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Year Two with Aaron Boone and his Coaching Staff [2019 Season Preview]

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(Presswire)

Overall, Aaron Boone’s first season as Yankees manager was a success. The ending was disappointing, there’s no doubt about that, but the club won 100 games despite injuries (Aaron Judge) and unforeseen performance issues (Gary Sanchez), and the Yankees seamlessly broke in high-end youngsters like Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres. I think we all would’ve signed up for that at this time last year.

Boone’s on-field managerial style was very similar to Joe Girardi’s. He built his lineups the same way, meaning he sandwiched a lefty between his big righty bats (or vice versa) even though the off-hand player’s production suggested it wasn’t the best idea. He employed set bullpen roles and also rested his players on a schedule no matter what they did the day before. Everything we complained about with Boone we also complained about with Girardi.

Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner indicated the managerial change was made for communication reasons and, as outsiders, there’s really no way we can evaluate that. Boone is much better with the media than Girardi, which is not nothing, but it’s not what Cashman and Hal meant by communication either. They meant the behind the scenes work, including digesting and disseminating information provided by the front office.

As the Yankees prepare to begin the 2019 regular season, Boone no longer qualifies as a rookie manager but he’s not a grizzled veteran either. At the very least, nothing will be new to him. He’d been through Spring Training already, been through the grind of the regular season, and been through the postseason as well. Last year was the first time for everything. That isn’t the case now. Let’s preview the upcoming season to come in the dugout.

The Second Year Manager

The last time we saw the Yankees and Boone, he mismanaged the bullpen and the pitching staff in general to an embarrassing ALDS defeat. Starters were repeatedly left in too long and relievers were brought into situations that did not match their skill sets (Lance Lynn with the bases loaded and no outs? really???). There’s a pretty good chance the Yankees lose the ALDS anyway even with perfect managerial moves, but Boone was no help, and his moves left a real bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

“I hate to be too generic, but everything,” said Boone at the Winter Meetings when asked what he wants to do better going forward. “And I don’t know it’s so much self-evaluating as you go through the winter, every day is an evaluation. Every day you come in during the season, whether you won, whether you lost, whether a move worked out, you know, a decision made, hopefully you’re always taking stock of those things and evaluating, and putting into your experience and learning from it.”

Learning from those ALDS mistakes is imperative. We just won’t know whether it actually happened for a few months. Managing the pitching staff during the regular season is way different than managing the pitching staff during the postseason. Quick hooks and heavy bullpen usage works in October but not April through September. That’s a good way to burn everyone out during the summer. The regular season is a marathon, the postseason is a sprint, and they require different managerial styles.

“I think at times some of the (unpredictable) things that come across the desk almost on a daily basis, from minor things to things that are more serious, and how you handle those,” said Boone when asked what the biggest challenge was last season. “You never know how you’re going to handle those. And that’s a challenge. You’re never totally prepared, I guess, for all the different things that do come across on a daily basis. So I would say that’s the biggest challenge, the unknown of what’s around the corner … Things come up all the time that you’ve got to deal with in real time. That’s a challenge.”

I thought Boone was very good during the regular season. His on-field moves were almost indistinguishable from Girardi’s. They were so similar that I have to believe the front office has a lot of input into the day-to-day decisions. In the postseason though, Boone’s perceived inability to read the situation and react accordingly was impossible to ignore. It could be a learning experience and he’ll be better going forward, or it could be a sign his feel for the game is questionable.

As best I can tell, the players love Boone and the front office loves the way he and his coaches take the information they’re given and put it into practice. That was Girardi’s problem, apparently. With Boone, it seems everything went well in year one, and I bet things will go even better in year two now that he has some experience. What happens in the postseason? Who knows. That is a long way off, and yet it seems to be the only thing on everyone’s mind.

“As I sit here today, basically a little bit over a year after I was hired, and being at the Winter Meetings, last year I was learning people in the room’s names and what they did, and what are their values, who are they, how does this all work, who’s got a loud voice in the room, those kind of things. I have relationships with all these people now,” Boone added. “So hopefully I’m so much ahead of the game from where I was last year and hopefully we hit the ground running.”

The Same Ol’ Coaching Staff

Rothschild dresses like me when I go to the corner to get a bagel and coffee. (Presswire)

For only the second time in the last six offseasons, the Yankees did not make a single change to their coaching staff over the winter. Larry Rothschild returns for his ninth season as pitching coach, Mike Harkey is back for his fourth straight year (and tenth overall) as bullpen coach, and everyone else is back for year two. That includes bench coach Josh Bard, first base coach Reggie Willits, third base coach Phil Nevin, hitting coach Marcus Thames, assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere, and quality control/infield coach Carlos Mendoza.

