The Yankees’ season ended in last night’s 6-2 loss to the Red Sox in the AL wild card game, and speculation immediately began about the Bronx Bombers’ next steps. It has now been 12 seasons (a eternity by Bronx standards) since the Yankees’ last World Series appearance, and a return trip won’t get any easier in 2022.
“We’ve got to get better in every aspect because it’s not just the Red Sox and the Astros now in our league,” manager Aaron Boone told ESPN’s Joon Lee and other reporters. “Look at our division — the Rays are a beast, Toronto. There’s some teams in the Central that are better and better, teams in the West that are better and better, teams that have closed the gap on us.”
Whatever moves are made during the offseason, perhaps the first question on many fans’ minds is whether or not Boone will still be the one managing any new faces. While Boone has an outstanding 328-218 record in his four seasons as manager, it hasn’t resulted in a contract extension from the original deal he signed back in December 2017. That original contract was for three seasons and a club option for 2021, which the Yankees exercised, though Boone spent the year in lame-duck status without any guarantee for a longer tenure.
“I haven’t had any conversations about [my contract] with anyone, so we’ll see,” Boone said. “I love being here. I love going to work with this group of players….Whatever does happen, I’m at peace with. I know that I can hold my head high.”
Brett Gardner is the last player remaining from the Yankees’ 2009 championship team, and after spending his entire career in New York, the outfielder told ESPN’s Marly Rivera and other reporters that “I hope I am back next season.” The ball is in Gardner’s court to some extent, as he has a $2.3MM player option for 2022, and the Yankees have a $7.15MM club option (with a $1.15MM buyout) available should Gardner decline his player option.
Gardner has played each of the last three seasons on one-year guaranteed contracts, with the Yankees opting to decline club options following the 2018 and 2020 seasons. Since Gardner delivered a below-average (90 OPS+, 93 wRC+) offensive season by hitting only .222/.327/.362 over 461 plate appearances, it seems hard to see the Yankees retain him at that $7.15MM figure, even considering Gardner’s long history with the team and his still-solid baserunning and outfield glovework at age 38. It’s possible a new deal could be worked out for something between the $2.3MM and $7.15MM price points, though Gardner might prefer to avoid the uncertainty of offseason negotiations and just lock in his player option, even if it means a substantial pay cut.
Aaron Judge can look forward to a nice raise (from his $10.175MM salary in 2021) in his third and final arbitration year, as the star slugger enjoyed another big season. Judge hit .287/.373/.544 with 39 home runs, and though he spent 11 days on the COVID-related injury list, Judge’s 148 games and 633 PA represented his highest totals in either category since 2017.
It all makes for a very nice platform for Judge in extension talks, as Judge is scheduled for free agency following the 2022 season. “I want to be a Yankee for life,” Judge told Tyler Kepner of The New York Times and other reporters last night. “I want to wear the pinstripes the rest of my career and represent this great organization and bring a championship back to the city. But you never know what the future holds for you.”
After Judge was hampered by injuries in 2018-20, his ability to stay on the field this season should to some extent lessen any concerns the Yankees might have about Judge’s chances of staying healthy into his 30’s. (Judge will be 31 on Opening Day 2023.) Judge has been one of the sport’s most fearsome bats even in his injury-plagued years, and he has also become a fan favorite in New York and the face of this era of Yankees baseball. It remains to be see, however, whether Judge’s track record results in an extension with a franchise that generally hasn’t agreed to many contract extensions in the Hal Steinbrenner era.
While pure dollars aren’t really the issue, the fact that the Yankees stayed under the luxury tax threshold this season and reset their tax payment status could be a hint towards a willingness to work something out with their popular slugger. When the Yankees last ducked under the luxury tax line in 2018, they responded with a pair of extensions with Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks the following spring. Of course, the fact that the Yankees have thus far gotten very little return on those Severino and Hicks deals might also have perhaps hardened the team’s resolve against extensions.
The best part about the Sox win is the dumb oddsmakers “random BS odds numbers” to showcase the “analytical” side of the game.
All nonsense and is used to make someone sound smart…just like WAR and SMAR.
Go play the game and play better than the other team. Sox were the better team yesterday.
The best part of the Red Sox win is the Yankees being eliminated. The worst part is the Red Sox not being eliminated.
Ray Charles also “remains to be see.” J/k. It was actually a well written article. That was the only typo I saw and it is a very easy one to make. I just couldn’t resist. I didn’t buy the odds on that game either. I guess the odds makers were just in love with Cole. I’m not sure why. For his career in playoff elimination games Cole has a record of 1-4. Those look like bad odds to me. I had the Red Sox favored over the Yankees. In a 1 game playoff you almost always have to give the edge to the team with home field advantage. On the “Who will win the World Series?” Poll I can’t believe how many people gave the Cardinals better odds than the Red Sox, Braves, White Sox, Astros and even the Brewers. I had the Cardinals in the bottom 2. Chances are the Cardinals season ends before any of those teams postseason really even begins.
Yes. One single game refutes all the statisticians that Vegas employs.
Are those the same employees who had the Giants win 107 games?
Clearly not doing a great job. I guess I can go work there too. I mean picking the Dodgers to win the WS must be very hard and requires a Harvard degree.
In addition to that, that botched Sterling call was pretty much the highlight of the game and the season for the Yanks – high expectations but low team execution.
@Don’tComeBacktoATLFreeman Are you just angry at every educated person? do you hate numbers?
Saying dumb stuff like “All nonsense and is used to make someone sound smart…just like WAR and SMAR.” and bashing analytics in general just makes you sound dumb and ignorant.
No, what I’m saying is all these “baseball” oddsmakers are overvaluing these numbers and eliminating the human element of the game.
I don’t think you know what odds mean.
If there are 3 doors and behind 2 is a lambo and behind 1 is a goat, you got pretty good ODDS that you’ll get a lambo. Doesn’t mean some unlucky sob won’t get a goat.
I can’t stand Sterling. He went into one of his stupid calls when the Rays hit back to back HRs on Saturday. It’s bad enough to listen to when the Yankees do something well, now you have to be a clown when the road team does too ? He’s supposed to report the game, he himself is not the game. He’s so old that I guess he’ll never retire. He’s made the radio unlistenable = (
Still better than A-Rid. He’s just awful.
