Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner met with various media members to discuss the team’s upcoming offseason. First and foremost, he addressed the status of skipper Aaron Boone. As with most managers whose teams don’t ultimately win the World Series, Boone came under some fire from fans and media for his handling of the pitching staff this postseason. Steinbrenner, though, shot down any speculation about a change in the managerial chair. “Aaron Boone will be back next year, that’s just a fact,” the owner said (via Marly Rivera of ESPN). Steinbrenner added that he remains happy with the performance of GM Brian Cashman, as well (from David Lennon of Newsday).
While it seems the Yankees will keep their main leadership structure in place, they’ll have some key roster decisions to make. One player Boone seemed to lose faith in down the stretch is Gary Sánchez. The 27-year-old has been one of the league’s premier offensive catchers since breaking into the big leagues for good in 2016. Sánchez completely lost his way at the plate this season, though, prompting the Yankees to at least consider moving him in advance of the August 31 trade deadline.
Steinbrenner implied Sánchez would be back in the Bronx in 2021, noting that the club will have to “get him back” to form (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Those comments notwithstanding, Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears from multiple rival executives who expect the Yankees to again listen to offers on Sánchez in the coming months.
Of course, the club will also have to weigh the uncertain economic climate in all their personnel decisions. Steinbrenner became the latest MLB owner to discuss the widespread revenue losses the sport incurred this season. The 50-year-old said the sport’s most visible franchise took “significant losses, more than any other team in baseball” during the pandemic-shortened season (Hoch link). How much that’ll affect the Yankees’ upcoming payroll remains to be seen.
yankeefan363
Good
FredMcGriff for the HOF
I thought the goal was winning World Series? Over 10 years now. Why be “happy” with the GM. Maybe George’s son only cares about $$$$?
bradthebluefish
Yankees haven’t had a losing season since 1992. Brian Cashman has never had the luxury of doing a full rebuild like other GMs do.
mrkinsm
@Brad, what you’re saying is having the highest payroll year in year out since 1992 does correlate to more wins?!
BillyJ14
@bradthebluefish Thats a good point, the yankee’s can never rebuild really. I wouldn’t call it a luxury in comparison to other teams though. The rays and Oakland can spend an incomparably small amount compared to the yankees in every aspect of their baseball operations (international and amateur scouting included). I dont think Cashman should be judged on winning World Series, but given their payroll they should be better than the rays every single year.
seth3120
How do you expect a WS every year? A team decimated by injury the past couple years and he got the most of everyone they plugged in. The Rays are a darn good team and beat them in a best of five it happens. They have some money coming off the books(although arbitration will take a chunk). You add Bauer(I know you signed Cole)and you have a hell of a one two punch. They have youth only getting better. The Yanks are in a good spot. I’m sorry NYY fans think they should win every WS title but it’s not feasible. I despise the Yanks but I envy their position.
xpackyank
Not a huge fan of Boone but who else is out there to replace him? Shouldn’t have gotten rid of Girardi. And Hal’s worth roughly 4 billion….think he’ll get over the lost revenue.
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
Alex Cora or AJ Hinch
jonsilver
Neither one will ever be a Yankee employee at any time in the future.
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
More or less joking
Perksy
Buck Showalter. Unfinished business with the yanks
dpsmith22
comical. it’s ok for a business man to lose millions attempting to provide NY a winner. but, ask a player to take a small pay cut and the world is ending.
johnrealtime
Not all MLB players are millionaires nor will ever be. And there is a big difference between being a billionaire and a millionaire
Mishimacool
Yeah…like a thousand million dead presidents.
HalosHeavenJJ
There’s inherent risk in owning a business. If the owners wish to share that risk through a revenue sharing agreement, great. However under a traditional employer/employee agreement that risk is not passed onto the employee.
mrkinsm
Prove that he’s lost or is losing millions, I want to see the spreadsheets.
lowtalker1
Andy green lol
jdgoat
They should bring in Gibbons. He’s the type of manager a veteran team could use.
