By now, everyone knows the news: the Yankees announced Tuesday morning that they have re-signed manager Aaron Boone to a three-year contract. This of course, was met with much reaction ranging from emotional distress to general indifference (and of course, the opportunity to pounce on some low-hanging fruit). But this was expected given the reporting that emerged in the prior 24 hours; more interesting was the press conference the team held later that day, which also predictably generated some very reasonable Twitter takes.
Look, anyone asking for a public rebuke of a management figure or even a modicum of regret for any perceived past transgressions was only asking for disappointment. Aaron Boone’s 328-218 record in four regular seasons is objectively phenomenal. It’s not really a good look to criticize a man who has produced those results, no matter how badly the 11-11 postseason record stinks to his employer’s paying customers.
The confusing part about all this, however, as is the standard in Yankees Universe these days, is the lack of clarity surrounding the process that ended in retaining Boone’s services. After the loss in the Wild Card Game to the Red Sox, there were two weeks of radio silence, giving talking heads plenty of time to vent their frustrations, including yours truly. The announcement that the team was moving on from three of Boone’s coaches, most notably his good friend Phil Nevin, told us that some change was coming, but obviously there was no indication of how the manager would factor into this change.
So what happened exactly? We here at Pinstripe Perspective have gained exclusive access to the audio tapes of conversations between Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone just days after the Yankees were eliminated from the Postseason, and the full transcription is posted below. While we were unable to verify the authenticity of the recordings, we hope that this will leave fans a bit more satisfied with the direction the Yankees are taking.
**THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7TH, 2021: BRIAN CASHMAN’S OFFICE AT YANKEE STADIUM**
Brian Cashman: So Aaron, how have you been holding up?
Aaron Boone: You know Brian, it’s not what you want, but the fight is definitely still there. We were considerably not as bad as the results. It’s a hard game, and these guys fought till the end.
BC: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Must be tough seeing your buddy Phil walk out the door. But good job listening to us about batting Gallo cleanup, it really clarified our offseason plans. Judge getting thrown out at the plate there? couldn’t have executed that any better. It’s usually much harder to create a fall guy around here, that’s the easiest it’s been in years!
AB: You really don’t want Phil around anymore, huh?
BC: Aaron, you know how things work around here. We can’t have guys disagreeing with us like that in the organization, the baseball ops people get too stressed. I’m really looking for a pupp–…I mean zen vibe around the organization. We’ll find some guys with the word “yes” in their vocabulary, and we’ll be back in business.
AB: Ok, I’m aligned with that. So what does this all mean for me exactly?
BC (somewhat surprised): Oh yeah, I thought it was implied — we’re bringing you back for the next three years. Hal and I came to this decision back when Chapman blew it against Altuve but I’m sure you understand why we had to wait until now to tell you.
AB (confused but relieved): Great, did you know that San Diego housing prices have gone up by 10 percent over the last year? Thank god I don’t have to tell my wife to start browsing StreetEasy. So is (Jason) Zillo gonna set up something with the media?
BC: Eh, no need to rush. Give the fans some time to lose their minds and show how ungrateful they are and then we’ll hold some Zoom thing. I’ve been fascinated by the word “strawman” recently, maybe you can give that a whirl through the discourse when we get around to it.
AB: “Strawman,” that’s an interesting word. That’s certainly not what we have here, no way.
BC: And that’s why you’re the man for the job! Take a couple of weeks and when Hal calls me to complain about ticket sales going down, just text Buster (Olney) that things are looking good and we’ll make the announcement the day after.
AB: Sounds good. We’ll get better, I promise.
BC: Aaron, always remember this: we are the Yankees. We’re gonna run it back for another three years and try to back ourselves into a World Series or two. Worst case, we make the playoffs a couple of times and make the fans realize just how spoiled they are when they start whining again. Just have the guys ready to go by April or whenever we end up getting back on the field again.
AB: (nods in agreement)
BC: Ok then, moving on to offseason targets. We’re thinking about Freddy Galvis at short…
(To be continued…)
And there you have it. The Yankee Way in 2021 on full display: no matter the ever-increasing amount of mediocrity, everything is business as usual.
