Eric Hinske Is Among Candidates to Replace Eric Chavez on Yankees' Coaching Staff
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Although the Yankees finalized their coaching staff last month, they still have one more position to fill after Eric Chavez bolted for a promotion with the Mets on Jan. 6.
Chavez, 44, was initially hired to be one of the Yankees’ assistant hitting coaches to Dillon Lawson ahead of the 2022 season. However, Chavez’s good friend, Mets general manager Billy Eppler, offered him a higher gig as the main hitting coach in Queens, which was an offer the former six-time Gold Glove third baseman could not refuse. Chavez will join ex-Yankees manager Buck Showalter’s staff in his first season as the Mets’ dugout leader.
As for replacement candidates, the Yankees could go the route of bringing back another one of their former players to fill this role.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, retired infielder/outfielder Eric Hinske is well liked within the organization and is currently one of the candidates that is in the mix to assume their assistant hitting coach vacancy.
The Yankees acquired Hinske in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates ahead of the deadline in 2009, and he went on to serve as a bench piece for their World Series Championship team. Hinske slugged seven home runs and produced an .828 OPS in 39 games as a Yankee. He was also included on both the ALDS and World Series roster, earning the second ring of his playing career.
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Since retiring from baseball after the 2013 season, Hinske rejoined the Yankees as a scout and is credited for convincing catcher Brian McCann to sign with the team. After one month on the job, the Cubs hired Hinske as their first base coach. He was later promoted to assistant hitting coach after the 2014 season, which is a role he served in until the end of the 2017 campaign. During this span, Hinske helped the Cubs capture a World Series title in 2016.
During the 2017-2018 offseason, Eppler, the Angels’ GM at the time, hired Hinske to be the team’s main hitting coach. But Hinske would be replaced by Jeremy Reed after just one season. From there, Hinske joined the Diamondbacks as their assistant hitting coach in 2019, before getting let go in June of last season.
Hinske played for the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Rays, Pirates, Yankees, Braves and Diamondbacks throughout 12 big-league seasons from 2002 to 2013. During his career, he won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in ’02, hit 137 home runs, drove in 522 RBI and posted a .762 OPS in 1,387 games. He also won two rings as a player and one as a coach later on.
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