The Wages of Sin, Part II

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The Yankees Finalize Their Coaching Staff -- Donnie Baseball is the sole coaching holdover, joined by Larry Bowa at third, Lee Mazzilli on the bench, Joe Kerrigan in the bullpen, Ron Guidry as the pitching coach, and Tony Pena as the first base coach.

I guess the "wages of sin" part here pertains to Pena, one of my odd favorites from the 80's. Pena was a hacker with a bit of pop, and he never played for a team I rooted for. Yet he was one of the most unique receivers I've ever laid my eyes on, and the type of guy you could see was really working with his pitchers during games.

Pena quit his managing job in Kansas City under a bit of a cloud, being named as the other man in a divorce suit by a former neighbor. He joins the Yankees staff as a catching coach/pep talker/Latino embassador. It'll be fun seeing him in pinstripes, but the overall makeup of the coaching staff smells like trouble brewing.

Joe Torre is now surrounded by former managers--everyone but Mattingly and Guidry has been at the helm of a ballclub in the last five years. In previous years, there were no recent former managers on staff. The opportunitities for backstabbing are astounding. With Guidry an unknown quantity, will Kerrigan try to jump in the second the Yanks go through their first pitching-induced losing streak? If the team has an April and May like last year, do Bowa, Mazzilli, Pena, and Kerrigan start jockeying for position to take Torre's place?

Only the shadow knows.