There’s no good way to preview a coaching staff so I’m going to list some scattered thoughts instead. One, I’m curious to see what the Yankees and Rothschild have planned for James Paxton. He has a great fastball and he uses it a lot, but his curveball and cutter are pretty good too, so it seems like the potential for improvement with better pitch selection exists. The Mariners have no idea what they’re doing and I’m certain the Yankees acquired Paxton with the idea that they can help him be even better going forward. (Similarly, are any adjustments in the cards for J.A. Happ as he gets up there in age, especially if his fastball continues to lose spin?)

Two, will Nevin be any more aggressive or conservative sending runners? The Yankees were almost perfectly average across the board last year in terms of sending runners home. On one hand, you could argue Nevin should be more conservative going forward because the Yankees have so much power that they shouldn’t risk baserunners. On the other hand, there are bound to be times increased aggression would be worthwhile. It really depends on the situation. I think we might see runners held at tad more going forward.

And three, how much will the defense improve? Specifically Miguel Andujar at third base and Giancarlo Stanton in left field. Mendoza and Andujar work tirelessly on his third base defense. Stanton was much better in left as the season went on but there’s some room for improvement there. Giancarlo in left is a project for Willits. Ultimately, it’s up to the player to improve. Coaching only goes so far. That said, the coaches get praise and receive blame, so Andujar and Stanton will reflect on Mendoza and Willits.

It is basically impossible to evaluate coaches from the outside, so we wind up projecting player performance on to the coaching staff. Talent is the single most important thing and the Yankees have lots of it. They’re going to make the coaches look good. Boone could’ve used his talent better in the postseason last year, and I’m sure there are ways Rothschild, Thames, and the other coaches could help their players get more out of their ability. Seeing how (or if) it happens is part of the fun.

Yankees name Andy Pettitte special advisor to Brian Cashman

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(Presswire)

Welcome back to the Yankees, Andy Pettitte. Earlier today Pettitte was named a special advisor to GM Brian Cashman, the Yankees announced. Pettitte said Derek Jeter tried to woo him to the Marlins — Jorge Posada recently joined Miami as a special advisor — but he wanted to remain a Yankee.

“I spoke with Derek recently,” said Pettitte to Ken Davidoff. “Obviously that would be something fun you could consider, with a couple of my buddies doing that or whatever. But this is something that has been in the works for really five years. Hal (Steinbrenner) and Cash and the organization have really been so great to me.”

“I’ll take as much Andy as I can get,” said Cashman to Bryan Hoch. Pettitte told Jack Curry his role will be “as loose as you could imagine,” and will allow him to coach his son Luke’s eighth grade baseball team this spring. He’ll assist Cashman however needed on the Major League and minor league side. Typical special advisor stuff.

The Yankees have never been shy about bringing aboard former players as special advisors. The special advisor stable currently includes Pettitte, Carlos Beltran, Hideki Matsui, Reggie Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, and Nick Swisher, among others. I’d bet on Mariano Rivera getting the special advisor title soon as well.

A lesson to take from the Sonny Gray disappointment

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(Presswire)

The Sonny Gray era in New York came and went much faster than anyone could have expected. He was one of the 2017’s trade deadlines prizes: an already successful 27 year-old with two more seasons under team control. Aside from a rough 2016, Gray was excellent in Oakland and recorded a 3.42 ERA in 705 innings. Alas, Gray was not the same pitcher in pinstripes. He was decent down the stretch in 2017, but 2018 was an abject disaster. Enough so that the Yankees were ready to move on.

Hindsight makes for easy judgement, but the truth is that the Gray trade was a sound decision at the time. How he was handled after joining the club is where we can find fault. It’s also a learning opportunity. In this case: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Gray built his career relying heavily on his fastball and sinker, only going to a curveball or slider as needed. Once he joined the Yankees, that allocation changed.

Since 2015, Yankees’ hurlers have thrown 46 percent non-fastballs. That’s easily the most frequent in baseball, ahead of the second-place Dodgers (43.4 percent). This isn’t a coincidence. Gray, at least in the Yankees’ eyes, was the perfect pitcher to implement this philosophy. The thought was that he didn’t use his curveball or slider enough. Low usage and high spin rates undoubtedly enticed the Yankees, who saw the under-utilization as an opportunity. Instead, it might have been his downfall.

Marrying the Yankees’ philosophy to Gray’s pitch usage didn’t happen in earnest until 2018. Perhaps that’s why Gray was actually decent in the second half of 2017 (3.72 ERA). Although Gray still leaned on hard pitches in 2018, the gap substantially shrunk. For all the debate about having Austin Romine as his personal catcher and whether or not he could handle the Big Apple, maybe more fault should be on the shoulders of the team.

Going forward, the Yankees are unlikely to abandon this pitching style. Hitters have more success against fastballs, so the evidence is in the team’s favor. However, if there are any takeaway from the Gray Saga, it’s that a one size fits all approach isn’t for the best. Sure, a pitcher could have excellent underlying Statcast metrics on his curve or slider, but that doesn’t mean those pitches need to be thrown more often. If a guy has had past success without throwing them at a high rate, why change? Making drastic adjustments for a struggling pitcher or one who doesn’t have a good fastball is one thing. That wasn’t the case for Gray.

