ARLINGTON, Texas — According to Dave Eiland and two high-ranking Yankee sources, the former pitching coach and manager Joe Girardi never had a falling out, and his role wasn’t de-emphasized upon returning from almost a month away from the team to deal with a personal family issue.
An ESPN report stated Girardi and Eiland, who was let go this past week, had a falling out.
“It is ridiculous and not true,” Eiland told The Post. “Joe and I never had a problem, nor do we now. There are no hard feelings in the organization. Joe is a good baseball man, a great manager and one of the best human beings I ever met.”
Other sources also shot down the story.
“That’s so wrong it’s embarrassing,” a Yankees official said of the ESPN report.
“Never happened,” another chimed in. “Totally false.”
While the hunt is on for Eiland’s replacement, every other Yankee coach’s contract expires today.
That includes bullpen coach Mike Harkey, a candidate to take over as the pitching coach.
While the remainder of Girardi’s staff is expected back, nothing is certain until agreements are reached and new deals aren’t going to be in place before the old ones expire.
Hitting coach Kevin Long has drawn interest from other clubs but is expected to return. Ditto bench coach Tony Pena, third base coach Rob Thomson and first base coach Mick Kelleher. If Harkey isn’t the pitching coach he is expected to return in the pen.
A popular theory inside the organization is that Harkey will replace Eiland and Josh Paul, who managed Staten Island this past season, will be the bullpen coach.
Harkey, the bullpen coach for the past three seasons, is familiar with the pitchers, who spoke well of Harkey when Eiland was gone.
Harkey has seven years of minor league pitching coach experience but has never been a big league pitching mentor.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching coach Scott Aldred will get an interview.
Rick Kranitz, the Orioles’ pitching coach last year who has been told he can look for work, was Girardi’s pitching coach with the Marlins.
Carl Willis, who finished the season as Seattle’s pitching coach, could be a candidate if not retained by new manager Eric Wedge, who had Willis as his pitching coach in Cleveland.
Two names that won’t be coming are Brad Arnsberg and Rick Peterson. Arnsberg, who had A.J. Burnett in Florida and Toronto, signed a two-year deal after the season to stay in Houston. Peterson, the former Mets pitching coach, has one more year on a deal in Milwaukee.
Houston is searching for a hitting coach and might be interested in Butch Wynegar, the Yankees’ Triple-A hitting coach. The Astros would need permission to talk to the former catcher, and as of yesterday, hadn’t asked for it.