Yankees' Rachel Balkovec headed to Miami Marlins as player development director
Rachel Balkovec worked a minor-league hitting instructor for the Yankees in 2020 and 2021 before being promoted to manager of their Low-A affiliate in Tampa in 2022. Credit: New York Yankees
Rachel Balkovec, who with the Yankees became the first woman to be a full-time manager for a major league-affiliated team, has joined the Marlins as director of player development, according to reports.
She served as manager of the Tampa Tarpons, the Yankees' Low-A affiliate, from 2022 to 2023.
Balkovec, 36, has been a trailblazer throughout her career. She was the first woman to serve as a full-time hitting coach in an MLB organization and the first female full-time strength and conditioning coach in affiliated baseball.
Last June, Balkovec told the "Foul Territory" show that her goal was to become a general manager within the next 10 years. "My goal is definitely — will lead me to a front-office role sooner rather than later," she said, noting that in the current baseball landscape, general managers have a larger sphere of influence. "I want to be the head coach and I think the head coach, in many cases, is more the general manager than it is the manager."
Balkovec, a former college softball player, has two master's degrees — one in kinesiology and another in human movement sciences.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
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