Yankee Clipper
Boone’s handling of the pitching staff was terrible. The spending should be a non-issue because the cap should be much higher, which would accomplish the owner spending more and the players making more.
Boone makes good gut calls with position player replacements, but his analysis of pitching matchups / changes leave much to be desired.
T8Rcheese1
Boone is fine and learning on the fly, as long as he has the players respect, and trust, he’ll be fine. If they were do get rid of him, which they are not, I’d go get Donny Baseball
jonscriff
its not aaron boone , it’s staying healthy , you gotta figure with Sevy , paxton and Tommy Kahnle they are making the world series
Philliesfan4life
In game 5 , they were trying to play hero by hitting a home run each at bat. They needed to play small ball. In the end the rays were the better team
Yankee Clipper
And this is the problem in every postseason the Yankees play in. Instead of just putting the ball in play (where they will hit homers anyway), they try to hit home runs and strike out or fly out, while their competitors (like the Rays) simply try to get on base and score runs. They get outplayed and it is excruciating to watch.
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
The thing is you don’t know if Sevy is going to be good because we don’t see enough of the real him. Same with Paxton.
pasha2k
You don’t know that, no one does. I wanted them to get to the WS, i like many of their players, but wasn’t meant to be.
DarkSide830
i mean Sevy alone is a huhe upgrade and mightve pushed the needle in the TB series. in theory then if TB beats HOU NYY would likely have as well.
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
Joe Girardi > Aaron Boone
WiffleBall
This sounds an awful lot like the Joe Torre > Joe Girardi commentary we heard in 2008. Fact is, and I *LOVED* Girardi, and wanted him to stay, but organizations often feel a new voice is needed after a decade. It’s usually not a slight on the manager, but sometimes a team just needs a new leader, a fresh face in the dugout.
boggie77
how is that working out for ya?
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
Not disagreeing there but I don’t think Boone was the right choice. If he didn’t have a big 2003 homerun, he wouldn’t be manager. Yankees are reminiscing more than managing.
wordonthestreet
Joe Girardi is a much better manager than Boone
Yankee Clipper
And Torre is likewise a much better manager than Girardi.
JoeBrady
Girardi is a much better manager than Boone
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But Boone has a much better record, .615 v .562.. That’s 100 wins a year v 91 wins a year. And a case could be made that he burned out Hughes, Joba, and Severino at an early age, and the failure to develop Kennedy.
One might also point out that, from 2001-2019, the Yankees only failed to win 94 or better 6 times, and that Girardi was the manager for all 6 of those seasons.
So, while Girardi might be better than Boone, he has seriously under-performed his teams.
rdl1959
Oh well, was hoping a mgr change was coming. Seems a new voice is needed and better handling of the pitchers are required. Boone lacks in that department
WiffleBall
Disagree. I think what you say is lacking is exactly what he’s good at, and why he’s there. He’s good with the players, and represents the team well. What he’s NOT is a good manager, and these days, most moves are made by a team of data analysts, and the manager is there just to be a barrier between players and executives.
JoeBrady
better handling of the pitchers are required. Boone lacks in that department
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Is it the handling, or is it the talent level? Cole is great, but none of the rest of the rotation have an SP that I would fear. Cole’s playoff ERA was ~ 3.00, while the other 4 starts had an ERA of 9.00.
There is always plenty of blame to go around, but I think it was the pitching that let them down in the playoffs.
whitecheddar
Game 2 was the big mistake. No reason Deivi goes in as an opener. Let him go at least 3 and then bring in Happ if he struggles. Felt like they were expecting to lose
fair-critic
You’re braindead. Deivi is a SP, not a RP. Happ is trash.
WiffleBall
Hindsight is 20/20. If Happ didn’t completely flop on the mound, we’re having the complete opposite discussion, that it was a genius move.
beisbolista
Are you trying to claim that Happ’s performance was anything other than completely predictable?? The guy has a long track record in situations like this, and it’s awful. Boone should absolutely lose his job for putting the Yankees at Happ’s mercy yet again.
johnnydubz
People do realize Cashman is making the decisions not Boone. They got rid of Girardi because he does his own thing
MoRivera 1999
TB owned Happ this year. No way he should have gotten anywhere near them that series except in a mop-up role.
