by Tim Kabel
October 16, 2023
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Whether you own a house or a car, at some point or another, something will go wrong. Something will break or stop working or have some other type of malfunction. You will then be faced with a dilemma as to whether you should repair the malfunction or replace the item. For example, one of the front burners on my stove is no longer working. I found out that if I were to replace it, it would cost almost as much as a new stove because it is part of a bridge burner. I would need to replace the front, back, and bridge burners together. Consequently, I am working with three burners without any real trouble. Sooner or later, we will all face this type of decision in our lives. Heck, these days it can even be applied to the human body. If you have chronic knee pain, for example, you may reach a point where it's better to have the knee joint replaced than simply trying various methods to ease the pain. The Yankees find themselves in that situation right now.
Aaron Boone is an ineffective and inadequate manager. There is really no arguing that. People can point to his won-lost record all they want. He has a very good team every year. However, he has never led a team to the World Series, let alone won one. In 2022, the team collapsed in the second half. This season, they were not very good all year long. They finished with 82 wins. If you look up the words inadequate and ineffective in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Boone, blowing a bubble next to the words.
Aaron Boone is under contract for one more year. He has managed the Yankees for six years. The management and fans of the Yankees set the bar high every season. Playing in the World Series is the goal every single year. Actually, winning the World Series is the goal. Playing in one would be acceptable but only as a worst-case scenario. Boone has come up short every season he has managed the team.
We were told that one of the reasons Boone was hired in the first place was because he was a magnificent communicator. He had worked as a broadcaster and was considered to be well-informed, glib, charming, and witty. Apparently, he used it all up in his interview because as a manager, he has been none of those things. He has been condescending, virtually inarticulate, brusque, dismissive, and uncommunicative in public. Based on the reports we hear, he doesn't communicate well with the players and quite possibly, the front office. If that was considered to be his greatest attribute when he was hired, and he has failed miserably in that regard. It seems that he is not up to the job.
Since I began writing for SSTN, I have been advocating the theory and practice of "Boone- proofing", which involves insulating the team from whatever mistakes, errors, or inanities Boone commits. No amount of "Boone-proofing" seems to be effective.
Going into this offseason, we have heard a lot from Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman about changes that will be made. The rumors indicate that Boone Is not in jeopardy of becoming one of those changes. But that is not certain. There have been some rumblings that Boone is on the hot seat. There have also been a lot of rumors that the Yankees want Boone to be tougher next year and to be more of a disciplinarian. In other words, they want to fix him. I don't think that's a very good idea.
I have worked in leadership roles for over thirty years. I have been a teacher, a coach, and a supervisor. One thing I learned very early on was that it's better to start out tough and to be a disciplinarian and then relax as you become more comfortable in your role. It is easier to loosen up than it is to toughen up. If you try to become a disciplinarian after not having been one for six years, no one is going to take you seriously, and the situation will only get worse. I'm not suggesting that the Yankees need a disciplinarian as a manager. Perhaps they do. The point is that asking Boone to become one suddenly is not realistic.
I think at this point the Yankees have to determine whether it is better to attempt to fix Aaron Boone as a manager or simply replace him. If their notion of fixing him is making him tougher, that won't work. Therefore, for many reasons, it is time to make a change. If they are bringing in new players and want a new attitude, a big part of that will be replacing the manager with someone who can communicate, make reasonable decisions, and actually manage a baseball team.
"Boone-proofing" is no longer a reasonable course of action. "Boone-removing" is the way the team should go now.
Here are the facts. The Owner likes both Boone and Cashman. The Yankees are profitable. Boone will remain the manager, and Cashman will continue on as the GM. Hal wants continuity and he doesn't want to interviene. Hal isn't really all in on winning a championship and he's absolutely proven that he values fiscally sound management over doing anything and everything possible to win.
Cashman does less with more than any GM in the game. Boone is the Yankees PR guy. His job is to talk to the media and be a players manager, while allowing the Micheal Fishman's analytics team to run the day to day stuff. Hal condones all of this, why wouldn't he? Winning championships is not…
Breaking news https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/16/sport/kim-ng-leaves-miami-marlins-mlb-spt-intl/index.html: Kim Ng is not returning to the Marlins, having turned down their team option, which may mean she can't work in baseball next year (you can't force people to work for you, but you can stop them working for others). But assuming she can work out a buyout, how awesome would she be as the new GM of the Yankees?
ETA Update: The Washington Post is reporting that it was a mutual option, that is, both sides had to agree to exercise it, not a one-sided team option. So that clears that up.
some field managers are better than others
some make better in-game decisions
some facilitate the integration of players' personalities, and help manage players' physical health better than others
they make subtle, but not negligible, difference.
a good field manager may even help the GM with player acquisition
but the GM and the GM's staff and the ownership assembles the players.
and it's the players who win or lose the games.
these things are obvious.
get a group of good and healthy players together and Mr Boone will manage a team that wins 100 games
give him a group of players beset with injuries and he'll appear to be Aaron the Unready
Getting on any manager in Baseball 2024, is stupid & wrong. As long as the front offices have control of the dugout, it doesn't matter who the named manager is. He doesn't have his own coaches. Billy Martin is not walking through the door together with his Pitching Coach, Art Fowler, or a real hitting coach being kept on, like Charley Lau or Kevin Long. He was brought in more to shield the front office from the media about the power/influence/control that analytics really has. He inherited a Bullpen Coach, a Pitching Coach, and handed a B Coach, bench Coach, & a hitting coach. Only the 3B could be called his decision. The front office has changed coaches, give…
Baboone is only a small part of the problem. Cashomoron needs to go ASAP. The GM for life is as incompetent as Hal is sackless!!!!!!