The Yankees have considered changing managers since being swept out of the postseason by the World Series-bound Rays two weeks ago.
How could they not? Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman couldn’t ignore all those former Yankees calling out the organization for bad clubhouse culture. Those big names included Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Paul O’Neill, Joe Girardi and Anthony Rizzo.
As NJ.com has been predicting, the Yankees will be sticking with Aaron Boone, although Monday night’s reports were slightly premature. NJ.com baseball columnist Bob Klapisch reported Tuesday that a final decision will be made soon for Boone to manage the final year of his contract, which will be his 10th since succeeding Girardi.
Klapisch also reported that this is Steinbrenner’s call and the upcoming work stoppage has played a role in the decision to retain Boone.
If the Yankees fired Boone now and found a replacement in a few weeks, the new manager wouldn’t be permitted to talk to his players from the time the lockout begins on Dec. 1 until it ends. The offseason is a critical bonding period for new managers and players.
If this lockout lasts until summer, as many predict, spring training could be shortened to three weeks instead of six, similar to 2020 when COVID shortened the season to 60 games.
Boone’s time with the Yankees is checkered.
He has a great regular-season résumé — nine consecutive winning seasons, eight postseasons, one pennant and a .583 winning percentage that is second among active managers and 17th best all-time. But Boone hasn’t won a World Series, and it’s now been 17 years since the Yankees’ last championship in 2009.
Also, clubhouse culture criticism reflects poorly on any skipper. Are Jazz Chisholm’s antics on Boone? Does Cashman deserve blame for trading for a player who was a problem with the Marlins?
Are the Yankees making the right move in keeping Boone?
NJ.com sought opinions from four people in baseball who follow the Yankees closely.
All four were granted anonymity because they’re not authorized by their organizations to publicly comment on opposing teams.
Here’s their take:
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCOUT
“I like Aaron Boone. I think that his inability to have the courage to sit Jazz Chisholm when he needed to sit became a problem. I saw Joe Torre lose the clubhouse when he was in New York, Charlie Manuel lose the clubhouse when he was in Philly. I saw Terry Francona lose the clubhouse when he was in Boston. I’m seeing the same thing with Aaron. That doesn’t make them bad managers, but sometimes you need a change. Sometimes you need somebody that’s not so nice to the players.
“When you watch the Yankees, you see all the lackadaisical crap, the bonehead defensive plays, the bonehead baserunning, the Jazz Chisholm show. That’s sadly a young, five-tool player who hurts you more than he’ll ever help you.
“I would have made a change. I think Aaron’s a good manager. He’s a good person. He sticks up for his players. He takes the slings for some of the crap his players do, but at a certain point, you can’t just continue to be their friend.
“Pat Murphy just took the Brewers to the World Series. He benches guys, but you never hear anyone say, “I wouldn’t want to play for Murphy.’ His guys love him because it’s consistent. If Aaron Judge pissed Pat Murphy off, Pat Murphy would call out Aaron Judge. I don’t think Aaron Boone would do that. Even when Murphy was the Brewers’ bench guy, if guys were screwing around during a spring training practice, he’d air them out in front of whoever was there. I don’t think Aaron Boone would ever do that.
“Yeah, I think the Yankees need a change. There are good managers out there who would air guys out. Buck Showalter isn’t young, but he wouldn’t be a bad choice. Brandon Hyde wouldn’t be a bad choice.”
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCOUT 1
“You know what? That’s a tough one. I’d keep Boone there. I like what he’s done. It ain’t his fault that a pitcher can’t win a big game. It’s not his fault that Aaron Judge gets hurt. It’s not his fault that Giancarlo Stanton is overpaid and can’t stay on the field. And it’s not Boone’s fault that Cashman doesn’t move some of those minor leaguers or players to go out get pieces to help them win. That’s why Judge is chirping now.
“The stuff that Jazz is getting away with, that is on Boone, and that’s when he needs to clamp down. I know it’s New York, and I know Boone would get hollered at by management for being too tough, but at some point, you’ve got to sit Jazz down for a week and prove a point. Sometimes you have to do that. Sometimes you’ve got to call a guy out like that. Then you go to the people above you and say, ‘Look, if you want to win and you want to get the best of this guy, you got to call him out.’ Jazz knows he can get away with it and he knows Boone ain’t gonna call him out, so nothing’s gonna be done, and I think that’s total BS.
