The New York Yankees have entered what is undoubtedly their most important offseason in 30 years.
Fresh off a disastrously disappointing 82-80 season, the Bombers have their work cut out to get back to true championship-level.
The brain-trust has been speaking to the media over the past few days – and they have been chippy and defensive as hell.
General manager Brian Cashman had a combative profanity-laced back-and-forth with reporters as he tried his best to defend his shaky decision-making.
Shoutout to Joel Sherman. He seems to be the only one calling out Brian Cashman’s complacency. pic.twitter.com/o5RLnySt3p
— Patrick Hennessy (@UnhingedPatrick) November 7, 2023
Owner Hal Steinbrenner also spoke to reporters, and just like Cashman, defended their process and the way they go about things.
Both seemed very annoyed that the public perception of the Yankees is that they’re far too dependent on analytics … They insist that while they do use analytics, they also allow manager Aaron Boone to act with his gut (a tactic that’s become virtually extinct in baseball).
“Look, analytics has taken a lot of heat – not justified, in my opinion,” Steinbrenner said.
“I think one of the misconceptions that’s out there, because I hear it from a lot of people, is that Boone makes every decision in the dugout during a game based on analytics. That’s just not true.”
“Analytics gives Boone and the coaches a lot of information; so do the pro scouts. It’s up to Boone during the game, when he puts the lineup together and then everything after, what he wants to do with all that information,” he said.
Hal Steinbrenner details the conversations he had in the offseason, including about Aaron Boone's future as manager and the inner works of the organization pic.twitter.com/7BNfWNvmLG
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 7, 2023
“Honestly, if you ask the analysts, they’ll probably say too many times Boone makes a decision during the game that’s based on his experience, what he’s seeing, his intuition.”
“Whether that’s accurate or not – I can assure you we don’t have an analyst standing behind Boone in the dugout telling him, ‘You need to pinch-hit here, you need to get this pitcher out of here, you need to steal a base.’”
“I know at least one other team that does have an analyst/coach in the dugout. I’m sure that manager’s hearing about numbers the whole game. But it’s not the case here, so I think people need to understand that.”
Steinbrenner also spoke of the potential additions they will look to make and just how aggressive they will be this offseason…
“There are changes that might be significant as far as we’re concerned or the players are concerned but might not seem too significant to [reporters] or the fans,” he said.
“But it’s all an effort to right this ship and be operating in the most efficient way and the most successful way that we can.”
“So we’re gonna start right up again at the player development level with everything we were doing a few years ago.”
Hal Steinbrenner: “We’re going to be active”
Hal’s definition of active: pic.twitter.com/wf0QYxhNkg
— ZT🗽 (@NY_EvilEmpire) November 7, 2023
Steinbrenner also admitted that the front office had to take a deep dive into evaluating if they should keep Boone as manager.
He said he sought the advice of current and former players as he contemplated whether to keep him or not.
“They all came to the same conclusion, which is Aaron is a good manager and should be our manager in 2024,” he concluded.
The Brian Cashman/Hal Steinbrenner quotes yesterday make me ashamed to be a Yankee fan. Never felt this way about the team before. I feel no desire to follow or root for them right now. It’s pathetic
— Tommy Smokes (@TomScibelli) November 8, 2023
What do you make of the Yankees mindset and approach?
Are they too arrogant and entitled? … Was a bigger shakeup needed?
Or do you trust their process and feel they will get things back on track?
Looking at the big picture, what do you think they need to do this offseason???