Hey Coster….you read my thoughts about Sterling. Add Susan Waldman to that short list of undesirables. Nice lady but…………If I hear Sterling say to her….”My Susan thats is a very nice dress you’re wearing”…one more time………..
The same statisticians that had the Mariners wins over/under at 72.5? They were soooo close with that one.
so are you going to pretend that the Mariners – although fun to watch – weren’t somewhat lucky? I mean they had a -51 run differencial, there pythagorean W-L was 76-86, only 1 other team with a negitive run differencial finished over .500. the Phillies -11 82-80 with a pythagorean record of 80-82 (basically a coin flip).
I like the Mariners, I think they have a great future, I think they are fun to watch and I definently am not looking to pi$$ on anyone’s camp fire but reality is reality.
Let’s also consider that Vegas odds makers go off one really important statistic – who is being bet on. If 75 percent of bets come in for the Yankees, they’re going to make the odds heavily favoring the Yankees so that IF the Yankees won, they would have to pay out less. It has nothing to do with WAR, OPS+, OOA, or any other advanced statistic.
Advanced metrics actually should have seen a Sox win coming based on info like Cole’s home run to fly ball ratio at Fenway this season, which was the biggest factor in the game.
Edit: the Mariners are a great example. Yes, Vegas had the over under at 72.5. But did any of you actually bet they would beat that (Mariners fans not included)? Vegas may have even MADE money on them making the over, regardless of if it was 73 wins or 109.
The profits that Casino’s earn are not related to the probability of who wins the game. They don’t care because their profit is the vig.
The only thing that effects their profitability is volume of dollars bet. As you mention, the line moves in concert with dollars bet. If too many people are betting one side then they change the line to attract dollars to the other side. The goal is to get as many people betting on one team as the other. They’ll also lay off bets to other Casino’s to achieve this.
Analytics has nothing to do with Casino’s odds except that some bettors use the info when deciding who to bet on..
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Everything you said is completly true but if I could just say analytics has a lot to do with casino’s odds just not baseball analytrics like WAR and the such. That’s what some of these anti-analytics folks don’t seem to understand, analytics might be a hot word in baseball but analytics is used in basically every aspect of life, much of it goes unnoticed but it’s there all the time.
@SoxRewl- I was just saying that exact same thing to all the people voting so favorably for the Cardinals to win it all. Vegas has their odds at 1.7%. Anyone who truly believes the Cardinals will win it all basically has to take those odds and make a bet in Vegas. If that’s what they believe there is no way to turn that down. If they bet $17k, Las Vegas would turn them into a millionaire. $34k would turn them into a multi-millionaire. If you truly believe the Cardinals will win it all (and apparently more people believe in them than the Red Sox, Braves, White Sox, Astros or Brewers) you can’t turn those odds down. It would be a financially irresponsible decision. I didn’t bet on them because I don’t think they stand much of a chance. A lot of people on the comments section defending their belief to the end though.
No one cares that you hate baseball stats. Go away.
Yeah! How dare you come to a discussion board and share an opinion!
His opinion is welcome as is yours.
yourcommentlol2
Agreed. Although analytics can be very useful in determining the value of a player when offering a contract it should never be the end all be all for a team. So many intangible factors have been ignored since teams have focused heavily on them. Small ball had the same effect back when RBIs factored heavily into premium sluggers value. Analytics tell you to ignore them. Even though teams have always performed way better when they had a speedy player hitting first who could bunt his way on base and 3 following players who had a solid chance of either moving the runner along or hitting that bloop single that got him home when the team was down a run in the bottom of the ninth. Back then those hitters were known to be clutch performers or not. Analytics says that is all “luck”. No, the reason Rickey Henderson kept getting contracts into his mid 40s was that when the team needed a clutch hit he was one of the best at the plate. Analytics would have pushed him out of baseball in his mid 30s. Teams have forgotten that. There is a reason the Yankees and Red Sox were always in the championship hunt in the 2000s was they held onto the old beliefs of a big market team. They added 3 trophies to their cabinet in that decade while Tampa and Oakland couldn’t get the job done. Boston has added another while both of those teams still lack even one. The Dodgers couldn’t get it done with analytics alone so they used them to determine a players value and then chased the best of those players in every offseason. They have found the perfect mix of the old a new ways. Analytics have only managed to get players like Jason Heyward $200m contracts when 20 years ago he would have been lucky to get half of that. Analytics are awesome when dissecting a players career but should never be all that a team looks at when chasing a championship. It’s awfully hard to get 4 walks in an inning to score that needed run. It’s much easier to count on 2 singles and a sacrifice from your 4-5 best hitters. Also the way some fans use FIP to judge the value of relievers is bad. Teams use defensive replacements for a reason. Some relievers still pitch to contact. FIP is a good stat for flamethrowing strike out machines. It’s awful for the rest because if a pitcher pitches to contact he is relying on those same fielders FIP takes out of the equation. Analytics do have value but a big market team using them to put a team together is foolish. The intangibles will create draft busts more often than analytics but they will also get players like Gary Sanchez off your team years before analytics.
Teams “have closed the gap (on you)”? Sorry, Boone, those teams have been ahead of you for a while.
I love how the Yankees have 1 ring in 21 years yet still talk in terms as if they are #1 top dogs when entire generations only know them as the Braves of the AL lol
Yankees have not met their fans expectations agreed. However, we have 5 championships since your A’s won one…
Yes, but it is getting worse. Toronto only joined beast-mode this season. And Detroit and Seattle are about to become a lot more annoying, imo.
Maybe they should just throw some money at that problem! Its worked so far.
I think Boone meant that up until 2020 the Astros and Red Sox were the Yankees only real competition in the AL, which is true to an extent. It is still an incredibly stupid thing to say right after losing a wild card game in a season where you had World Series aspirations. As a Yankee fan I pray that last night was his last game as manager
“We’ve got to get better in every aspect”, without context, sounded like he was blaming Cashman. Veteran players can only make marginal improvements to their skills. Guys like Judge, Stanton, etc., aren’t going to get any better.