On the bright side, the acquisitions of J.A. Happ and James Paxton are of some solace. Granted, neither have breaking balls with elite spin rates like Gray, so it’s not like the Yankees were going to try anything new. Rather, it’s the fact that the Yankees were willing to trade for them despite not aligning with the club’s pitching blueprint. Happ and Paxton go to their heat around 75 percent of the time, yet that didn’t scare the Yankees away. Perhaps this is an indication that the Yankees no longer feel the need to find guys that they can mold into their vision. Whatever the case may be, I don’t think they’ll try changing anyone’s pitch usage again anytime soon, unless it’s a last resort.

Report: Yanks hiring Carlos Beltran as special assistant to GM

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(NY Daily News)

According to Mark Feinsand, the Yankees are adding Carlos Beltran to their front office as a special assistant to GM Brian Cashman. The team has not yet announced the hire. There’s no reason to doubt Feinsand’s reporting, but, if you do, Joel Sherman confirmed it as well. It’s happening.

Beltran, now 41, retired as a player and spent last season home with his family after winning the 2017 World Series with the Astros. He interviewed and was one of six finalists for the Yankees’ managerial job last winter. Here’s what I wrote in my thoughts post soon after Aaron Boone was hired:

6. Speaking of the front office, I think the odds are pretty darn good the Yankees will hire Beltran as a special advisor to Brian Cashman, similar to Hideki Matsui. I think that’s why they brought him in for the managerial interview. To show him respect and to show him he’s wanted. Matsui has been a special advisor to Cashman for three years now and his duties include, among other things, going around and working with prospects in the minors. I know Beltran said he wants to manage, but going from player one year to manager the next is a huge jump, and was probably never all that realistic. A special advisor role is much less demanding. There’s less travel and more time at home with the family, which a recently retired player figures to appreciate. But he also gets to stay in baseball and begin the second phase of his career. Matsui and Beltran are very similar. They are dignified and very highly respected, and have a lot of baseball knowledge to offer. The Yankees could bring Beltran aboard as a special advisor with the promise that if a coaching or managerial job opens somewhere around the league, he’s free to leave. He can work with players up and down the organization, particularly Latin American players, in the meantime. Beltran is someone worth having in the organization and I think the Yankees let him know they want him during their interview, even if they didn’t name him their manager.

Beltran’s responsibilities as a special assistant are unknown but I’m certain the Yankees will put him to good use and he’ll be asset. As far as I’m concerned, people as knowledgeable and respected as Beltran are always welcome in the front office. He’ll have a big impact on players throughout the organization, especially Latin American players. I don’t even need to know what Beltran will be doing to declare this a great hire.

Like pretty much every other team, the Yankees have many ex-players serving as special assistants, though their ex-players are more well-know than everyone else’s. Beltran joins Reggie Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, and Nick Swisher as a special assistants/special advisor, among others.

The Coaching Staff [2018 Season Review]

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Mike Harkey won Players Weekend. (Presswire)

Along with a new manager came a (mostly) new coaching staff in 2018. And similar to their new manager, the Yankees went young and inexperienced with their coaching staff. Veterans Tony Pena and Alan Cockrell were let go and Yankees lifer Rob Thomson was allowed to join the Phillies after being passed over for the manager’s gig. Five of the seven coaching positions were turned over — the five new coaches combined for six years of prior MLB coaching experience — and an eighth was added.

Evaluating coaches is almost impossible from the outside. Generally speaking, all we do is project player performance onto the coach. So much of a coach’s work — all of the coach’s work, really — takes place behind the scenes. With the manager, we look at lineups and bullpen moves. With coaches we look at, uh, player performance? That’s really it. And coaches are coaches, not miracle workers. They can do all the teaching in the world. Ultimately, it’s up to the player to listen and execute. So, with that in mind, let’s review the year in the coaching ranks.

The Holdovers: Larry Rothschild & Mike Harkey

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bullpen coach Mike Harkey were the only holdovers from Joe Girardi’s staff. The only holdovers who remained in the same role, I should say. I thought Harkey was a goner for sure. He and Girardi have been extremely close dating back to their days as players with the Cubs. They’re tight and I assumed — incorrectly — that Harkey would be shown the door once Girardi was cut loose. Instead, Harkey remained.

There was never any talk about replacing Rothschild. In fact, it was made clear Rothschild would remain pitching coach no matter who the Yankees hired as manager. The Yankees love the way he blends hands-on instruction with analytics. Rothschild has been the pitching coach since 2011 and, since then, the Yankees lead all teams in pitching WAR (+167.1) and they’re third in park adjusted ERA (93 ERA-). This season’s ranks:

  • ERA: 3.78 (10th in MLB)
  • FIP: 3.63 (3rd)
  • ERA-: 87 (4th)
  • FIP-: 82 (2nd)
  • K/BB: 3.31 (5th)
  • WAR: +26.6 (3rd)

Yankee Stadium is very hitter friendly — very home run friendly, more accurately — and that inevitably skews numbers. Adjust for the ballpark and the Yankees were again among the top run prevention teams in the game in 2018. They allowed the fifth fewest run in the American League this past season. Every year, without fail, the narrative is the Yankees need pitching. And, also every year, they manage to finish with some of the best run prevention numbers in the game.