“Here’s another thing: Teams used to be afraid of the Yankees. Not anymore. They’re on even ground now. Baltimore is not afraid of them anymore. Toronto’s not afraid of them anymore. Tampa definitely’s not afraid of them. The Yankees have more stars and a bigger payroll, but other teams now say, ‘Be patient, boys, something stupid is going to happen. Let’s wait to see what Jazz does.’ That’s on the whole organization. That’s on Boone. That’s on Cashman. That’s on Steinbrenner. Yeah.”
NATIONAL LEAGUE EXECUTIVE
“I guess the first thing is, who are you going to go get to replace Boone if the Yankees fired him? You’ve got teams out there right now that can’t find a manager. Look at some of the teams that hired guys in the last year. Who’s better than Boone? Now I’m not saying Boone’s the greatest, but who do you want to put on the list? That would be my question to all the people that want to replace him.
“I think it’s going to be a short year next year. It’s the last year of Boone’s contract. Give him one more shot. Get everybody healthy. If everybody was healthy this year, they might win the division. You never know.
“The bottom line, I don’t think the Yankees are outmanaged. At the end of the day, these guys have to hit the ball, play the game, field the ball. Right? They obviously pitched well. It again came down to the playoffs where they were a couple hits away here and there. I didn’t see a team that was outmanaged, but the culture is definitely something that you could address as being a real thing.
“Culture is a very big deal. I would say that there were some issues this year. Obviously, you see a guy with a sucker in his mouth out in the field. That’s a problem. But I don’t know if it was just Jazz.
“I don’t know that the culture was bad. It might be a little stale at some point. On every team, eventually things run stale. Was Dusty Baker a bad manager? He moved around four or five times to different teams and the guy should be or will be a Hall of Fame manager. He was great for culture.
“I wonder if Boone has anyone policing the clubhouse. In Boston, the Red Sox always had Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz to police Manny Ramirez. Was anyone there to do that on the Yankees this year? Judge was hurt half the year and not on every roadtrip. Giancarlo Stanton wasn’t around almost the whole year. I don’t know.
“Again, when I watched the Yankees, I didn’t see a team that was getting outmanaged and I’ll come back to who are you getting that’s better than Boone? I can’t think of anyone.”
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCOUT 2
“I don’t think Boone’s the problem. I don’t think Boone’s ever been allowed to manage. I think Boone’s given a script, and he follows the script. There’s a reason why Joe Girardi was let go. He didn’t follow the script. It’s a symptom of Major League Baseball now. Stuff comes down from the front office, the manager is giving a script and he runs with it. When Cashman says Boone is making the lineup, I have zero belief in that. Zero.
“I think Boone’s biggest flaw is he hasn’t reined guys in. Like I think he let Jazz get away with too much. Boone’s a good guy. He’s been there, done that as a player. But when you’re managing, you’ve got to put a foot in somebody’s ass at some point. Because Boone is a player’s manager, he thinks the clubhouse is going to take care of itself. I don’t think Aaron Judge is the guy to put a foot in somebody’s ass. Boone has no enforcer in there. You think back to those great Yankee teams with Derek Jeter, the captain. He had Jorge Posada. He had Paul O’Neill. Roger Clemens was there. Those guys were enforcers. Judge is a great player and a great teammate. He’s a good guy. I don’t think he’s an enforcer. I don’t think he’ll get in someone’s face and yell, ”Hey, enough of this crap! This this ain’t the Yankee way!’ I’m not blaming all of that on Boone because he doesn’t make the roster.
“I’m not blaming the Yankees’ playoff exits on Boone, either. Defensively, the Yankees were poor this year. I thought Ryan McMahon would help them at third. Turns out, outside Colorado, McMahon is a bad player. Jazz is one of the most talented players of Major League Baseball, but you don’t see it enough because of all the stupid stuff he does.
“Every year, the Yankees are built for the regular season. They always have enough pitching and a good bullpen. But their offense every year beats up on really bad pitching where they put up numbers, then when ... you have to play that team with good pitching that’s good defensively and waits for you to make a mistake, the Yankees crash. They have clubhouse problem and a roster problem. Boone’s not winning World Series because the team’s not built to win the World Series. It’s built to win the regular season. That’s just the truth.”
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