IS KEVIN LONG ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK?

It feels like we revisit this every year. Maybe he is. Some fans want him to go. Several beat writers I follow on Twitter say it is "ridiculous" to blame Kevin Long for the Yankees offensive struggles. No matter which stance you have on this, it is a debate that just doesn't seem to go away.

I do like Kevin Long. I have listened to him say some things and nod my head and say "Yes! Exactly. I agree." But then there are also other times that I shake my head and say "What the heck are you talking about? Really? What kind of answer is that?!" It's a love / hate relationship I guess. It is the best way I can describe it.

I know that he has talent and he can talk all day long about mechanics and improving a players swing. I still think that Curtis Granderson is his best transformation. Before 2011 he couldn't hit lefties, it just wasn't his strength. Kevin Long helped change that. But right now the bad seems to outweigh the good.

I believe that Kevin Long is in the hot seat and for more than one reason. Kevin Long has recently pulled the old "open mouth insert foot" trick. At least, that is how I see it. We wrote about it in KEVIN LONG IS IN THE HOT SEAT because not only are the Yankees not hitting....but Long is giving unsolicited comments regarding Mark Teixeira that clearly made Brian Cashman irritated. He has enough on his plate already, so giving Cashman more topics to discuss is probably not the way to go. I don't know if it is just me but I think that if I were in his shoes and my team was not hitting and losing momentum in their division then I would not go suggesting things like this. I would probably want to keep to myself and focus on the job at hand which is to get the team hitting! Put down the microphone, as Cashman eluded.

Add that losing streak featuring that non-existent offense to a loaded statement and there could be fireworks in the making, and I am not talking about the ones you will be watching over the holiday. The team wasn't hitting for a while. Now they are, but does it have anything to do with Kevin Long? It's as simple as that. Sure, the sweep against the Twins have been nice to see. No offense to the Twins but....they aren't the Orioles or the Red Sox. It is good to see four wins in a row, but until we can do that against our division rivals and crawl our way out of third place I am not going to throw a party yet.

The pressure is mounting, and I think his quick retort is a good example of that because he is searching for the positives, read his words HERE. But those examples may not keep him in the Bronx after this year. His contract expires at the end of the season....and if this team continues down this path he will be another hitting coach on the "dismissed" list. I remember how frustrated I felt after the ALCS last year. We needed to vent here, so we wrote NOW IT'S TIME FOR A LONG WINTER'S NAP... and if we write a similar piece this year then it will be hard to ignore the facts, because we don't want to write the same story two years in a row.

I don't blame Joe Girardi, or Yankee brass for this. These guys are all major league hitters and sure, they will figure it out eventually but if Kevin Long can't find the flaws and help these guys fix them then that is the real issue. Repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result is nothing short of insanity. Not fixing the issue helps our rivals exploit our weaknesses. We have to make adjustments one way or another.

This is just my take anyway. It feels like we write this story a lot....so what do you think? Tell us.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ

 


The Bleeding Yankee Blue store is opened! CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING! Also, follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.