Brian Cashman said something interesting in an interview yesterday with WFANs Mike Francesa that may shed some light on why pitching coach Dave Eiland was let go. Here’s the audio:
MF:”How about Burnett, how do you feel about him going forward?”
BC:”All the ability is there. He has a complicated delivery, there were some things that took place this year that hopefully wont be a part of it going forward. He’s healthy, he’s certainly capable. I think there were a lot of things around AJ this year that won’t be a part of it next year. He’ll be back, he’ll be in the rotation and quite honestly I think you’ll see a much better version that what you’ve saw from June on. “
As I’m sure Yankee fans recall, Dave Eiland took an early June leave of absence for what was described at the time as ‘personal reasons’. Much was made at the time about how much AJ missed Dave Eiland, and over his next 5 starts he gave up 29 Runs in just 23.0 IP, ballooning his ERA from a respectable 3.72 to an ugly 5.25. It appears the Yanks were ready to part ways with Eiland (whose contract had expired) if, for whatever reason, he can’t meet his obligations to the team. The Yanks appear to think that his personal issues affected the ballclub by way of his absence, and therefore they need to find a replacement who can give them a 9-10 month annual commitment to be there.
In a column for NJ.com, Bob Klapisch adds more fuel to this speculative fire. He writes:
Cashman always liked Eiland but regarded the coach’s off-the-field issues as a potential liability in 2011, just as they were in 2010. It was during Eiland’s self-imposed, month long exile that A.J. Burnett lost his way; he, too, became a black hole and Cashman couldn’t take a chance on that happening again next year.
There’s so much mystery surrounding Dave Eiland’s dismissal and his mid season departure from the team that we’re forced to piece things together to find some answers. As with Burnett’s mysterious black eye in September, we are left with far more questions than answers. If this is the explanation for letting Dave go, don’t expect Eiland’s replacement to come from within. Bullpen Coach Mike Harkey filled in for Eiland while he was gone, and didn’t keep AJ from getting off track.
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6 Responses to Did Eiland take the fall for Burnett?
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TIQ IQ
If true, this is pretty weak and. par for the course with AJ. He needs his own personal catcher, and now a good man gets fired on his behalf.
How is it AJ’s fault? He gets blamed for having lots of excuses, but he is never the one making them. The organization is making the excuses. He’s said on many occasions that he has no problem pitching to Jorge, and he praised Eiland on many occasions. The organization needs to stop babying him, if the AJ stuff is what got Eiland fired.
I don’t disagree. By “weak” I’m referring to how this is being handled, not AJ himself. As I’ve said before in various posts, he is who he is as a 2-pitch pitcher.
I think it probably has more to do with the failure of Joba and Kennedy to make it into the Yankee rotation and the step back in peripheral numbers and effectiveness of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Javier Vazquez. Of the Yankees 5 starting pitchers on opening day all had worse numbers from the previous year but 2 and 1 of this is Hughes who had no season to compare to because it was his first full year starting and the other was a vet of all vets Andy Pettitte.
I’m willing to be AJ has next to nothing to do with it. If that were true, why wouldn’t they have replaced Eiland in season?
With who?