Mike Francesa Slams Yankees GM For “Scapegoating” Former Hitting Coach 

According to WFAN radio host Mike Francesa, Brian Cashman fired hitting instructor Dillon Lawson in an effort to cover up his mistakes and save his position. He harshly lambasted the Yankees general manager, accusing him of firing Lawson unfairly and using him as a convenient fall guy for the team’s issues.

Mike Francesa Slams Yankees GM For “Scapegoating” Former Hitting Coach

Since the 2022 season, Dillon Lawson has served as the Yankees’ hitting coach. He was given this position after Marcus Thames was fired following the 2021 campaign. All of the Yankees organization’s lower leagues adhere to Lawson’s ideology.

In his 26 years as general manager, Brian Cashman has never dismissed a coach in the midst of the season, but it appears that he has had enough with Lawson.

Following the Yankees’ 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday in the Bronx to end the first half of the season, Lawson was relieved of his duties and later replaced by Sean Casey.

But Francesa pointed the finger at Cashman for the team’s offensive shortcomings.

This choice was made following the Yankees’ first half of the season, which ended with a 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs in The Bronx.

Mike Francesa, on the other hand, blamed Cashman directly for the team’s offensive difficulties.

“Really scapegoating the batting coach making an in-season change, which is extremely rare for the Yankees and their coaching staff,” he said on BetRivers podcast.

He noted how terrible their offensive play had been over the first half of the season, especially following Aaron Judge’s absence. The team felt obligated to act as a result and seek out accountability for their difficulties.

“Basically laying the blame somewhere. Their first-half performance, especially since Judge went out, has been so abysmal offensively that they had to do something, they had to blame somebody.

“But let’s be honest, let’s put the blame where it belongs and that is on the people that built the roster, and that starts with Cashman.”

The Yankees had a combined OPS of.710 as the All-Star break drew near, placing them 20th overall in Major League Baseball.

Mike Francesa underlined the value of being truthful and assigning blame to those in charge of creating the roster, with Brian Cashman serving as the key figure.

“Their offense is a joke and if you consider that a radical move to get rid of the batting instructor, give me a break,” Francesa said. “That’s a move to show you, ‘Hey we were proactive. We got rid of the batting instructor. We threw him out.’

“How many times did he fail in a big spot? None, because he’s not up. It’s not on him. He’s there to hold  people’s hands. … That’s not why the Yankees aren’t hitting.”

The club has also struggled with Aaron Judge out due to a toe injury, and Francesa chastised Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton for their underwhelming play in Judge’s absence.

“When they needed their two big other bats. Two big bats that you could call 30 home run bats, RBI guys, middle-of-the-order guys,” Francesa continued. “Guys who had to carry the team with Judge out, (Stanton and Rizzo) have both failed miserably.

During the first half of the year, the Yankees’ offensive numbers were ordinary or ranked near the bottom of the league. Following their loss on Sunday, the Yankees’ offense was ranked 28th in terms of batting average (.231), 26th in terms of on-base percentage (.300), and 19th in terms of runs (400).

“But the Yankees continue to thumb their nose at any progress.”

“So they fire the batting coach, what a joke.”

He added: You want to bring in a new batting instructor, go ahead. Who cares? You think that’s the answer? Try getting some hitters, that’s the answer.”

 

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