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Yankees reassign Nardi Contreras, hire Gil Patterson as minor league pitching coordinator

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Via the NY Post: The Yankees have reassigned minor league pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras and replaced him with Gil Patterson. Patterson has held the same role with the Athletics since 2008 and he’s had a number of coaching stints in the New York system dating back to the mid-80s. The Yankees interviewed Patterson for their pitching coach job before hiring Larry Rothschild in 2010. Contreras had been the club’s minor league pitching coordinator since 2005.

Between this move and the recent Billy Connors firing, it seems pretty obvious that the Yankees are not happy with how their minor league pitchers are developing, and they shouldn’t be. The only starting pitcher to really reach his ceiling under their watch in the last 10-15 years was Chien-Ming Wang. We all focus on the draft and international signings and all that, but acquiring talented amateur players means little if you can’t develop them properly. The Yankees have really struggled with their young pitchers in recent years, so change was in order.

Yankees to interview Patterson on Thursday

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Via Sam Borden, the Yankees plan to interview Athletics pitching coordinator Gil Patterson for their vacant pitching coach position on Thursday. As far as we know, this is the first formal interview the team has conducted in the two-plus weeks since cutting Dave Eiland loose. Oakland has already granted the Yanks permission to speak to Patterson, who served several stints as a coach in New York’s minor league coaches system. I’m kinda surprised they have hired someone yet, but there’s nothing wrong with being thorough.

Report: Yanks to speak with Gil Patterson about pitching coach vacancy

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Via Mark Feinsand, Athletics pitching coordinator Gil Patterson has received permission from his team to speak with the Yankees about their vacant pitching coach position. Patterson has coached in the Yanks’ minor league system a few times, most recently 2005-2006, and according to B-Ref he was fired in 1984 for refusing to let Al Leiter pitch with a sore arm. Imagine that.

Anyway, the Yankees are obviously familiar with Patterson and he’s familiar with them, so it’s no surprise that he’s the first outside-the-organization name we heard about. Make sure you check out this 2006 profile by Tyler Kepner, that’s some great stuff.