On the heels of his second season as the Yankees’ hitting coach, James Rowson is garnering interest for an elevated post.
The Yankees have granted the Twins permission to speak with Rowson about their vacant managerial position, league sources confirmed to noti.group’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman on Tuesday.
Rowson, who oversaw the highest-scoring offense in the majors this season, previously served as the Twins’ hitting coach from 2017-19.
The upbeat, well-regarded 49-year-old remains a popular figure in Minnesota, as he spent plenty of time catching up with members of his former organization when the Yankees visited Target Field in September.
Former Pirates manager Derek Shelton and Red Sox bench coach Ramon Vazquez are among the other candidates for the job, which opened up when the Twins fired Rocco Baldelli following their 70-92 season.
Before joining Aaron Boone’s staff ahead of the 2024 season, Rowson also served as the Marlins’ bench coach under Don Mattingly from 2020-22.
As the Twins hitting coach, he worked with the 2019 team known as the Bomba Squad that crushed an MLB record 307 home runs (which the Braves tied in 2023).
Rowson, a Mount Vernon native, has plenty of fans in the Yankees clubhouse, including Aaron Judge, who first worked with him when Rowson was the organization’s minor league hitting coordinator.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