@joe. I think Cashman is just as much to blame for this year if not even more. Cashman constructed the team. I doubt Boone had much sway over what players ended up off or on his roster. Maybe a little sway but I doubt much. I am not saying Boone is a good manager but this was Cashman’s creation. I think if George was still alive he’d fire both the manager and GM.
Cashman is far more to blame than Boone.
Boone’s poor managing maybe swung like 3-5 games over the course of the season against the Yankees but Cashman’s awful roster construction did far more damage.
George would’ve definitely fired both if he were still alive. In fact, he would’ve fired Cashman like a decade ago.
Absolutely right. Boone personifies Yankees arrogance. He should be more concerned with “closing the gap” between the Yankees and the Rays, Astros, and White Sox, than with the teams that are closing the gap on them.
His misconstruing who is ahead of whom is not the biggest issue. Boone’s biggest issue with the statement, in my opinion, is that he think they only need to improve because those teams have gotten substantially better this year. What about the past four seasons!!!!! We’ve needed to get better for awhile, but most importantly, we need to get better because we absolutely sucked in the field and were offensively anemic for certain stretches, as well as against the two former Yankee pitchers: Eovaldi & Whitlock.
Moreover, as I stated before, Yankees cannot continue to construct teams with Gallo-type hitters.
The worst part is the poor fundamentals. They don’t run things out, poor base running, etc. Poor base running seems to be everywhere though. Verdi do needs to learn some discipline on the bases.
If i had to guess, I’d say Boone is brought back in a 1 year deal. If they miss the playoffs or are a first round exit, he’s gone.
Everyone can gripe all they want, Boone was not responsible for cole’s repeated clunkers in elimination games, or the pen loading the bases and letting in cushion runs.
Is 3rd base coach a problem? ABSOLUTELY. far too many guys out at the plate all season.
Is the conditioning program suspect? Awful lot of injuries the past few years. I can’t believe it’s just a case of a collection of fragile players. I’d look at trainers and health staff a bit.
Every manager makes the occasional blunder, but, players need to execute. Either the pitching just didn’t get the job done, or, the other team plain beat you down.
There’s no denying that the Yankees pitching wasn’t up to par last night. There’s also no denying that that Boone, Nevin, and Thames absolutely have to go. Boone is hardly qualified to manage a newspaper stand let alone a baseball team. Nevin had several bad sends this year including the crucial one last night. Thames philosophy worked when the balls were juiced but several hitters on this team saw big regression without them and there were little to no adjustments made. Also the training staff was overhauled last year. They said it would take 2-3 years to fully implement their program. Judge and Stanton both stayed healthy for the majority of the season so that’s already a step in the right direction
Yea, the no-brainer move would appear to be moving on from the entire coaching staff except Matt Blake and maybe Mike Harkey.
The problem is that Cashman should be fired before anybody on the coaching staff but it looks like he’s going to be able to weasel his way through another offseason.
Didn’t they already change up the conditioning staff?
Boone was responsible for throwing many games away, which cost the Yanks home Field advantage. Those balls hit by Stanton would have been out in Yankees stadium
Changes need to made on the Yankees plain and simple. Gardy should be replaced by Allen. Sanchez needs to be gone ASAP. Another end to a frustrating year. 130 days until pitchers and catchers minus Sanchez report.
Completely agree on Gardner. Greg Allen is an improved version in every way of what Gardner is now, plus he’s a switch-hitter. But Cashman loves Gardner, despite several years of diminishing production.
As for Sanchez- if Cashman is retained, which I expect he will, Sanchez isn’t going anywhere until he’s a free agent one year from now. But that might not be a terrible thing. There’s a 22-yr old bigtime prospect named Tyler Wells moving up to AA next season. Hopefully, he’ll be the future catcher.
I think Sánchez is gone this offseason one way or another. His offense no longer makes up for his defense and he’s not exactly cheap anymore. I could see them going to some combination of Higgy/Sands/Brantly or possibly a cheap free agent signing for next year. Wells seems to have all the tools to be a very good hitter but it’s unlikely he sticks at C. Someone from the farm to look at as possibly an option at C at some point next year is Josh Breux. He’s not particularly good defensively either but projects better than Wells and he can also hit. Long term though the guy they’re likely looking at is Antonio Gomez. He looks like a natural behind the plate and his bat showed signs of life this year. If all goes well I think Gomez takes the job at C in 2-3 years
At least they figured out after about 220 games that Torres is not a SS.
Yankees need the grit that Gardner brings, even if his bat isn’t what is used to be. Feel like every time I watch a Yankees game Gardner is grinding out an at bat. Not to mention his veteran leadership. Always been a big fan of him, even as an Os fan, because of his play style
So Gardner is “grinding out an at bat” every time he come up.?? let’s see. two years in a row he has batted .222 and is 38 yrs old.. His OPS has gone from .829 to .747. to .689….he has stolen only 33 bases in the last 4 years (hard to do when not getting on base)…..struck out more times per/ab than ever before…..As much as I really do like the guy for his clubhouse presence and respect among other players and a true Yankee……..It is time to move on from a guy who’s game was built on speed…..Best or better years are way behind in the rearview mirror….Unless they trade for someone else or sign another f/a, my vote is to give Allen every shot in Spring training. !!!
I have been a big Gardner fan ever since the day I watched him in AA ball, when he seemingly flew into third base with a triple. But his day is over now. The leadership of the team now is Judge & Stanton. Gardner plays hard & grinds out ABs, but his production has been severely diminished the past 3 years. Eventually everybody needs to retire.
Sometimes we must realize how old we are.
The problem with Gardy isn’t whether he’s grinding out an at-bat or not, or how his leadership is in context with his performance. The problem with Gardy is he is necessary on this team at 38. Gardy played 140 games because we won’t bring up young talent, because of the inordinate amount of injuries, and/or because, overall, he’s one of the better performers on the team! No, that is not a compliment to Gardy, rather a critique of the rest of the team.
If you were born in 1979 or later, you have witnessed the two least-successful eras in Yankees history: no rings from 1979-1995 and 1 ring from 2001-2021/present.
Make Gardy a coach he can bring his leadership abilities to the dugout without taking a roster spot.
That’s a good idea.
