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Those searching for “red meat” from the Yankees will keep having to look elsewhere.
That was largely the message from Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner on Wednesday when asked about the public perception — including from some of their former players and managers — that the Yankees have not held their players accountable enough if the same mistakes keep happening.
“There’s the occasions where there’s a spot that requires you to call somebody out,” Boone said during a Zoom call. “I know I get accused sometimes of being too positive in the media and I would say if you watched my post[game] press conferences this year, there were a lot of days where I was talking about our struggles. But does that mean I’m calling individuals out in a public way?
“There is probably a time and place for that, but generally speaking, to me that’s not leadership. That’s me giving red meat to people that want to be upset with somebody. To me, when we have issues as a club or with an individual player or something that popped up within a game, I address those things, we address those things man-to-man. Sometimes if we have to address something within the group, we do that. I just don’t think it’s leadership coming up here and giving red meat to [people who] want to hear us beat down a player.
“The accountability factor playing here [for the Yankees], I feel like, is very high.”
The discussion of whether the Yankees are holding players accountable enough came after they were swept by the Rays in the ALDS.
The series featured a crucial baserunning blunder by Austin Wells in Game 1 and a horrific defensive performance in Game 2, including a bad decision by Jazz Chisholm Jr. (whose focus was in question at times throughout the year) to make a throw with his back turned to first base, which he insisted postgame he would still do if given a chance to do it over.
But Cashman referenced a “built-in accountability to the extreme” surrounding the Yankees every day, given the spotlight under which they play and the championship expectations that come with being part of the organization.
“To then contribute to that by publicly putting even further pressure, chasing a large media corps and fanbase and social media into somebody’s locker as they’re trying to navigate and get out of a slump or play better or stop making errors or stop poor baserunning circumstances … it’s just inviting the more likely outcome of not getting what you want,” Cashman said. “It’s always questioned, ‘Is anybody trying to address this? Are these players being spoken to? Are we confronting those problems?’ I think in a more private setting and a more direct setting is the more appropriate way versus a public letting.”
Steinbrenner’s father, George, was known for openly criticizing players during his ownership, but Hal said Wednesday he was not convinced that doing so today would be effective.
“I’m not convinced that, with this team in this day and age, that that’s a big of a motivator as you think it is,” said Steinbrenner, who did go as far as pinning the season on the team’s offensive failures. “Twenty to 25 years ago, different generation, just a different scenario. … The public forum, my dad and I are different in that respect. I’m not convinced it would be effective anyway. It’s just not the way I’m going to operate. I’m going to talk to them face to face.”