Rothschild and Harkey are a team. The bullpen coach does a lot more than answer the phone. They both have a role implementing strategies — the anti-fastball plan is one of the most extreme pitching philosophy shifts in recent memory — and helping pitchers through inevitable bumps. Some struggles are uglier than others. Getting Luis Severino on track is a top priority going into next season. By and large, the Yankees get good work on the mound, yet much of the time all the talk is about the Yankees needing pitching.

The Promoted Coaches: Marcus Thames & P.J. Pilittere

The Yankees have been grooming Thames for their big league hitting coach job for years now. His playing career ended in 2011 and he joined the Yankees as a coach in 2013. His roles over the years:

  • 2013: High-A Tampa hitting coach
  • 2014: Double-A Trenton hitting coach
  • 2015: Triple-A Scranton hitting coach
  • 2016-17: Yankees assistant hitting coach
  • 2018: Yankees hitting coach

Thames worked his way up the coaching ladder and along the way he worked with the organization’s top young players, from Aaron Judge to Gary Sanchez to Greg Bird. The same is true with Pilittere, who joined the Yankees as a coach after his playing career ended. He was the hitting coach one level below Thames these last few seasons and followed him up the ladder:

  • 2012: Gulf Coast League hitting coach
  • 2013: Low-A Charleston hitting coach
  • 2014: High-A Tampa hitting coach
  • 2015-16: Double-A Trenton hitting coach
  • 2017: Triple-A Scranton hitting coach
  • 2018: Yankees assistant hitting coach

The Yankees were second in baseball with 851 runs scored this season and they almost certainly would’ve been first (the Red Sox scored 876 runs) had Judge and Sanchez not missed so much time. The team’s park adjusted 111 wRC+ tied the Dodgers for the best in baseball. The Yankees combined baseball’s second highest walk rate (10.0%) with a league average strikeout rate (22.7%) and absurd power numbers this year. Why? Because of the players. Not so much the coaches. Thames and Pilittere have extensive experience with the team’s core young players and that’s an obvious plus.

The New Bench Coach: Josh Bard

Boone & Bard. (Presswire)

The Yankees hired Bard away from the Dodgers to be Boone’s right-hand man and he checked all the boxes. He’s a former player, he has front office experience (special assistant with the Dodgers from 2013-15), and he has coaching experience (Dodgers bullpen coach from 2016-17), so he’s done a little of everything. He can relate to players and fellow coaches on several different levels. Bard is seen as a rising star in the coaching and managerial ranks.

His first season as bench coach went … okay? I guess? How could anyone tell? There was some thought Boone would benefit from an having experienced bench coach, but if the Yankees wanted someone experienced pulling the strings, they would’ve hiring an experienced manager. The information that flows from the front office to the coaching staff has to be dissected and disseminated to the players. Some players like data. Some hate it. Bard helps provide that personal touch to get through to everyone. How’d his season go? Seemed okay to me. Shrug.

The New Third Base: Phil Nevin

Finally, a coaching performance we can kinda evaluate statistically. Nevin and Boone grew up together but this wasn’t a case of the Yankees hiring the manager’s buddy. Nevin managed several years in the minors and was the Giants third base coach last season. He’d interviewed for several managerial jobs in the past too. Nevin was more than qualified for the job.

So anyway, what does the third base coach do? He sends or holds runners rounding third, for the most part. There are some other job requirements but that’s the most visible one. The Yankees had 19 runners thrown out at the plate this past season and that was right in the middle of the pack. Fifteenth most in baseball. What about his holds and sends though? Some numbers:

Yankees MLB Average
Runner on second stops at third on a single 39.0% 37.3%
Runner on second scores on a single 57.3% 58.9%
Runner on second thrown out at home on a single 3.7% 3.8%
Runner on first stops at third on a double 53.3% 54.8%
Runner on first scores on a double 44.1% 42.5%
Runner on first thrown out at home in a double 2.6% 2.7%

Average across the board. A percentage point or two away from average in either direction equals average to me. It’s not a big difference. So, on one hand, Nevin did a good job not getting Yankees thrown out at home more than they should’ve. On the other hand, Nevin didn’t really get the Yankees any extra runs with his sends. He was, well, average.

A case could be made Nevin should be more conservative going forward, meaning he should hold runners at third at a higher rate than the league average because the Yankees sock so many dingers that it’s not worth the risk of having a runner potentially thrown out at the plate. Personnel obviously matters (Brett Gardner has a better chance to score from first on a double than Gary Sanchez, for example) but that’s the idea. Play it safe and let ’em swing away.