And if you are an A’s fan born in 1979 or later, you saw one title when you were less than ten years old. Money ball doesn’t win titles.
Well, I was born in 1956. I saw Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris & Whitey Ford play, and i was a regular attendee in YS in the 1970s & early 1980s, watching those great championship teams. But I also witnessed the “Horace Clarke” years and the “Stump Merrill” years. I’m not afraid of the Yankees taking a step back and making major changes to this ballclub. The current roster is NOT championship worthy. The only everyday players that should be retained are Stanton & Judge. All the others can go in order to improve the team for 2023 and beyond.
When you have seen a Len Boehmer trotting out to 3rd base in a regular season game, you know Yankee hapless.
This isn’t hapless. A tweak or three is called for. Boone doesn’t need to be run out. That wasn’t Billy Cowan out there in right field.
As a Mets fan all I can say is Yankee fans are being understandably too hard the day after being eliminated. Yankees play in a very tough division; Rays won it; Yanks and Sox runners up for wildcard and Toronto was only 1 game back…. Doesn’t get any tougher than that!
Seconldy one game Wildcard is stupid; if you want to save the schedule play 3 games with the first being a double header; only takes up 2 days and still give home field to the best WC record
Even as a Yankees fan I’m good with the one game WC. It made the regular season more important. Think about the Dodgers and Giants and how exciting that was. Make the WC game into a series and that race wouldn’t matter nearly as much. Of course each team would want to win the division but the stakes for losing was so much higher. And also look at the Yankees-Sox game. One game, winner take all and loser goes home. Much more exciting.
Joe, the biggest problem I have with this team is that they seem satisfied with a playoff team, whereas the Dodgers are contending each year for the WS, which is evident in the roster moves/construction.
Boone’s statement is most concerning. He now just realized everyone else has gotten better, so that’s why the Yankees now have to improve?! Not their piss poor fielding, or lack of true MLB SS, or underperforming C position? But because Toronto is a “beast”?
Roster is NOT Boone’s fault, that’s on Cash. Cash is really, really adept with trades. But his penchant for a one dimensional hitter is really hurting them in the long run, imho. They had the lowest swing-and-miss rate in the majors, but last night swung at twenty percent more of pitches; that feels like a bad game plan.
We treat this team like the A’s, where we succeed as long as we get to the playoffs.
I agree 100% YC.
Exactly, @Clip.
Cash has all winter to improve us. He will. But the onus is now on being in the playoffs every year. This is in conjunction with Hal wanting to bob & weave with the CBT tax. The intent there is more $$. Yanks paid whatever tax every year prior to ’17. Now we do not.
So.
Seasons like this will happen. But I think this has to be viewed as a failure. Financially. Which I think it’s fair to say seems important to Hal. Yanks had zero home playoff games & that’s the sweetest skim. Under the new paradigm, this may be a wake up call.
In the end, this is the math:
Was not paying a few mil in fines to buttress the rotation a better fiscal decision than hosting the play-in game. I really have no idea. Seems like it would be pretty close either way*.
* as near as I can tell, a playoff series is worth $10-20MM.
Ducky, that is a brilliant takeaway from Hal’s perspective & entire worldview. He sees through the lens of money. Maybe this will halt the part-time Rays/part-time Yankees roster builds and they will look to…..oh, just to pick a team out of thin air – THE DODGERS for how they should be constructing their winning roster (imagine we swung a trade for T. Turner and extended him, instead of signing Gallo?).
I have to admit, however, had the Asstros / RSox not cheated there way to championships with Cora’s scheming this may have altered the destiny of the team. IF the Yanks had won it all either year, we’d have to wait another five years before they realized how ineffective it is.
Last thought: Whomever they fire or don’t, it is incumbent upon Hal & Co to fix five things this offseason to substantially improve:
1) Cole cannot carry this team on his back. As pissed as I am about his recent woes, he’s been lights-out all year, and I think our sole reliance on him affected him. We need a true 2 & 3, Gausman/Ray for instance.
2) We need an answer, not limbo, at catcher. Not Tucker Barnhart, not Pina, or another P/T catcher. An answer.
3) I disagree with the concept of stop-gap SS because there’s no telling how Volpe/Peraza will perform in MLB. If they don’t, we spent years with Freedy Galvis, or whatever, there and hurt the team. Order up a SS get it in place. If Peraza is ready in two years, we can be blessed with two good SS players.
4) We need a true CFer, and they typically come with great speed and get on base – a lot (ala Ketel or Sterling Marte). Hicks can rotate through other positions, give time off, or even be traded(?).
5) The team needs to reconcile with Voit or send him elsewhere. He’s going to be a DH, and imho, shore up 1B with a true 1B – Rizzo or Olsen.
I just broke Hal’s wallet, but if we want to claim we are constructed as champions, there it is.
Matt Olsen would be majestic in Yankee pinstripes playing first. Damn hadn’t even thought about him in that regard. That’s the guy they need to pull the lineup together, not Rizzo/Gallo.
I’ve never seen my team win a title 🙁
You’re a Bucs fan, they won a title just a few months ago! You didn’t watch the Superbowl?
Goo goo gaa gaa
Joe Says the truth! Moneyball is a farce that was promoted for ulterior motives.
Oakland Athletics = ZERO LCS GAMES WON AFTER 1992! Longest streak in the AL.
I’m definitely not a Yankees fan, but this is intentionally misleading. Let’s not just casually paper over the four rings they won from 1996-2000. Most fan bases are lucky to see one championship team over the course of 20 years.
In the last 20 yrs: WS titles, Bos 4, SF 3, StL 2 & 11 teams with 1.
The difference for NYY and LA is the $$$ spent over the Lux Tax, both should have done better if they spent wisely.
That’s not really a fair assessment considering two of the past five years were won with a distinct cheating advantage – both involved Cora, and coincidentally, he comes back and Boston is outperforming again!
Man, he’s so good……… or …
And Cora wins without using a YES TV camera and the bullpen phone.
The Yankees never cheat…
1. Re: the Apple watch cheating: “The Red Sox admitted to the wrongdoing after an investigation by MLB, which was first reported Tuesday by the New York Times.”
