Yankees' top coach lined up to challenge for other AL manager job

The New York Yankees may lose one of their top coaches to a different American League team.

James Rowson, who was the Yankees' hitting coach this season, has been given permission to interview for the manager job with the Minnesota Twins. The news was reported by Jon Heyman, Joel Sherman and Gary Phillips.

Rowson was previously the Twins' hitting coach, including in 2019 when they set an MLB record with 307 home runs.

In 2025, the Yankees led Major League Baseball with 849 runs in the regular season. They also had an MLB-best 274 home runs and 639 walks.

Rowson is originally from Mount Vernon in N.Y. and attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx.

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He was a ninth-round pick by the Mariners in the 1994 MLB Draft.

He spent time in both the Mariners and Yankees' minor-league systems before taking up coaching.

Rowson was the Yankees' minor-league hitting coordinator for six seasons, then took that job with the Chicago Cubs before becoming the Cubs' hitting coach.

The Twins hired Rowson before the 2017 season.

After the 2019 campaign, Rowson became the Miami Marlins' bench coach for three seasons. He spent the 2023 season as the Detroit Tigers' assistant hitting coach, and he's been the Yankees' hitting coach for the past two seasons.

Rowson may not leave, but he's clearly well thought of by a lot of teams, and so he's going to get opportunities.

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