That said, we’re only talking a handful of baserunners here. Again, the Yankees had 19 runners thrown out the plate this past season. That’s not many in the grand scheme of things. Holding five or six of them might lead to a few extra runs over the course of a season, but probably not. Point is, the Yankees did not have an exorbitant number of runners thrown out at the plate in Nevin’s first season as third base coach. They were as average as can be.

Personally, my favorite Nevin moment came in April after the Joe Kelly-Tyler Austin brawl at Fenway Park. When asked about the brawl, Nevin said “I’m going to wear less layers tomorrow because geez I look fat with my sweatshirt, my jersey, and all that” after the game (video link). Love it. Others enjoyed Nevin laying into the team in the dugout for sloppy play in an August game. It didn’t do anything — the Yankees lost that game and the next four — but it was the thought that counts.

Nevin is an old school baseball dude. He is the ying to Boone’s and Bard’s yang. They’re the new age analytic types. Nevin is the opposite. It’s good to have that balance on the coaching staff, I think.

The New First Base Coach: Reggie Willits

Willits spent several years in the farm system as an outfield and baserunning instructor and the Yankees elevated him to the big league staff this year. The first base coach times the battery for basestealing purposes. He literally times the pitcher’s delivery. That combined with the catcher’s pop time tell you whether attempting to steal with a certain runner makes sense. The Yankees went 63-for-21 (75%) stealing bases this year. The league average stolen base success rate was 72.1%. So I guess Willits did a good job there.

Moreso than the stolen bases as first base coach, Willits had two big projects as the outfield instructor this year. One, he had to prepare Giancarlo Stanton to play left field. Stanton had some noticeable blunders early, thankfully all in meaningless Spring Training games, but by midseason he looked comfortable out there. I didn’t think it would take Stanton long to adjust and it didn’t. I’m sure Willits helped with that adjustment to some degree.

And two, Willits had to give Neil Walker a crash course in the outfield. Judge and Clint Frazier were hurt in August and Stanton was nursing his hamstring injury, plus Shane Robinson wasn’t cutting it, so the Yankees threw Walker into the fire in right field. He had 14 career games worth of outfield experience at the time, all in Triple-A in 2010. Walker did about as well as the Yankees could’ve hoped. He caught the balls he was supposed to catch and not much else. Willits was in charge of making it happen.

The New Quality Control Coach: Carlos Mendoza

The Yankees added a new coaching position this season. Officially, the title is Quality Control Coach/Infield Instructor. A few teams these days have a Quality Control Coach, whatever that is. The Yankees promoted Mendoza, their longtime minor league infield coordinator, into that role. Similar to Willits and Mendoza and Pilittere, Mendoza had been in a farm system for a few years and had worked with many young Yankees.

His primary focus this season was working with Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar on their defense. Gleyber was still relatively new to second base when he was called up and, well, Andujar needs a lot of help. Mendoza was out on the field every single afternoon working with Andujar. In my limited time as a BBWAA dude, I’ve never seen a player take that many ground balls before games. Mendoza was very persistent, if nothing else.

What’s Next?

The entire coaching staff is coming back next season. Brian Cashman confirmed that a few weeks ago. Well, the Orioles still don’t have a manager or coaching staff (for real), so I suppose Baltimore could pry one the Yankees’ coaches loose, but it seems unlikely. Not much more to say than that, really. The Yankees were quite good this season and, as far as I can tell, the coaches did fine work.

The Rookie Manager [2018 Season Review]

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(David Maxwell/Getty)

Following a wildly enjoyable 2017 season, the Yankees took a leap of faith. They parted ways with longtime manager Joe Girardi, a proven and successful big league skipper, and opted to replace him with a rookie. We just didn’t know which rookie. The Yankees interviewed six managerial candidates and only one, Eric Wedge, had prior experience as a big league manager.

The six managerial candidates: Wedge, Carlos Beltran, Aaron Boone, Hensley Meulens, Rob Thomson, and Chris Woodward. The original plan was a first round of interviews with the front office, then bringing two or three finalists to Tampa to interview with ownership. The second part never happened. The Yankees were so blown away by Boone that they skipped the second round of interviews entirely.

“When we had the opportunity to speak with Aaron and share concepts and ideas, he was able to showcase a variety of traits that we believe will strongly benefit this franchise as we move forward, including an astute mind for the game and a progressive approach to evolving strategies,” said Brian Cashman. “We also believe Aaron’s interpersonal skills and baseball pedigree will allow him to blend well with the systems we have in place, our baseball operations staff and the 25-man roster.”

Boone added: “Words cannot express how humbled I am to wear the pinstripes again as the manager of the Yankees. I want to thank the Steinbrenner family and Brian Cashman for entrusting me with this tremendous honor and responsibility. I believe we are entering into a special time in New York Yankees history, and I am so excited to be a part of it. I can’t wait to get to work – and that work starts now.”