2. Manfred found it necessary to reach back to a prior year to fine the Yankees a lesser amount because Larry Rothschild used the dugout phone to ask the replay monitors if a particular pitch was a ball or a strike. He wasn’t stealing signs; but apparently Rob found it unbearable to only fine the Red Sox.
But that’s nothing new. Selig picked a member of Boston’s board of directors, George Mitchell, to head his “investigation” into PEDs in baseball. No conflict of interest there, right?
You know you have a sad life when you feel the need to constantly jump online a bash a team that isn’t even one of your team’s rivals. Enjoy watching yet another A’s rebuild kick off this winter!
You think he’s watching A’s games in the UK? At 3am or 4am? He’s just a troll.
“closed the gap” lmfao do the Yankees still think they are the gold standard to strive for?
Typical Yankees mentality.
“Closed the gap” assumes those teams were behind you. How about widened the gap? they were already ahead of you in terms of development. Delusional as always.
I made two predictions yesterday. First, I’d bet the Red Sox to win last night despite the betting line favoring the Yankees. Cole hasn’t looked right since the hamstring issue and Eovaldi has owned the Yankees. Second, Boone was managing his final game as a Yankee. He’s never had a feel for the bullpen and rarely shows a sense of urgency.
Strangely, this Yankee squad was held together by its pitching. The offense beyond Judge and Stanton was the problem, causing a parade of close games and tough losses. They’ll need to upgrade the offense.
Now sports betting is mostly legal in your country, instead of bragging to almost entirely anonymous people, make some money off your predictions next time!
Boone has zero sense of urgency. As the great Yogi would say you can’t win a division in April but you can lose it.
He’s a likable manager, but I’m consistently surprised at his managing strategies. If they don’t replace him, it’s a clear sign that all the shots are being called from the front office.
I think you nailed it lordd99
Yankees are a broken organization, many changes need to be made before they contend. Boone? Cashman? This team is built wrong!
A 92 win team is broke? I’d hate to see what a working team looks like.
Yeah Darth…..a 92 win team that gets blown away in one game by the red Sox. It’s not the score but anybody who watching that game knows the Yankees never had a chance….Just to repeat, they are simply not a team built for the playoffs…..where the pitching from other teams is superior…..
The best part was hearing the heartbreak from the ESPN crew in real time…. Also the worst part was hearing the ESPN crew in real time.
That’s why I pay for MLB Audio and listen to Joe Castiglione call Red Sox games
I see NY media is ripping on Boone, but I can’t find much on Cashman. How does he escape criticism at a time like this. I’ll ask Garrett Whitlock, the guy who got the final out, maybe he knows.
Because Cashman is a weasel. Cashman has spent years leaking negative stories about others in the org to the Yankees beat (he did it with Girardi at the end) in order for them to deflect blame away from him. If he thinks his job is in serious jeopardy (which it should be), he will 100% throw Boone overboard in order to try and save face.
Cole’s going to get killed for giving up 3 early runs, but the Yankees lineup really let them down here. I will say Stanton’s shots off the green monster would’ve been homers in the bandbox Yankee Stadiun. That’s why it’s important to win the homefield advantage. GG Sox fans. Condolences to the Yankees fans.
Those Stanton shots off the Monster would have been HRs in basically any stadium actually
More like maybe half the stadiums. In the others the hits would have been pop outs.
You guys don’t need to guess that info is available if you look for it.
I thought so too, but the announcers said 11 other ballparks. Which seemed like a very low number to me.
It’s hard to believe you could hit the ball any harder than his first shot. That would’ve been back of the BP at YS,.
Guess they should have beaten Boston during the season and thereby won the tiebreaker. Of course, Rizzo would have had a foul ball without the Pesky pole.
The one off Braiser had a 79% chance of being a home run in another park. The ball wasn’t carrying last night.
Plawicki ball is out at Yankee Stadium too, so it evens out. Game was played at Fenway for a reason.
Stanton’s shots off the wall would have been doubles by anyone not in a home run trot. If the throw had not gone to the plate, Stanton would have still been at first, even after looking foolish on the first one for not running. The only reason the throw went to nab Judge is when the ball arrived at 2B, Stanton wasn’t close enough to make a play on.
I’ve seen a couple of doubles run into singles because a player sits on home plate admiring his shot.
But twice in one game? I’ve never seen that before. It is do-or-die, and he stands there watching the ball bounce off the wall? and on the second one, if Bogaerts sees Stanton heading towards 2nd, it might have been enough to distract him from the throw home. Pure speculation, but still……..
Gardner needs to hold on to that 2.3 million for his dear life. He’s not good anymore.
If Gardner denies the player option at 2.3 and the Yankees decline their option he still gets half at a 1.15 buyout. Mlb minimum is almost 600k so he’s not gambling much by opting out.
Some body throws $1 million out there on a 1 year and hopes for a deadline trade if nothing else, pirates, orioles, etc
I promise you that nobody is ever going to trade for a 38year old Brett Gardner
Tigers should take on any salary for prospects. But alas, Al Avila…… enough said…..
Who plays CF the last few months? Love Gardy. Don’t know why Yankee fans hate so.
Judge played when he, Stanton, Gallo, Rizzo and Voit were all in the lineup, right? Honestly I didn’t understand why Judge and Gallo didn’t flip-flop, but not my call to make. Incidentally, after Voit came back the team was 17-9 in the games where he was in the lineup. Then they played a series in an NL park, and Boone. just stopped putting him in.. Even after they left Atlanta Boone would not do it.
Typo in your first paragraph. “A eternity by Bronx standards”
Should be “an eternity.”
Yankees keep showing that their current core isn’t good enough to win the championship. Time to make hard decisions…
Metsfan22 – great to see you can speak rationally about other teams but not your own. Yanks have hard decisions but the Mets are in a great spot for next year right? Mets had 15 more losses and finished 3rd in the worst division in baseball while the Yankees played in one of the toughest. Grow up and worry about your own team you sniveling little troll. Remember – we are all laughing at you, not with you.
The Mets did worse than the Yankees but I would argue they are easier to fix. We also don’t have an ace pitcher who will last like 2 innings in a big game.