Yankee Clipper
Boone does this nonsense too frequently and it rarely works. Cash did the opposite of Boone (left his pitcher in for as long as he could as long as he was handling himself well). Boone was making changes to try to outsmart the opposing lineup, which failed. Most of us wanted to throw up when Happ came in when he did.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
““Aaron Boone will be back next year, that’s just a fact,” the owner said…”
That is not fact. That is intent.
If Aaron Boone is eaten by a polar bear, for example, he will, in fact, not be back next year.
itslonelyatthetrop
I’m pretty sure he’ll be back even then.
(muffled sounds from polar bear’s stomach)
“My guys are *bleeping* savages!”
DarkSide830
“dang it Alonso!”
mnsportsfan
itslonelyatthetrop
now that was a hilarious comment!
James1955
I am waiting for the millions of Yankee fans one sided trade proposals that only happen in Yankee fans minds.
jonsilver
Rather than wasting your valuable time on that, it would be more productive to figure out which under-the-radar player Cashman is going to steal from another team in exchange for bupkis…
ChangedName
Can you blame them? Teams bend over backwards to hand the Yankees good players, they got Torres for 2 months of Chapman.
Ancient Pistol
Chapman helped deliver a championship. This is what teams do when they want it–give up a good prospect to win.
Old Gozzlehead
Chappy was choking in the Cubs WS until the team saved his butt.
JoeBrady
That happens every year, to virtually all the playoff contenders. The RS got ERod for 2 months of Miller.
MoRivera 1999
Still waiting for those millions of proposals, aren’t you?
DarkSide830
Boone for Trout
fair-critic
Boone is the death of Murderer’s Row 2.0, completely mismanages pitching, and gives clowns like Andujar/Happ/Paxton too many chances.
WiffleBall
Andujar had 62 at-bats this year, and for most of the season was not on the roster. Happ was pretty good this season with a 3.47 ERA. Paxton was injured. Do your research.
mlb1225
How did he give Andujar too many chances? He had 65 plate appearances and didn’t appear in the post season. He was even optioned until the Yanks had a handful of injuries.
Old Gozzlehead
I like Boone. Be nice to see him actually coach the team some season. Never been crazy about Cashman and the analytic staff. Disappointing to hear Sanchez stays. Disappointing not hearing rumors of Chapman leaving. Bye bye Paxton, Happ, Ottavino. Shelf life on this team, that probably should’ve been in a couple W.S., is just about here.
Ancient Pistol
This seems a bit overdramatic.
WiffleBall
Why would Chapman leave? How would he leave? He has a NTC.
dobsonel
Actually I could be wrong but I don’t think he does. I think it expired after the 3rd season.
DarkSide830
Sanchez is one year removed from an all star season. give the guy a bit of a break.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Don’t you dare try and use logic!
Good Yankee fans want to see *everyone* gone!
No world series wins!
Trade Judge! Trade Sanchez! Trade Boone! George is rolling in his grave!
(rolls eyes)
Man…no wonder everybody hates us lol.
JoeBrady
You guys are amateurs. I’ve seen RS fans begging to get rid of Theo and Tito, and both those guys are first-ballot HOFs.
top jimmy
Hal and Cashman are more to blame than Boone.