Boone’s first season as a big league manager was a success, generally speaking. The Yankees went 100-62 despite losing Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez for long stretches of time, which essentially matched their 99-63 expected record based on run differential. The Yankees exceeded expectations last season under Girardi but they did underperform. They went 91-71 while their run differential pegged them as a true talent 100-62 team.

En route to winning those 100 ballgames, Boone showed his inexperience at times, especially in the postseason. The Yankees won the AL Wild Card Game before being bounced in the ALDS in four games. No loss is ever fully on the manager — the players play, after all — but Boone made life unnecessarily difficult along the way. Let’s review his first season as an MLB manager.

Different Manager, Same Strategies

If nothing else, Boone indicated a willingness to be creative in Spring Training. He talked about using his setup relievers interchangeably. He toyed with batting Judge leadoff against left-handed pitchers. He expressed a dislike for personal catchers. It was music to my ears. Boone’s words made him seem like the platonic ideal of a modern manager. Finally, some creativity would come from the dugout.

Instead, none of that happened. During the regular season the 2017 Yankees and 2018 Yankees were virtually identical in terms of on-field strategy. Consider:

1. Boone had an Eighth Inning Guy. Dellin Betances, specifically. Girardi loved his defined bullpen roles. He had a set Eighth Inning Guy and, whenever possible, a set Seventh Inning Guy as well. Boone talked about using his guys interchangeably. Instead, Betances was the Eighth Inning Guy and David Robertson was the primary Seventh Inning Guy until Zach Britton came along. Chad Green doubled as the Fifth & Sixth Inning Guy. Those same bullpen roles that existed under Girardi existed under Boone.

2. Splitting up same-side hitters was important. So important that Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, two of the most fearsome hitters on the planet, batted back-to-back only 35 times in the 113 games Judge was healthy. (I would’ve guessed it was fewer than that.) Most of the time Boone squeezed Didi Gregorius between Judge and Stanton to break up the righties. Aaron Hicks hit third a bunch of times as well. Girardi always sought to split up his left-handed bats in the lineup, even if it meant squeezing an inferior hitter between two lefties. Boone did the same thing, only he had to split up righties because his roster is right-handed heavy.

3. About those personal catchers. “We’ve got an elite level catcher. We’re not going to sit down and get into the personal (catcher) stuff,” Boone said in Spring Training. Five starts into his season — five! — Sonny Gray had a personal catcher in Austin Romine. Gray had terrible numbers with Sanchez, so the Yankees paired him with Romine, and wouldn’t you know it? Sonny was pretty terrible with Romine too. Sanchez missing time contributed to this to some degree, but, even when he was healthy, it was Romine paired with Gray. Girardi had an affinity for personal catchers and I always assumed it was an ex-catcher thing. This year, it happened again, even when it shouldn’t have.

4. Rest. Rest rest rest. About three hours before every game, without fail, is lineup complaining o’clock. The lineup comes out and the same refrains pop up on social media. Why is this guy sitting? Why is that guy playing? Why is he batting so low? Day after day after day. I admire the folks who have the energy to complain about the lineup every single day. I really do. Complaining about the lineup is a baseball fan birthright. Everyone does it. Some more than others.

Like Girardi, Boone gave fans plenty of reasons to complain about his lineups. He rested his regular players often — the only notable exception was Stanton, who started 85 straight games at one point this past season — and those rest days were usually predetermined. I specifically remember Greg Bird hitting two home runs on June 29th and sitting on June 30th as a day with louder than usual lineup complaints. The rest plan doesn’t change.

Also, the rest thing applies to the bullpen as well. Only 75 times this season did Boone use a reliever on zero days rest, the fourth lowest total in baseball. Last season Girardi used a reliever on zero days rest only 79 times, the third fewest in baseball. The year before that it was 99 times, the 12th fewest in baseball, but they were only a handful of games away from being bottom five again.

Point is, the Yankees don’t use their relievers on back-to-back days often. That was true under Girardi and it was true again under Boone this year. The Yankees prioritize rest. Also, under Boone, the Yankees employed the same old assigned inning bullpen roles and made sure to split up same-side hitters in the lineup. They also used a personal catcher when deemed necessary. Different managers, same strategies. From my thoughts post on the Boone hiring:

I don’t think there will be a meaningful difference between Girardi and Boone in terms of on-field strategy. The lineup kinda writes itself, at least through the top six spots or so, and the bullpen is deep enough to survive the rookie manager’s learning curve. The front office has a lot of input into that stuff anyway.

And wouldn’t you know it? There wasn’t a meaningful difference in strategies between Girardi and Boone, at least during the regular season. Everything the Yankees did under Girardi, from the rest to the bullpen roles to the lineup construction, was the same under Boone. That strongly suggests — but does not confirm — the front office has a huge role in the day-to-day operations. I’m not saying the front office dictates moves. But I am certain they help set strategies and lay out guidelines.

