Yankees manager Aaron Boone received public support from general manager Brian Cashman on Tuesday.
Ashley Landis | AP photo
SAN ANTONIO — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman sounded as if he intends to bring back manager Aaron Boone for an eighth season and defended his team from criticism by Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly over New York’s sloppy World Series defensive play.
“I’m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he’s a great manager and I think we’re lucky to have him,” Cashman said Tuesday at the general managers meetings.
Boone has led the Yankees to a 603-429 record, three AL East titles and one pennant in seven seasons. After the five-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last week, Boone said he hadn’t thought about his future.
Boone agreed in October 2021 to a three-year contract that includes a team option for 2025. Cashman said the deadline for the option is 10 days after the World Series and he envisioned discussing both the option and a new deal.
“I can’t put the cart ahead of the horse. We haven’t gotten there,” he said.
Cashman didn’t fault Boone for moves he made during the postseason.
“The manager’s job is so impossible, so you can play the game of second-guessing because you’re either going to make a move and it’ll be right, you make a move and it’ll be wrong and then have at it, right?” he said. “So I think he’s a really, really good manager. I think that we’re lucky to have him. He’s done a great job.”
Cashman acknowledged the World Series performance was a disappointment. The Yankees blew a 10th-inning lead in the opener when Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam off Nestor Cortes. After losing the first three games and winning Game 4, the Yankees wasted a 5-0 lead in Game 5 in a five-run fifth inning when center fielder Aaron Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe made errors and pitcher Gerrit Cole failed to cover first on an infield grounder. The Dodgers won 7-6 to capture the title.
“First and foremost, I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series,” Cashman said. “We all saw that and unfortunately our ‘A’ game didn’t show up when it counted the most.”
Kelly was limited to 35 games this season because of right shoulder inflammation and didn’t pitch during the postseason. He criticized the Yankees on his “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast.
“They got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,” Kelly said. “We were saying every single game: Just let them throw the ball into the infield. They can’t make a play. I mean, you saw Shohei (Ohtani) get an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber (Torres) play. It’s well known. We all knew. I mean, we’re the Dodgers. We know every little detail.”
“It was just a mismatch from the get-go,” Kelly added. “If we had a playoff reranking, they might be ranked eighth-or ninth-best playoff team. You know what I mean? You’re putting the Padres ahead of them, you’re putting the Phillies ahead of them, you’re putting the Mets ahead of them, you’re putting the Braves ahead of them — and the Braves just got unlucky because they had to play that doubleheader. You’re putting — I mean, the Guardians played like crap, but the Guardians played better, the better D (defense), better baseball all around.”
“I heard that,” Cashman said. “I also know people with the Dodgers, so I’ve got some internal conversations that I’ve got certainly feedback on. I think it’s more representative of some specific players rather than the overall group. And in Joe’s case, it feels like it’s for some reason, it’s a little personal, the way he’s out talking like he has.”
Cashman rejected criticism of the Yankees roster makeup, saying it’s natural that players are better at offense and not so strong at defense or base running.
“We’ve come across many a player that just aren’t good at bunting. As many times as you ask them to bunt and you practice bunting or whatever, they just aren’t good at it. And so at some point you manage the people you have,” Cashman said. “I remember having a conversation with one of my prior managers: ‘At some point you got to stop asking somebody to do something they’re not good at.’”
SOTO, ALONSO TALKS
Cashman has started talks with agent Scott Boras about keeping Juan Soto with New York, and they also discussed power-hitting first baseman Pete Alonso.
Cashman said he spoke Monday with Boras at the general managers meetings and revealed he had a conversation with Soto after the season, which ended with the Yankees losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
“I had a chance to thank him for everything and told him we’d be in touch,” Cashman said Tuesday. “And then since that time I’ve talked to obviously Scott, as well, and so he’ll get a feel for the dance steps that Juan Soto wants and he’ll keep us in the loop.”
A free agent at age 26, Soto is expected to command a contract of $500 million or more. New York acquired him from San Diego in December, and Soto hit .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 129 walks, combining with Aaron Judge to form a powerful 1-2 punch at Nos. 2-3 in the batting order. Soto’s three-run, 10th-inning homer in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series at Cleveland earned the Yankees their first pennant since 2009.
After the World Series defeat, Soto said: “I’m going to be available for all 30 teams” and “I don’t want to say anybody has any advantage.”
Cashman said New York is willing to meet with Soto as often as the player wants.
“We certainly have an interest in retaining him and we’ll put our best foot forward there,” Cashman said. “That will either lead to us retaining him and signing him back or we’ll be forced to go to a different direction if we can’t. And if we can’t, there’s a lot of different players in this marketplace that can positively impact this roster in different ways.
“Clearly that pressure point’s not on us today, but it does exist in the marketplace every winter, so those are the tough decisions you have to make,” he added.
Top free agents include Alonso and third baseman Alex Bregman, also represented by Boras.
In addition to the Yankees, the Mets under billionaire owner Steve Cohen and the Dodgers are among the teams that could afford Soto. Cashman wouldn’t express how much a rival the Mets are for Soto’s signature.
“They want to win. They’re in a large market with us. They had a taste of success this year and they want to move the needle even more forward,” Cashman said. “That’s just the nature of the beast, and big-market owners with deep pockets aren’t the only ones signing players to big deals. I mean, you’ve seen the San Diego Padres sitting out in the West Coast. They’ve imported a lot of big-time players with big-time contracts.”