Metsfan22- deGrom is great but you can’t pitch in big games when you don’t play in big games due to injury and your team being terrible. Mets have a ton of work to do as do list teams. Don’t kid yourself.
They really don’t have as much work as you think..
Metsfan22, At least our core isn’t constantly injured. When was the last time deGrom pitched.
Not a Mets fan but Stanton, Judge, Severino, Hicks, Voit, and Fraiser are all part of the core and are consistently injured.
Have you ever heard the saying “Throwing stones in a glass house”? Typicsl delusional Yankee fans, can always find faults with someone else team but can’t see the bigger picture with his own team? The Yankees have at least 6-7 guys from their core who are constantly injured compared to Degrom.
Such a tragedy.
I’d like to see Boone stay. Not because I don’t think he can win, but because he will always be a villain to me for 2003, and I can’t think of anyone more villainous to me that could manage NYY.
Did Gardy at least get to bang the bat on dugout roof??
“Closed the gap” or falling behind? Matter of perspective.
How long before Yankees’ fans start demanding Epstein replace Cashman?
Boone should stay. Cashman needs to hire a new assistant GM or something someone who will tell him all of his ideas aren’t very good. Britton, Gallo, Sanchez, Voit, and kluber need to go. They should look into moving Stanton if anyone is willing to take his money. They need to retain rizzo. He and judge are the only guys that can put a competent at bat together. They need to find a reliable 2 or 3 starter and an back of the rotation innings eater. On the FA market I would sign seager to play short for a year or two then move to third once volpe is ready and urshelas contract is done. Look into Marte or trading for ketel Marte to play center then adding depth to the pen and rotation. I the giants and red Sox showed this year that veteran depth is huge
Stanton was good for a 3.1 WAR while playing most of the year at DH. When he finally got into the field his numbers really took off. He had a slash line of 273/354/516 with 35 homers and 97 RBIs showing what he is capable of when he stays healthy. His health is also more likely sustainable (as is Judge’s) with the new training staff the Yankees hired last year.
BTW Rizzo went for 1.7 WAR 248/319/440 22 HR and 61 RBI for the year. He didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
Rizzo is already 32. His OPS+ the last two years :103 and 111. Subpar for a 1B. He wants big money after agreeing to a below market extension with the Cubs. If I were a Yankee fan, I would not advocate signing him.
Listening to ARod last (was painful, by the way) the Yankees need to sign Rizzo and Judge to long term deals and build the team around them. I don’t really think that is the answer to the Yankees problems
As a Red Sox fan I am all for bringing back Cashman and Boone no question. And for sure extend Judge with a Stanton like contract.
Atleast our incompetent manager didn’t cheat.
He had Beltran do the dirty work 🙂
Beltran was only on the yankees before 2017
Not true. Beltran rejoined the Yankees in 2018 after he retired as a player.
Time for Buck.
Yanks need a 1B,SS and a starter.
Rizzo and Volpe.
No need to sign a SS long term.
Id trade for a short term CF.
Time for new leadership. Cash made some terrible moves……again. Odor, Gallo, etc. no on base guys to drive in. Game has outgrown him.
Boone has been eliminated by the Red Sox in the playoffs twice in the last three seasons. Once would have been unacceptable to George, twice; he may rise out of the grave to fire Boone himself
*George Steinbrenner rises from grave, fires Billy Martin by accident*
strike out or home run. the Yankee way. Too many .200 hitters in this lineup. It’s like watching Costner in Tin Cup trying to hit the green. how about laying up boys and hit a couple double and singles to keep a rally going.
Not for nothing, the Rays had the most strikeouts this season in the AL. The Yankees were fourth on the list. Also, Yankees and Rays are tied for third in HRs. Yankees, however, are 13/15 in average (Rays are 7/15).
mlb.com/stats/team/american-league/on-base-percent…
Too bad for Yanks fans that they couldn’t have played the Twins.
1-Boone is gone. I don’t think this is even discussion-worthy.
2-Let Gardner pick up his $2.3M option. Considering that the buyout is half the cost of the contract, and that Gardner is still competitive at a position where they have issues, this is a no-brainer.
3-If you are ever going to have a chance to trade Stanton, this might be it. There is always a GM that thinks he will not age. This balances the team. Then you have an outfield that fits with Gallo, Hicks/Gardner/Judge. Move Voit to DH, and sign Rizzo for 1st.
4-Judge is an issue because of his age. he deserves a lot of money, but not a lot of years. Maybe $100M/4 (31-34), plus locking in his option year (30), plus an easy option year for age 35.
5-Not sure about his arm, but maybe DJ to 3B, Urshela to SS, and Torres to 2B? Not optimal, but the NYY have shortstops in the system. Trying to buy a top-tier SS might just be one more of those contracts that look good initially, but age quickly.
6-Sign Syndergaard, then it is Cole, Thor, Taillon, Monty, and maybe Gil or Cortes.
IMHO, this would be a good year to lay low, a bit like SD. You can still win, and still allow some of the more expensive contracts to age off.
Your proposals make the team worse, not better. You should know better that this team is always in win-now mode. Doing all the shifting in the infield makes above average players merely average. They absolutely need to go sign a SS. Thor is a big question mark which only replaces Kluber’s instability. Aging off contracts makes no sense since they all run for at least five more years. Then you’re left being in the same position.
Not Boone’s fault Cole pitched poorly. The third base coach needs to get his resume in order…
The problem with the Yankees isn’t that Cole had a bad game.
I don’t put all of the blame on Boone because leadership is responsible for the results of their choices but blaming the 2021 results on Cole, Gardner or, even worse, the third base coach is pretty crazy.
Gardner is trash. Never better then mediocre. Never a winner. A team pet. Should have been dropped 5 years ago. Best part of Yankees losing is never having to see him in uniform again. Good riddance.
I keep hearing comments about how badly we need to retain Rizzo to some kind of long term contract at 32 yrs of age. What about Matt Olson at 27 yrs, Lefty. and KILLER defense……..he is a free agent!!! And he hit 22 hr’s in 222 at bats vs. lefty pitching…..someone want to do the at/bat math on that one ?..lol
Not a free agent. he could be on the block, since the As have several expensive arb guys coming up, but he is not a FA.
Matt Olson is not a free agent. He is under Oakland’s control through 2023.