Why make the managerial change then if the strategy was going to remain the same? Communication, presumably. That was the buzzword when Girardi was let go and Boone was hired. The Yankees wanted a better communicator to connect with their young team and, by all accounts, they got it. We’ll never know what goes on behind the scenes, but Boone is much more personable than Girardi and easier to talk to. That’s what the Yankees wanted. Improved communication. The on-field strategy was never going to change all that much.

Postseason Buffoonery

The Yankee manager and the next Yankee manager. (Getty)

We’ll always be able to quibble with individual moves but the big picture strategy was the same under Boone this year as it had been under Girardi the last few years. The difference between the two really showed up in the postseason, where Boone’s inexperience was on full display. He was not the reason the Yankees were knocked out in the ALDS — it was a team effort — but Boone was certainly a factor.

To me, Boone made three glaring mistakes in the postseason, one of which he repeated multiple times. I’m going to rank those mistakes and not in terms of how much they hurt the Yankees. I’m going to rank them according to the logic behind the move, or lack thereof. In baseball, you can do everything right and still lose. Or you can do everything wrong and still win. In the postseason, Boone did a lot of things wrong and lost.

1. Lance Lynn with the bases loaded? Seriously? Good gravy was this bad. With the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth inning of ALDS Game Three, and the Yankees already down three, Boone went to Lynn to escape the jam. Not a high strikeout reliever like Robertson or Betances or Green, or even a ground baller like Britton. He went to Lynn, a fastball only pitcher against a lineup that hammered fastballs. Predictably, Lynn allowed all three inherited runners to score and then some.

Going to Lynn in that spot showed a basic lack of understanding of the available personnel. We hear and talk about matchups a lot in baseball and it all boils down to matching up skill sets. Other relievers in the bullpen had the skill set more likely to escape a bases loaded, no outs situation, specifically the ability to miss bats and avoid balls in play. Lynn has bullpen experience but he has been a starter primarily throughout his career. Boone went to him in an unfamiliar situation rather than a reliever who could get a strikeout. It was bad. Bad bad bad.

2. Too long a leash. This happened three times in five postseason games. The first time Boone got away with out. He sent a laboring Luis Severino back out for the fourth inning in the Wild Card Game — Severino had not yet allowed a hit, but he was walking people and running deep counts — and he quickly allowed two hits. The Yankees were up 2-0 at the time and suddenly the go-ahead run was at the plate. Betances bailed Boone (and Severino) out there. I thought Severino should’ve been done after the third. I said it at the time.

In ALDS Game Three, Boone again left Severino in far too long. Severino allowed three runs in the first three innings and was sent back out in the fourth, which led to the bases loaded jam Lynn inherited. One day later, in Game Four, Boone stuck with CC Sabathia in the third inning even though the Red Sox were putting good swings on him and Sabathia generally wasn’t sharp. Four of the seven men Sabathia faced that inning reached base with several loud outs mixed in. The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead.

“You always kind of work through things or play out things differently, because a lot of times decisions you make are not just black and white,” Boone said prior to Game Four. “So you kind of evaluate those and think about those and hopefully analyze always and kind of sharpening the process as far as those decisions are made.”

“Sharpening the process” did not happen. Boone repeated the same mistake — sticking with his starter beyond the point where it was clear he was not the best option — on back-to-back days. After Game Four he said the plan was to stick with Sabathia through Jackie Bradley Jr., the final batter in that third inning, to get the left-on-left matchup. The plan was to get the Sabathia vs. Bradley matchup no matter what happened before that. Things were not going according to plan and Boone failed to adjust. He failed to see what was happening right in front of him. For the second day in a row.

3. Andujar stays on the bench in Game Four. This really bugged me even though it wasn’t as egregious as the Lynn fiasco or the long leashes. As the Yankees rallied in the ninth inning of ALDS Game Four, extra-base hit machine Miguel Andujar stayed on the bench. Luke Voit and Neil Walker were both allowed to hit that inning and hey, both reached base, but I saw those as prime pinch-hitting opportunities. The Red Sox pounded Voit with high velocity right-handed fastballs and Craig Kimbrel was on the mound. Walker simply is not as good a hitter as Andujar at this point of his career. Andujar instead stayed on the bench and the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up never played in the game that sent the Yankees home for the offseason. Argh.

In the most basic terms, a manager’s job is to put his team in the best position to win. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s baseball. In the postseason, it’s awfully hard for me to see how Boone put the Yankees in the best possible position to win. He was far too patient with his starters, the Lynn decision was inexplicable, and leaving a hitter like Andujar on the bench as the team attempts a last gasp comeback was a blunder. There was a decided lack of urgency on Boone’s part. A lack of urgency and the inability or unwillingness to adjust on the fly. The regular season was more of the same. In the postseason, Boone’s inexperience was very costly and impossible to ignore.

What’s Next?

“I thought he did a great job. He’s a special person,” said Cashman when asked about Boone’s performance during a radio interview soon after the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason. “Dropping him into the middle of this environment and doing the job he did was remarkable, so I would give him A’s across the board.”

