Official NY Yankees Thread

[Phish Tank]

i preferred a younger guy first and foremost. Didn't really know much about Woodward and Beltran probably was just too fresh, but I like Boone and preferred him.

Wouldn't have minded Bam Bam, but I liked Boone on ESPN and think the Boone family tree doesn't hurt

[Sark]

Aaron ****ing Boone?

[GEOLINK]

Wanted Beltran.

[blue and orange]

This just feels weird but I'm willing to give it a chance.

[levendis]

It's the most prestigious team in baseball and a lot of expectations. Yes I think it's a tough job and a big deal.

Girardi was a bench coach for Yankees before Marlins hired him to be a manager.

exactly. like I said, he only coached for 2 years before the Yankees gig. He wasn't THAT much more experienced than Boone was. The players on this team will determine how far they'll go period. Boone must have impressed at the interview. And really they're going full circle. Replaced a hard ass Schowalter with a more relaxed Torree. And doing the same now swapping Girardi with Boone

I'd say way more experienced he was a bench coach here then managed another team.

2 years isn't going to make the difference as to whether he'll be a good manager or not

[Dr. Detfink]

Meh. Cashman wanted a sabermetrics guy. I'm assuming Aaron *bleeping* Boone uses stat sheets a little more than Girardi who was more on gut and organic feel for the game. We'll see how it goes but the Yankees have a lot of talent, I feel Boone is managing with house money.

[HarthorneWingo]

Cashman will be making the lineup cards anyhow.

[thebuzzardman]

Ok. Maybe I'm being a little obnoxious with the Meulens thing, but I'm basing it things I've seen the Yankees do in the past.

I think the Yankees, as an organization, have a lot of faith in their scouting and drafting in terms of the "type" of player that they go for, and that is a player who is a good teammate, solid citizen, mostly self motivated and of course talented. And this has been mostly who they go for.

Anyway, this fits the Showalter out\Torre in scenario. They Yanks back then were confident in the minor league talent they had assembled, in ability and MINDSET, and they wanted to pair a more genial, laid back, but professional manager, who understood NY and NYC. Torre had the Brooklyn upbringing, time with the Mets as manager and most importantly, disposition to manage basically self motivated players. How he handled the Boss was a bonus.
Now, also around this time the Yankees had Gus Williams as a LF/4th outfielder. He was making life miserable for a certain other young Williams. Might have heard of him. First name Bernie. Yanks quickly traded Gus for next to nothing. Point is, when they had a player who could be a little sensitive, but a good guy and talented, they dropped Gus like a hot brick. The Yankees will nurture worthwhile young talent.

I think (bit of a stretch here) that the situation is similar. The thought isn't unique to me - Joel Sherman made this connection and it rings true. This is a team that has a number of solid young leaders - Judge and Gregorius for starters. I think the Yanks are comfortable with the clubhouse and know this team will compete for a while, so they want that more light hearted, but still competitive guy, and I think Meulens fits the bill. He knows NYC from his time in the minors and brief playing career. He doesn't have any managerial experience and isn't an analytics guy, but I think he fits the more modern role of manager as a piece of the puzzle and not almost the whole thing. My own theory is that Sanchez to a degree is Bernie - the talented but somewhat sensitive guy the Yanks didn't want Girardi to ruin, and the Yanks let talent trump each time, as long as the player isn't a sh*thead. I also think Girardi is viewed as stubborn, and looking ahead to Otani didn't want a guy like that to blow up the Otani deal with some sort of "I''m opposed to him hitting" or "Not a fan of 6 man rotations" mess. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Girardi was as wound up as Showalter, but Sherman spoke with pretty strong authority that he's viewed that way, so there must be something to it.

Finally, per the link above:
Meulens speaks spanish. Hmm... Torres, Sanchez etc
Meulens speaks Japanese and played in Japan for 11 years. Tanaka....and Otani?
Meulens coached and managed the Netherlands bball team, where Gregorius played for him when was manager - he speaks Dutch, same as Didi.
He speaks English - so thats the Judge, Frazier etc.

The guy has the ability to communicate in the native languages of the Yankees best domestic and international players and the international player they most hope to land and Meulens had a strong tie to Japanese baseball. Plus as a rookie manager he'd be amenable to the "modern" notion a manager is a piece of organizational puzzle, even on the field, as opposed to "the man".

Connect the dots.

I say Meulens gets announced shortly.

I think Meulens will be the manager as well.

