he New York Yankees will have James Rowson back for the 2026 MLB season.

Rowson was a finalist for the Minnesota Twins managerial post, yet he will reportedly remain in his role as New York hitting coach after Minnesota hired Derek Shelton as its manager Wednesday.

Rowson has been the Yankees hitting coach each of the past two seasons after he took over for Sean Casey — the interim hitting coach who replaced Dillon Lawson who was fired amid the Yankees’ 82-80 season.

With Rowson leading the hitting, the Yankees have made the postseason in consecutive years and led the majors in runs (849) and home runs (274) in 2025.

James Rowson Has Helped The Yankees Offense Over His Two Seasons

The Yankees offense was a major factor in their successful season, led by another MVP-caliber season from Aaron Judge.

Lost amid the starting-pitching dominance, and shortstop Anthony Volpe’s struggles with inconsistency and amid a shoulder injury, the Yankees got career years from infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and outfielder Trent Grisham.

The Yankees were expected to regress after losing outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Mets. But led by Judge, Chisholm, Grisham (34 homers), Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and first baseman Ben Rice, the Yankees finished with a team OPS of .787.

Judge and Rowson have long had a good relationship, and the Yankees captain vouched for the 49-year-old career minor leaguer’s marriage of data, video and common-sense approach for major-league hitters.

“He gets the side of the analytics and the swing mechanics, the biomechanics of your swing,” Judge told The Athletic in 2024. “But he also understands game planning and being in the box, and what it means to stand in the box when you’re really facing 98 mph with some sink and a nasty slider.”

Rowson’s approach involves strong communication, which is likely the reason he was being considered for a managerial job.

James Rowson’s Return Means Much Of Aaron Boone’s Staff Will Remain In Tact

Lost amid the Yankees’ four-game ALDS exit to the eventual American League champion Toronto Blue Jays was the fact they finished the season with the same number of wins as the Jays — even though Toronto won the tiebreaker and earned home-field advantage in the best-of-5 series.

So even though the Yankees regressed after winning the AL East and representing the AL in the World Series, they persevered through pitching injuries to get back to the postseason and defeat the Boston Red Sox in three games in the AL Wild Card Series.

So with manager Aaron Boone back at the helm, he’ll also have his bench coach (Brad Ausmus), plus his hitting and pitching coach (Matt Blake), which only builds continuity in the organization.

Plus, keeping Rowson also keeps him away from an American League rival in the Twins, against whom, of course, the Yankees have dominated both in the regular season and postseason.

Between that, and the return of assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel from the Mets, the Yankees have tweaked their coaching staff enough — by moving on from Travis Chapman and Mike Harkey — without adversely affecting Boone and the organizational plan.