MLB

Yankees’ next hitting coach could be in Royals dugout

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There was serious speculation running through Kauffman Stadium before the Giants’ 3-2 victory over the Royals in Game 7 of the World Series that the Yankees were waiting for the end of the Series on Wednesday night to contact the Royals’ Raul Ibanez to gauge his interest in becoming their hitting coach.

While Ibanez was not on the active roster against the Giants, he was with the team serving as a wise head for the younger Royals to bounce ideas off and listen to. Royals manager Ned Yost has praised Ibanez’s leadership qualities throughout the postseason.

Asked last week if he would consider a coaching career, Ibanez said that was more in the future. But he wasn’t asked specifically about the Yankees’ job that opened when Kevin Long, a close friend of Ibanez, was fired after eight years with one season and approximately $700,000 remaining on a contract. Long landed with the Mets.

Ibanez is widely respected for his knowledge of hitting and an ability to communicate with players on the subject. However, since he has never been a hitting coach at any level there could be questions about whether he can handle the wide variety of chores attached to the position.

The Yankees interviewed Dave Magadan and Chili Davis for the job. Magadan was turned down and Davis opted to work in Boston. The Yankees reached out to Eric Hinske, who was the Cubs’ first-base coach last year, to see if he was interested and he wasn’t. Hinske, a Yankee in 2009, will be the Cubs’ assistant hitting coach.

In 2012, his only year with the Yankees, Ibanez batted .240 with 19 homers and 62 RBIs. In eight postseason games, he hit .269 (7-for-26) with three homers and five RBIs.

Across 19 big league seasons the 42-year-old left-handed hitter batted .272 with 305 homers, 1,207 RBIs and a .801 OPS. He played with the Mariners and Royals twice, the Angels and Phillies. Two years ago in Seattle, Ibanez batted .242 with 29 homers and 65 RBIs.

The Yankees are also in the market for a first-base coach with infield experience to replace Mick Kelleher who was let go with a year left on his deal.


Royals manager Ned Yost said he was proud of his team coming within 90 feet of tying Game 7, but there was a certain amount of sting to go with the crushing defeat.

“It hurts, you know, to come as close as we came in a one-run game and as magical as our run has been to end up losing the game by 90 feet is tough,’’ Yost said. “The hard part about this is that you work all year to climb to the top of the mountain and then, boom, you fall back and you have to start right back at the bottom again next year.’’

Alex Gordon’s two-out single in the ninth turned into trouble for the Giants when center fielder Gregor Blanco let it get by him, but Gordon was stranded at third when Madison Bumgarner got Salvador Perez to foul out.


Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-3 and scored twice in the clinching victory. In a dozen World Series games, the free agent has hit .426 (20-for-47) with eight RBIs. His batting average is third all-time among hitters with at least 40 at-bats.


The cap worn by Game 6 winner Yordano Ventura with a message to the late Oscar Taveras written on the front was collected by the Hall of Fame and will displayed in Cooperstown. The hat Ventura wore had the message “RIP #18 O.T.’’ on the front.