Every off season for the last several years I have hoped the Yankees would make changes to the roster. Once February rolls around again the Yankees come back basically the same roster. THIS ROSTER DOESN’T WORK!!!! Make some changes this off-season. The Yankees need starting pitchers that give them length. I don’t care if MLB is a BP league now. Get a legitimate lead off hitter. The Yankees should of gotten Lindor for Torres last off-season. Get rid of the all or nothing lineup. It doesn’t work. Every year the Yankees have injuries they thrive better because the guys they use have speed make better contact. If the fans can see the team playing better why can’t the front office. F the budget F the luxury tax. What ever happened to players wanting to come to NY. The Yankees never would have gotten Cole if they didn’t overpay. Has the Yankees lost the mystique or auro that comes with wearing the Pinstripes. Teams don’t even want to trade with the Yankees anymore hence the original Cole deal that cost them IMO a WS. If ownership wants to continue with the luxury tax BS then the Yankees need to do a better job at player development and drafting. Hire the best people in player development and analytics. The Steinbreners are not angry enough year after year for not getting a Championship then sell my team tomorrow. The Yankees are about Championships nothing else matters. This Steinbrener regime is killing the legacy that George built. This is roster is unacceptable and no more excuses need to be made. Don’t tell your fans this is best you can do. Don’t tell your fans the roster is what it is and changes can’t be done because of high salary players or unwanted players hard to move. Do whatever it takes this off-season. If changes won’t be made then it shows the fanbase ownership doesn’t care and is content. Make a bold move trade a Judge, release a Sanchez. Do something this off-season. THIS ROSTER DOESN’T WORK!!!!
Go all the way back to 1996 (the beginning of the last Yankee dynasty) the offseason leading into that season saw the Yankees sign or trade for:
Tino Martinez
Joe Girardi
Tim Raines
Mariano Duncan
Kenny Rogers
Dwight Gooden
Jeff Nelson
Jim Mecir
And in then in-season trades for Cecil Fielder, Charlie Hayes, and Luis Sojo to polish of the roster
No big money stars but good players that played well with the other players to make a good team
Wow I had completely forgotten that Fielder played for NYY!
Yeah I really respected that 1996 team, it was the only championship of the 5 that NYY didn’t buy.
I do stand corrected fellas…he is NOT a free agent…but make an offer Oakland can’t refuse (or maybe they can)…Put Voit in it….Billy Beane loves reclamation projects
Matt Olson is arb eligible, and won’t be a free agent until 2024.
Matt Olsen would be majestic in Yankee pinstripes playing first. Damn hadn’t even thought about him in that regard. That’s the guy they need to pull the lineup together, not Rizzo/Gallo.
Boone probably sucks, but more importantly, the Yankees are always in the playoffs. It could be worse than to be disappointed by a WS “drought”.
I mean realistically thinking, in any given year about a dozen (mostly big market) of the thirty teams have a chance to win it all, so big markets should expect a WS once every 15 years or so. Winning 4 out of 10 is nice, but it all balances out over time.
Yankees in the playoffs every year doesn’t matter. Yankees are about Championships. The Yankees are not the Rangers, Orioles, Tigers, etc. The Yankees more than most teams have standard and a legacy to live by.
Boone isn’t the problem. The team can’t score runs. That has been a problem for ten years. This season, there’s been curious moves such as:
Continuing to play Gardner over Greg Allen.
Allen’s slash – .270/.417/.432/.849
Gardner’s slash – .222/.327/.362/.689
The team defied logic in keeping Tyler Wade on the bench in favor of Urshela and/or Odor. Wade’s .354 OBP to go along with his great speed and superior glove begs the question,. “why”?
Urshela and Gardner shouldn’t be allowed to return. The team needs to empty their prospect basket (they have the ammo to do this) for Juan Soto and sign FA SS Carlos Correa.
I doubt the Yankees will do any of these because the biggest problem of all is the dispassionate, absentee owner in Tampa, who’s only concern is to remain under the tax line.
Boone is gone. The yanks m.o. in the playoffs is terrible at-bats. We strike out way to much. We need guys to make grind out meaningful ab’s. I dont know if its being such a ny fan for so long but you can literally tell how every inning will go for the yanks when their up to bat. Its disappointing. If Cashman stays, we need contact hitters , not “homerun hitters for yankee stadium”
Gosh, if the yankees had won last night, you’d all be talking about how you could beat the Rays. Seems like an awful lot swung on a single game. Fire in the belly. Seemingly, Cora has it, Boone does not. Again, it just seems that way. A team’s personality is affected by the manager. It’s just an observation.
Players like Gardner and his 220 average still around is a large part of the problem with the Yankees. I hope Cashman “ The Genius” hangs around and continues to perform poorly like the past 20 years. He won off Bob Watsons teams. He is HORRIBLE
Cashman has one year left on his contract. Hal is too cheap to fire him. He will extend Boone for 2022 with a salary cut and when they fail in 2022 fire them both so that the new GM can hire his own man.
Just my uninformed opinion.
We all know where this is going. Bringing both of them back next season, Cashman in particular, would be an awful move. But knowing Hal, that’s what he is going to do.
Hal needs to grow some balls and just fire Cashman already… then the new GM can decide on Boone’s fate.
I am not going to argue that Boone did a good job this past season since he didn’t.
With that being said, it is clear as day that Brian Cashman needs to be the first one to go this offseason. Hire a new GM and let them decide on Boone’s fate.
It’s now been 13 years since the last World Series appearance or championship and Brian Cashman has nobody to blame but himself. He consistently has a payroll advantage over 90%+ of the league, yet his roster building continues to get worse by the year.
Contrary to what most fans think, the main problem with Hal Steinbrenner hasn’t been his spending. He gives Cashman top-3 payrolls to work with more often than not.
It’s the fact that he remains absurdly loyal to underperforming and complacent employees like Cashman who should have been let go years ago.
It’s the way they spent it. Stanton? They didn’t need him. Ellsbury, nope didn’t need him. They like to get the bright shiny things and then are stuck on a budget with the lux tax. You can’t have it both ways. Spend big on what you need, not on what you want. Judge and his contract will continue the trend.
