Yankees hire Brad Ausmus as bench coach

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Brad Ausmus, the former manager of the Tigers and Angels, was hired by the Yankees for their bench coaching role on Tuesday, the team announced.

The position opened when Carlos Mendoza, the Yankees’ bench coach the past four years, was hired as the Mets manager.

Ausmus was a 48th-round draft pick of the Yankees in 1987, but he never played in the majors for the organization before he was selected by the Rockies in the 1992 expansion draft.

The Connecticut native had an 18-year playing career with four teams, winning three Gold Glove awards behind the plate for the Astros in 2001, 2002 and 2006.

He previously was named an American League All-Star with Detroit in 1999.

Ausmus also managed the Tigers from 2014-17, winning the AL Central in his first season with a 90-72 record before an ALDS elimination by the Orioles.

When Billy Eppler was the Angels’ general manager, he also hired Ausmus, who lasted just one season in the position, 2019, when the team went 72-90.

The 54-year-old Ausmus will be Boone’s third bench coach with the Yankees, following Josh Bard and Mendoza, but the first with previous big-league managerial experience .

The Yankees also interviewed Andrew Bailey, who took the Red Sox pitching coach job.

They also reached out to former Cubs manager David Ross, who declined the opportunity to interview for the position.

GM Brian Cashman said last week at a Covenant House appearance that Boone would “carry the weight” on the bench-coach decision.

“We lost a good one in Mendy. The Mets got a really good one,” Cashman said. “But it just comes down to having someone that Boone wants next to him on that bench that can clearly run spring training, but more importantly, in-game strategies because the game moves really fast.”

“So somebody who obviously is gonna be there to support the manager and take a lot off his plate because there’s so many departments to communicate with. This individual is the collector of all information and organizes it for Boonie, so it’s not an easy job.”

— Additional reporting by Peter Botte

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