That’s a general manager sticking up for his guy. Nothing more. Boone doesn’t deserve an A for his performance, especially not during the postseason, and frankly grading a manager isn’t easy anyway. All we see are the on-field decisions. The lineups and bullpen moves, etc. We don’t see what happens behind closed doors in the clubhouse, on the team plane, and at the hotel. That is just as important as the on-field stuff, if not more.

The Yankees were never going to fire Boone after one season and, even if they were, they would’ve done it already. We’re in December now. Boone will be back next season and, if I had to put money on it right now, I’d bet on him being back in 2020 as well. The Yankees love Boone and they knew they were getting an inexperienced manager. They’re going to give him a chance to grow.

Should a team that is ready to win now be willing to wait for an inexperience manager to learn the ropes? It is a fair question. Windows can close quickly in this game. You don’t want to waste time grooming a manager when you have guys like Judge, Stanton, Severino, Sanchez, Hicks, and Gregorius in their primes. The Yankees determined Boone was worth the wait. That he showed the underlying skills to become a top notch manager. Not a whole lot has to change in regular season, if anything. The Yankees must hope Boone learns from his postseason mistakes though.

“I know any manager we’ve had — whether it’s in the postseason or not — is gonna be subjected to second-guessing,” added Cashman. “That comes with the job and the territory, especially when you don’t win. But I feel like, given the circumstances, we were very lucky to run into him. I (worked) with (Joe) Torre for ten years, Girardi for ten years. I’m hoping I’ll be here for ten (more) years, but I’m hoping (Boone) has a good ten-year run for the Yankees.”

The Yankees Will Get A Better Haul for Sonny Gray Than You Think

by

(Presswire)

Brian Cashman, so the saying goes, is a ninja. The reputation is deserved: Yankee moves often materialize quickly and (from our perspective) out of nowhere. The organization as a whole rarely tips its hand with regard to its plans – an impressive feat considering the hyper-intense media environment in which it operates. That is why Cashman’s statements on Sonny Gray, which make it abundantly clear that the Yankees will trade him, have been so surprising.

Cashman’s candor began in earnest last August when he told Michael Kay that “if he winds up somewhere else pitching, he’s going to be pitching extremely well because the equipment is all there, the stuff is there, (but) consistently it’s not playing out right here.” Considering the fact that the Yankees were in the midst of a playoff push, this is about as honest as Cashman could be at the time without outright giving up on a member of the team.

This trend has continued since the end of the season. On October 12, just three days after the Yankees premature postseason exit, Cashman used his annual end-of-the-year press conference to once again make it clear that Gray is persona non grata. “To maximize his abilities,” Cashman said, “it would be more likely best [for him to be] somewhere else.”

As if that wasn’t straightforward enough, Cashman slammed Gray once again last week at the GM Meetings in Minneapolis. The Yankee GM told New York Post reporter Joel Sherman that the team is “going to move him if we get the right deal because I don’t think it is going to work out in the Bronx.”

Cashman’s uncharacteristic candor over Gray is certainly surprising, but there is another element of his statements worth exploring: the seeming belief that Sonny simply can’t make it work with the Yankees. Cashman made it a point in each of the above statements to emphasize that fact.

This suggests that the Yankees believe there is something to the statistics that show Sonny seemingly cannot pitch in Yankee Stadium beyond simple sample size noise. His home/away splits are downright remarkable, as Dominic mentioned in his excellent review of Gray’s season a few weeks ago. Gray pitched to a 3.17 ERA on the road and a 6.98 ERA at home – and those trends were present in 2017 too.

This also suggests that Cashman is right when he expresses confidence that the team will find a compatible suitor for Sonny this offseason. If the Yankees believe that there is something about the organization and Sonny that isn’t compatible, other teams very well may as well. And if that’s the case, teams will see a pitcher with a proven track record of success – including in big postseason matchups – who, for whatever reason, couldn’t make it work with the Yankees. His age, track record as a starting pitcher and success away from Yankee Stadium create a buy-low package that many teams won’t pass up.

Think about it. If Sonny Gray had been a Cleveland Indian this year and had an identical season, many of us would want the Yankees to go after him. Furthermore, Cashman wouldn’t be so blunt about his intentions if he didn’t know there were interested teams out there.

Because the bulk of our familiarity with Sonny comes during his Yankee tenure, it can be easy to forget the track record that made so many of us excited when the team traded for him in 2017. That underlying record hasn’t changed, even if his value is obviously lower than it was then.

This is not to say that the Yankees will receive a huge haul for Sonny as it is to say that it will not be as meager as we might think. I can’t predict what a trade will look like – and even if I did, it would suck – but I do not think the Yankees are in a position where they will just dump Gray for scraps. He still has considerable upside, and some team will take a chance on him. And if Brian Cashman is to be believed, he’ll probably realize that upside– just not in pinstripes.