Some speculated that manager Aaron Boone was savoring his last minutes in charge of the Yankees when he wore a full uniform against the Braves last week. He wаnted to keep in mind what it was like to wear Nike clothes and to experience the power that came with the belt, stirrups, and road grays.
It wasn’t an improbable scenario. If the rumors about his departure are accurate, he’ll probably wear the complete pinstripes one last time down the stretch.
The Yankees were swept by the Red Sox, and Boone reportedly spoke with Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman over the weekend before the series was officially ended. The point of that meeting was ostensibly to make some quick roster changes for the 2024 season, but those modifications came far too late to prevent this weekend’s calamity. While Everson Pereira, Austin Wells, and Oswald Peraza dominated at Triple-A, the major league club struggled to make progress.
Cashman, after building this bloated mess of an incomplete roster and missing on deadline deals for five years in a row, clearly has a job for life, but Boone is not so lucky. His contract is up at the end of next year, and it’s brutally evident to everyone involved that “not being an active detractor” is no longer considered as a benefit, despite the fact that he may have gotten by during the team’s 2018-19 streak. Anthony Volpe put it best when he noted that the team is miserable. This group lacks a cohesive purpose and a natural tendency to kιll. That’s on the manager, whether or not he’s actually to blame for the discontent.
It would be embarrassing if Boone stayed in his position into 2024, so we should start looking for a replacement now. These four individuals would all bring something unique to the table and could potentially work together with Cashman without being dependent on him.
There are 4 capable candidates for the next Yankees manager. Boone, Aaron
When things really began to heat up, the Yankees attempted to completely break with the era represented by Joe Espada Espada for whatever reason. He served as Joe Girardi’s right-hand man in 2017, and he was widely considered a leading candidate to succeed Girardi as manager before he departed for Houston in 2018 to become the team’s bench coach.
You hope to make a difference in the Bronx, right? Take lessons from the finest. Put your financial clout to use and help the Braves, Rays, and Astros flush their talent out the door. You need to bring in some new voices and coaches who have been in winning locker rooms over the past few years, and not just in the Wild Card game.
The only thing going against Espada, the “establishment candidate” in this case? After 2018, he allegedly strongly considered the Chicago Cubs management position for 2019, and after 2019, he interviewed with the Texas Rangers. He did not go on from Houston, where he has stayed because of neither job offer. Maybe he’s just at ease in his own skin. Do you not wish that you were successful in Houston? Perhaps, as has been frequently speculated, he will succeed Dusty Baker. Whatever the case may be, he must take into account the two unsuccessful job interviews he participated in as well as the circumstances surrounding the termination of his New York City employment in 2017.
D. A. Cone
Some fans, still traumatized by Aaron Boone’s move from broadcaster to manager, would view the hire of Cone with trepidation. When compared to Cone, Boone has little pitching background beyond his “baseball family” (which hasn’t helped his instincts much) and Boone is a very different kind of orator.
Moreover, analytics run deep in Cone’s veins; he frequently adds spice to the YES Network broadcast by combining anecdotes about his time spent on the tires with insights garnered from his study of analytics data and the “why” behind his natural inclinations. Cone’s lack of on-field experience is a contributing factor, as is the fact that he came in second behind Matt Blake in an interview for the pitching coach position a few years ago. Blake is one of the few elements of this modern system that has proven effective.
Would Blake and Cone being in the same dugout be uncomfortable for any of them? Could the Yankees benefit from someone who takes a different approach? That seems like a much bigger downside than having a bad reputation among former “announcers-to-managers” pipeline members.
The hammer, too? Consider Jorge Posada for his coaching staff. For a long time now, Aaron Judge has been at the “helm” of a modern Yankees squad that has attempted to mimic the Derek Jeter-forward strategy of the ’90s dynasty. When Jeter was at his peak, he had Posada to enforce the rules, but Judge does not. From the dugout, Posada may be able to inspire a revival.
T. Snitker Troy
Houston Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker has all the qualities that modern teams look for in a manager, making him the frontrunner for the job in 2023–24.
Victory in the game? His credentials as the hitting coach for the unstoppable 2022 World Series champions (he’s been on staff from 2019 to the present) are readily apparent with a quick Google search. Legacy? His father, Brian Snitker, has been the manager of the Atlanta Braves, the gold standard of baseball franchises, for a long time. Youth? Snitker is just 34 years old, which would have been unheard of in the era that people were required to “wait in line,” but is today perfectly normal (and encouraged).
Snitker comes from a prestigious family and has a solid background in his own right. From the outside, it’s tough to know how much credit to give the Astros’ skill and how much to the hitting coach. That’s what interviews are for, to paraphrase Don Draper, and the younger Snitker is certainly deserving of one.
R. Ibaez
Although it will be challenging for the Yankees to persuade Raul Ibaez to quit his comfortable position as MLB’s Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations, the team should try anyway.
I don’t know. Theo Epstein, one of Ibaez’s coworkers, might also be a target.
Ibaez has worn many hats throughout his post-playing career. In 2016, he was a “special assistant” in the Dodgers’ front office under Andrew Friedman. He worked part-time as an analyst for ESPN. Since 2021, he has served in a top role with the league office, overseeing umpiring, punishment, and special matters. Importantly, before his official retirement in 2014, he was one of the three finalists in the Tampa Bay Rays’ managerial Һunt.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, the Rays opted for Kevin Cash, and Ibaez found success elsewhere, but that “sliding doors” moment may yet pay dividends.
Having recently returned to the dugout after guiding a squad of young players in the All-Star Futures Game in Seattle, Ibaez is well-liked by the league, remаins in tune with the Yankees’ concerns (he made some fascinating statements this offseason about keeping Aaron Judge fresh through the end of his deal).
Of course, that was for show, but the Yankees should still try to entice him if he still feels the itch that made him interview with the Rays.