I've seen a lot of people complaining about Kevin Long and Dave Eiland being involved with the two teams that made the World Series. I'm here to tell you that this happens all the time and it doesn't really mean anything. The Yankees weren't doing well with either of them on the payroll, so whatever Long has done for the Mets and Eiland has done for the Royals 1) might be overstated, and 2) means nothing for the Yankees' decisions. As Jeff Pentland put it when he first came aboard "I'm only a good hitting coach if we have good players," and now both coaches are on great teams. While it hurts to see both find success elsewhere, it's not the first time the team has let a coach go and seen him find success elsewhere.
Brian Butterfield started out as a minor league coach in the Yankees system during the early 80s, early 90s, as well as the early 2000s after a stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He left the organization and would eventually go on to become the infield coach for the 2013 Boston Red Sox, helping Mike Napoli adjust to first base, and winning a ring. Tony Cloninger, who served as bullpen coach for the Yankees from 1992-2001, went on to be the pitching coach for the 2002 and 2003 Red Sox. After stepping down for health reasons, he has served as a player development consultant for the organization ever since–that includes the 2004, 2007, and 2013 championship seasons.
While the Rays have yet to win a World Series, their recent string of success can be attributed to some former Yankees personnel. Of course we all know that after serving as the Yankees bench coach from 1996-2003, Don Zimmer became an advisor to the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays until his death in 2014. In his time with the organization, they went on to win two AL East titles, reach the playoffs four times in six years, and won an American League Pennant. Former Yankees bullpen coach and minor league pitching coach Neil Allen was also hired by the Rays in 2007. He had previously worked in New York's system and was recognized for helping Chien-Ming Wang develop into the pitcher he (briefly) was. He served in a similar role with the Rays as the organization went on to product talent like David Price, Chris Archer, Jake McGee, Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, and Wade Davis.
Buck Showalter resided over a team on the verge of greatness. He led the Yankees back to the playoffs in 1995 and just when they were on the fringe of success, they replaced him with Joe Torre for the 1996 season and the rest was history. Showalter went on to become the Arizona Diamondback's first manager, leading them into relevance, but he was again replaced the season before they would go on to win the World Series. While he has yet to win his own ring, he has been named Manager of the Year in 2004 and 2014, leading the D-Backs to the 1999 NL West title and the Orioles to the 2012 American League Wild Card.
Even Joe Torre and Don Mattingly went on to have success outside the Yankees organization. Both left for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008 and the team won two division titles under Torre and three under Mattingly. Now Donnie is heading to Miami to serve as the next manager for the Marlins. With the amount of talent they have on that team, it might not be too surprising to see them make the playoffs in the near future. Now imagine things the other way, how do Cardinals fans feel after Torre went on to win all those titles after his time in St. Louis?
It's incredibly hard to quantify what any of these people did for the Yankees during their tenure here, or what they have done for their new teams, but it can be hard to accept a coach or player finding success somewhere else. The thing is, though, I can't remember a single time Dave Eiland spoke about what he did for his pitchers, and while that might not mean much, Larry Rothschild certainly seems like a superior pitching coach. Kevin Long might not be to blame for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, but it seemed like they needed a fresh perspective. It's not that either of them offered up some kind of advice that made their hitters hit or pitchers pitch, they were just lucky to be picked up by two teams at the right time. That's really it. Just remember to hold onto your convictions and don't change your mind just because they're in the World Series. Remember how you felt when they were here. There's no going back now, but whatever happens, the Yankees didn't make a mistake.