I mean Stanton is the least of their problems right now.
It’s time for the Yankees to let Gardner go. He was a great Yankee but his time has passed. Signing Judge to a long extension is tricky. After three years of not being able to stay on the field he finally does. That’s not a good barometer for health as he will be in his 30s with a new contract. Classy guy and I wish him well. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Boone should go.
Cashman has to go.
The lesson Hal should be looking at was when George was banned. Hire really good people and step away. Not loyal people, nice people, or people who have paid their dues. People who are so good they make you feel stupid.
Why is Hal not furious about several teams are better than the Yankees at analytics. 200+ Million payroll can’t beat TB with a payroll about 50. TB strikes out more than Yankees but TB is more athletic and are better contact hitters. TB play better fundamentals. What’s is going to take to get better people in the front office.
Because Hal doesn’t watch the games and carries himself with a country club mentality where accountability doesn’t exist. For some reason, he seems completely averse to having to make the effort to revamp a front office/hire a new GM and coaching staff.
Emac: Every good leader does that exactly (last sentence). The problem is that Hal may have done just that with these guys…and thinks they’re that good.
Boone’s winning percentage is .601, which is outstanding. I don’t believe he’s the only one that could achieve it though. The players all love Boone, but that can be good or bad, depending on exactly why.
My opinion is that both will be back. With Boone possibly on a shorter contract. If anyone goes, it may be Cashaman – after all, this is HIS team construction. If not for Rizzo/Gallo/injuries they would’ve been even worse off because the lineup was so RH heavy.
Cashman rode the coattails of Bob Watson and Gene Michael for years. Cashman has delivered one championship he can actually call his own and that was 12 seasons ago, which in Yankee time is like a century
Bob Watson rest his soup did nothing but add Cecil Fielder and maybe another trade. Don’t act as if Hob Watson was the architect. It was all Gene Michaels. Cashman has been a very good GM but they need to strip some power from him and his analytic nerd department and keep him away from all coaching decisions. Buck needs to be the next Yankee coach.
Rest his soul
Billy, you’re right on point with Watson. Gene Michaels was the man who built the 90’s Yankees dynasty. Cashman just rode his coattails through it.
Boone not Cashman, and they need a coaching staff that focuses on the basics. Bring in some speed instead of signing big lunky guys that get hurt. They like em big and slow on the Yanks.
Boone needs to go. The entire coaching staff needs to go. Cashman too but I doubt that will happen. Cashman can hire a manager that listens to him and the analytics but also understands in game management
Do they have a Gerrit Cole problem moving forward? That sure would be something if the only reason he was a sub 4 ERA pitcher was spider tack related.
Not so JD. After the ban on Spider Tack, he had a couple of mediocre games and got back to normal. Not quite as good as with the Spider Tack but still awesome.
His problem is with a hamstring injury he’s playing through.
The Yankees have a roster problem. TB has no superstars yet with Franco possibly being TBs Jeter very soon. Franco and a great group of complimentary players much like the Yankees in the late 90s. Blue Jays on the rise. The Yankees plain and simple could have the window closed and locked for this group. Next year miss playoffs and 4th in division.
Yes, and they should look to guys with the same attributes as that 90s team, including mentality (see Sonny Gray).
If Boone does indeed need to go, who would be the preferred manager. Have seen some comments about Buck Showalter. I have a lot of respect for him, but the question is, does he fall in the category of embracing all the potential data driven decisions that so many managers are currently making. Also can he relate to the younger players? Some managers have been fired because they couldn’t, and were labeled as “old school”.
Relate to the young players?
Still buying that sales pitch?
How about.those.young punks learn to respect the wisdom of their elders and seek guidance instead of being self-centered, self-righteous, self-agrandizing bat.flipping schiese heads….
Yeah, I said it.
How about some respect?
This team is a mess!
They need a SS, Catcher, Front end of the rotation starter, CF, 1B, and a redesigned bench.
In order to accomplish this they need a new owner one that is passionate about winning. Hal just isn’t the right man to run the Yankees.
They need a new General Manager first and foremost. Then they can address those things.
Cashman sucks and is the reason they are a mess right now.
Cashman and Hal are joined at the hip. Would be very difficult to get rid of Cashman as long as Hal is in charge.
Not ready to give up on Hicks but I agree that they need a SS, catcher, and SP. I hope the Yankees offer Taillon and Torres arbitration but trade them afterwards. Hal has been largely quiet this past season. I miss ol’ George.
They do not need a front end of the rotation starter or a first baseman.
Get a clue.
They don’t? The $36 million dollar man gave them 2+ innings on the exact big stage they signed him for. It was easier for Cole in Houston when Verlander was getting the big games.
Matt Olsen would be majestic in Yankee pinstripes playing first. Damn hadn’t even thought about him in that regard. That’s the guy they need to pull the lineup together, not Rizzo/Gallo.
I had a funny thought. If the Yankees had won on Tuesday, there would’ve been an identical article to this, but it would’ve featured Cora and Bloom. It would’ve had at least as many posts, and the same characters screaming for heads to roll.
Amazing the difference one game makes.
No, that wouldn’t have happened as the Red Sox weren’t expected to make the post season. At worst three would have been bitching about how Bloom didn’t do enough the trade deadline. But no one would have been calling for the firing of Bloom and Cora. Bloom basically has the Red Sox future looking bright, the same csno be said for Cashman.
One call to that dipper, Al Avila, in Detroit could solve all of the Yankee’s problems.
Need a manager? Al should have one for trade.
Need to dump salary?
Al s/b willing to take some on in exchange for prospects.
Need pitching?
Yankees need:
1. Fire Boone, He made many consecutive mistakes to lose games. He brought the same relievers to lose games. There were so many that we had arrived first in the east.
2.Fire Cashman: The first thing he did wrong was to give players to our main enemy the Red Sox. And bad transactions like Odor and Heaney.
3. Need a SS
4. Give young leagues prospects like Luis Medina, Luis Gil, Albert Abreu, Esteban Florial a chance, but don’t raise them today and lower them tomorrow. Don’t give it a real chance.
5. New Manager like Tony Peña o Bucky Dent.
6. New General Manager.
7. Fire Brett Gardner