Yankees GM Brian Cashman defends manager Aaron Boone from Joe Kelly criticism

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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.'”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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