Still think firing Girardi was a mistake and I think comparing him to Showalter when Showalter was manager here is a bit OD. First it was a different time most managers were still a bit old school and mean and no I don't think Girardi is that type of manager either. He's a bit of both the old school type and the new. Girardi is a really smart guy (BS in engineering) although he is stubborn but I don't think analytics would have been a deal breaker. BTW Showalter adapted and has had success working with young player's in Baltimore.

Welp, so much for my predictive skills.

Seems like the Yankees had to go with everyone's last choice for manager.

Who knows. Everyone hated the Joe Torre hire too. At least he had a zillion years of experience at the time of hire.

[Sark]

Torre, when he was hired had one of the worst records of all time as manager. We saved his legacy.

Not that he had one really.

[xNewYorkMadex]

I'll give Boone a chance. After reading some articles and listening to opinions of people who know much more about him than me, it could be a good hire.

[Rich Rane]

I'll give Boone a chance, but you kinda get the feeling he wouldn't even be in the running for the job had he not hit that one homer.

[MaseInYourFace]

Meh. Cashman wanted a sabermetrics guy. I'm assuming Aaron *bleeping* Boone uses stat sheets a little more than Girardi who was more on gut and organic feel for the game. We'll see how it goes but the Yankees have a lot of talent, I feel Boone is managing with house money.

Not really. They didn't call him binder Joe for no reason.

[MaseInYourFace]

Torre, when he was hired had one of the worst records of all time as manager. We saved his legacy.

Not that he had one really.

Well not as a manager at least. He was a borderline HOF guy as a player.

[BadNewsBarnes]

Managers have been relegated to sending messages from the GM to the players, writing up the lineup from the GM, setting up the rotation the GM wants and what pitchers the GM wants to come in from the bullpen. Anyone can be manager now if you have a knack for good communication skills and wont go against the GM. It saves money and takes the spotlight off the manager...except when it goes wrong. Houston has the model for this with Hinch. Doesn't matter if it's Boone, Beltran, or Wingo.

[BadNewsBarnes]

BTW, as I studied astrology in my life, they better sign him before December 3rd. That is when Mercury Retrograde happens. You should never sign anything during a Mercury Retrograde as it will not work out as you expect...

[Mecca]

Yankees made it clear they wanted a relator that excelled at relationship building.

Boone is known as one of the most friendly people around the game. People love him. PLUS, he's use into analytics and has a feel for the players being around the league as a broadcaster.

Also, he was the first announcer to really trumpet us as a world series team back in April. He loves this team.

[levendis]

Lineups, pen roles, defensive shifts, ways to attack opposing pitchers/ hitters are determined by front offices. And the most successful/praised ones are the ones that follow their "suggestions". Managers primary responsibility have been reduced to pen usage, challenges, and managing the club house. This isn't basketball or football. There are no great tacticians in baseball. Boone is going to listen to front office suggestions, not crap on his star young catcher in public, and bring a more relaxed atmosphere in the clubhouse. We'll see how it goes, but those are the biggest reasons as to why he was picked.

[GEOLINK]

Johnny Knoxville is the manager of the Yankees.

[Dr. Detfink]

Not really. They didn't call him binder Joe for no reason.

Naw. Last season, Cashman was very upset with Joe Girardi because he wouldn't use some of the information that Cashman was providing him.

True. Girardi pays attention to stats and sabermetrics but that's the GM TELLING the manager what to do, a la Moneyball in the famous scene replaying Beane TELLING Art Howe who he is going to play and where he is going to bat, Scott Hatteberg.

You saw that in parts of the playoffs...

As for Torre, that's what makes Buck Showalter so chapped. Yankees took the worst manager in MLB and turned him into one of the most celebrated AFTER Showalter did all the work.

We'll see if Boone will bear the fruits of Girardi's labor.

[thebuzzardman]

Lineups, pen roles, defensive shifts, ways to attack opposing pitchers/ hitters are determined by front offices. And the most successful/praised ones are the ones that follow their "suggestions". Managers primary responsibility have been reduced to pen usage, challenges, and managing the club house. This isn't basketball or football. There are no great tacticians in baseball. Boone is going to listen to front office suggestions, not crap on his star young catcher in public, and bring a more relaxed atmosphere in the clubhouse. We'll see how it goes, but those are the biggest reasons as to why he was picked.

I think had a lot more to do with things than people realize. And it wasn't about Sanchez complaining or anything but I believe an observation from the front office. Not THE reason, but an important reason.