WiffleBall
If you listened to the interview, he said as much, apologizing to Yankee fans and saying “it’s on me, at the end of the day.”
howie feltersnatch
With the players the Yankees have they should at least. At the very least make it to the alcs I do blame Boone he is not a manager. Maybe not even a coach. The Yankees really let me down bringing Boone in
DarkSide830
what on earth is he then? how are they doing fairly well with all their injuries with what you believe to be no one at the helm?
wordonthestreet
Boone is coming back? Sorry to hear that. Not good to hear if your a Yankee fan v
DarkSide830
i dont see how any of this is Boone’s fault. that darn team cant stay healthy for heck. just Judge and Stanton for the full 60 and they mightve won the East wire to wire. Sevy is healthy and they mightve beat TB.
ajrodz1335
TB had like the same amount of injured players with the same importance, everyone seems to forget that the rays get trash and turn them into All Stars. Every team had injuries, don’t pull the injury card on us please
DarkSide830
If Boone is managing any other team he’s probably revered for his managing work. sadly for him he’s managing a team where id you dont make the WS every year you’re a failure.
boggie77
stupid is as stupid does. That’s Hal in a nut shell. Cashman needs to go and take Boone with him with sanchez driving the car.What a joke of a team and so over hyped . Need to do some cleaning up the house. Better sign DJ or they’ll have no one who can hit. I don’t think a majority of yankee fans could stand another year of Sanchez be hind the plate showing how bad he is on both sides of the plate.
driftcat28 2
Boone should’ve been fired
Mishimacool
Yeah…like a thousand million dead presidents.
Rick Pernell
Forbes estimates the Yankees net worth at approximately 5 Billion dollars. I am sure they could afford DJ, a catcher, a shortstop, some starters and some middle relief help.
WOW, all of a sudden Boone isn’t the problem.
JoeBrady
WOW, all of a sudden Boone isn’t the problem.
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Sure, and if you gave me an unlmited payroll, I’d be pretty successful also.
whyhayzee
“significant losses, more than any other team in baseball”
Typical egocentric yankee babble. Have some cheese.
Ducky Buckin Fent
It would appear basic economic principles are beyond your grasp.
whyhayzee
I’m an actuary. It’s a vacuous statement.
vac·u·ous
/ˈvakyo͞oəs/
adjective
having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Well, glad I have no need for you lol!
Hmmmm…the team with the highest priced tickets that is one of the top attended as well lost more revenue than anyone else.
I don’t see how that’s not *really* easy to follow, man.
whyhayzee
It presumes knowledge that he doesn’t possess. Why wait for the actual information when you already know? So I believe the word vacuous is spot on. Like the commander in chief, Hal is a pompous, arrogant blowhard. But I digress. More to the point, no one needs me. BTW, in 1978 I lived in Bucky Dent’s town. When Don Zimmer got hired, Bucky let him live in his house for awhile. In every room, he put a picture of him hitting the home run. Funny guy.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Dunno.
Maybe this is exactly why I pay an accountant lol!
It just seems fairly straightforward that the team with the highest yearly revenue would incur the highest losses as well?
What am I missing here?
Man… that’s a helluva funny story.
whyhayzee
Losses are not the money you would have made if there was no pandemic. Losses are expenses in excess of revenues. I’m not saying the yankees don’t have the highest losses but you can’t say that until you know what all the other teams’ losses are as well. It’s too early to say.
Gossage lived in my town, too. What a character. I never met either of them.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Thanks for taking the time to explain that.
Huh.
It appears basic economic principles are actually beyond… well, *my* grasp lol.
😉
Too bad. Couple of my all time favorite Yankees, man.
whyhayzee
There were lots of yankees in the area where I grew up. Starting with Mel Stottlemyre. One of the pitchers (Fritz Peterson? Mike Kekich?) who traded wives or maybe both of them. Next town over were Tommy John and Willie Randolph. We moved there way before the famous baseball players. I guess we got lucky to be there before it got so expensive.
whyhayzee
Hal has taken over the yankee spaceship, which is a shame. Boone is relegated to empty statements about players’ health. The cash man has assembled an expensive machine that constantly breaks down. Apparently, Boone was rejected by the parole board and must live out his sentence in the bronze kazoo.
JoeBrady
The cash man has assembled an expensive machine that constantly breaks down.
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Not his fault. What were the chances that two beacons of good health, like Ellsbury and Stanton, would suddenly start getting injured?