There’s some mystery surrounding the Yankees parting ways with pitching coach Dave Eiland.
Last week Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com reported that he was fired due to a falling out with Joe Girardi, but Eiland called that “absolutely ridiculous and simply not true” while being effusive in his praise of the Yankees’ manager.
At the same time Eiland declined to comment on the reasons behind his firing and general manager Brian Cashman has merely said that it’s a “private” matter.
Eiland took a 25-day leave of absence for personal reasons in June and Murray Chass--who was once a columnist for the New York Times and is now a schlub blogger like the rest of us--suggests that has everything to do with the move:Cashman refused to say why he fired Eiland, but he apparently was being honest when he said it had nothing to do with the team’s pitching. The dismissal, as it turns out, stemmed from the 25-day leave of absence Eiland was granted in June. Neither the coach nor the Yankees said why Eiland took the leave other than to say it was to take care of a personal matter.
The matter was serious enough that the Yankees told him he could return to his job as long as he didn’t resume any of the activities that led to his leave of absence. He didn’t adhere to the agreement and was fired. No one has spelled out those activities, and I will refrain from speculating.
Chass has done the whole “I will refrain from speculating” thing before, like all the times he’s blogged about Mike Piazza’s back acne and accused the catcher of steroid use without actually accusing him ... all years after he failed to ever mention it in the New York Times.
In this case it’s equally easy to read between the lines and figure out what Chass is saying about Eiland, which is why his “I will refrain from speculating” claim is so silly. If you know something, either say it or don’t say it. Saying it in such a way that allows you to claim you didn’t say it ... well, that’s just bad blogging.