Yankees general manager Brian Cashman seems to be planning to keep Aaron Boone as manager for an eighth season and defended his team against criticism from Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, who had pointed out New York’s sloppy defensive play in the World Series.
“I’m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he’s a great manager and I think we’re lucky to have him,” Cashman said Tuesday at the general managers’ meetings.
Boone has a record of 603-429, with three AL East titles and one pennant in his seven seasons as Yankees manager. After the Yankees lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, Boone said he hadn’t thought about his future yet.
In October 2021, Boone agreed to a three-year contract, which includes a team option for 2025. Cashman mentioned that the deadline for that option is 10 days after the World Series, and he plans to discuss both the option and the possibility of a new deal.
“I can’t put the cart ahead of the horse. We haven’t gotten there,” he said. Cashman also defended Boone’s decisions during the postseason, saying it’s impossible to avoid second-guessing when it comes to managing.
“The manager’s job is so impossible, so you can play the game of second-guessing because you’re either going to make a move and it’ll be right, or you make a move and it’ll be wrong, and then have at it, right?” Cashman said. “So I think he’s a really, really good manager. I think that we’re lucky to have him. He’s done a great job.”
Cashman acknowledged that the World Series performance was disappointing. In the opening game, the Yankees blew a 10th-inning lead when Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam off Nestor Cortes.
After losing the first three games and winning Game 4, the Yankees lost Game 5 despite leading 5-0. In that game, center fielder Aaron Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe made errors, and pitcher Gerrit Cole failed to cover first base on an infield grounder. The Dodgers won 7-6 to claim the title.
“First and foremost, I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series,” Cashman said. “We all saw that and unfortunately our `A’ game didn’t show up when it counted the most.”
Joe Kelly, who was limited to just 35 games this season due to right shoulder inflammation and didn’t pitch during the postseason, criticized the Yankees on his “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast.
“They got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,” Kelly said. “We were saying every single game: Just let them throw the ball into the infield.
They can’t make a play. I mean, you saw Shohei (Ohtani) get an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber (Torres) play. It’s well known. We all knew. I mean, we’re the Dodgers. We know every little detail.”
“It was just a mismatch from the get-go,” Kelly added. “If we had a playoff reranking, they might be ranked eighth or ninth-best playoff team. You know what I mean?
You’re putting the Padres ahead of them, you’re putting the Phillies ahead of them, you’re putting the Mets ahead of them, you’re putting the Braves ahead of them — and the Braves just got unlucky because they had to play that doubleheader.
You’re putting — I mean, the Guardians played like crap, but the Guardians played better, the better D (defense), better baseball all around.”
“I heard that,” Cashman said. “I also know people with the Dodgers, so I’ve got some internal conversations that I’ve got certainly feedback on. I think it’s more representative of some specific players rather than the overall group. And in Joe’s case, it feels like it’s for some reason, it’s a little personal, the way he’s out talking like he has.”
Cashman dismissed the criticism of the Yankees’ roster, saying it’s normal for some players to be better at offense but weaker in other areas like defense or base running.
“We’ve come across many a player that just aren’t good at bunting. As many times as you ask them to bunt and you practice bunting or whatever, they just aren’t good at it.
And so at some point you manage the people you have,” Cashman said. “I remember having a conversation with one of my prior managers: ‘At some point you got to stop asking somebody to do something they’re not good at.’”
