SAN ANTONIO \u2014 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\u2019s sloppy World Series defensive play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he\u2019s a great manager and I think we\u2019re lucky to have him,\u201d Cashman said at the general managers meetings.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t thought about his future.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t put the cart ahead of the horse. We haven\u2019t gotten there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cashman didn\u2019t fault Boone for moves he made during the postseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe manager\u2019s job is so impossible, so you can play the game of second-guessing because you\u2019re either going to make a move and it\u2019ll be right, you make a move and it\u2019ll be wrong and then have at it, right?\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think he\u2019s a really, really good manager. I think that we\u2019re lucky to have him. He\u2019s done a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost, I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cWe all saw that and unfortunately our `A\u2019 game didn\u2019t show up when it counted the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly was limited to 35 games this season because of right shoulder inflammation and didn\u2019t pitch during the postseason. He criticized the Yankees on his \u201c Baseball Isn\u2019t Boring\u201d podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWe were saying every single game: Just let them throw the ball into the infield. They can\u2019t make a play. I mean, you saw Shohei (Ohtani) get an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber (Torres) play. It\u2019s well known. We all knew. I mean, we\u2019re the Dodgers. We know every little detail.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a mismatch from the get-go,\u201d Kelly added. \u201cIf we had a playoff reranking, they might be ranked eighth-or ninth-best playoff team. You know what I mean? You\u2019re putting the Padres ahead of them, you\u2019re putting the Phillies ahead of them, you\u2019re putting the Mets ahead of them, you\u2019re putting the Braves ahead of them \u2014 and the Braves just got unlucky because they had to play that doubleheader. You\u2019re putting \u2014 I mean, the Guardians played like crap, but the Guardians played better, the better D (defense), better baseball all around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard that,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cI also know people with the Dodgers, so I\u2019ve got some internal conversations that I\u2019ve got certainly feedback on. I think it\u2019s more representative of some specific players rather than the overall group. And in Joe\u2019s case, it feels like it\u2019s for some reason, it\u2019s a little personal, the way he\u2019s out talking like he has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cashman rejected criticism of the Yankees roster makeup, saying it\u2019s natural that players are better at offense and not so strong at defense or base running.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve come across many a player that just aren\u2019t good at bunting. As many times as you ask them to bunt and you practice bunting or whatever, they just aren\u2019t good at it. And so at some point you manage the people you have,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cI remember having a conversation with one of my prior managers: \u2018At some point you got to stop asking somebody to do something they\u2019re not good at.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI\u2019m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he\u2019s a great manager and I think we\u2019re lucky to have him,\u201d Brian Cashman said at the general managers meetings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n