Analytics-saturated perception will continue to haunt Aaron Boone until Yankees end World Series drought
Yankees manager Aaron Boone looks on from the dugout during an MLB game against the Mets at Yankee Stadium on July 23, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
A month after the Yankees’ playoff exit, which was accompanied by the analytics-driven rip job by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, that puppet-strings narrative continues to linger in the Bronx like some foul-smelling odor.
It surfaced again this past week, as general manager Brian Cashman was asked about Aaron Boone’s statement, during the manager’s regular spot on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast, that the Yankees are “probably the least analytical in-game team there is.”
Obviously, the suspicion that Boone isn’t calling the shots between the lines has bothered the manager for years, and having an army of metrics-mavens upstairs only fuels such speculation.
But the sensitivity to this subject seems a bit overboard, and it would be foolhardy to think that a manager’s decision-making process isn’t somewhat influenced by the gigabytes of data churned out by the front office.
Boone had reason to be annoyed when Jeter said, “I’m pretty sure Aaron’s not the one that’s calling every move that they make throughout the game,” so he pushed back, using his platform on the podcast.
“I don’t get where that all comes from,” Boone said. “I don’t understand that part of it, and I don’t understand the analytic attachment that gets attached to the Yankees over a lot of clubs.
“Because I think if you look at the American League East, the way, for example, I run a game — I’m not even saying it’s good or bad — but we’re probably the least analytical in-game team there is. And I’m positive of that.”
Boone will be entering his ninth year as manager of the Yankees, a team that spent $320 million on last season’s roster and annually has a top three payroll in the sport. So the combination of his dugout resume and high-priced talent should provide some leeway when it comes to the collaborative effort with the front office’s number-crunchers. Or maybe more than most, as Boone implied, especially with this offseason’s trend of not only hiring manager with zero major-league experience but straight from the college ranks.
Cashman, who did not attend this past week’s general managers' meetings in Las Vegas, defended Boone during a Zoom call with reporters.
“We’ve clearly been accused of being too analytical,” he said. “Analytics is a big spoke in the wheel, but it’s not the only spoke in the wheel. We have the largest pro scouting department in the game, which we rely on heavily as well. And I just think [Boone] is trying to bring the fans into the dugout with the commentary constantly about the front office is pulling the strings, and every move seems to be the analytic department telling them what to do and everything’s pre-scripted. None of that’s true.”
The truth tends to be somewhere in the middle, as Boone alluded to the varying degrees that analytics are used by other teams in the division. But the only way to put this data-bogeyman discussion to rest is for the Yankees to end their 16-year championship drought. Until then, this analytics-saturated perception will continue to haunt Boone, along with the finger-pointing at the front office.
“We’re not wired in the dugout,” Cashman said. “He’s making those decisions . . . and at times, he’ll definitely make decisions that our analytics department wouldn’t agree with. But they’re not managing the team.”
Boone is under contract to manage the Yankees through the 2027 season. If the quest for a World Series ring goes unfulfilled before then, he certainly hasn’t heard the last of these accusations, justified or not.
Boras sees losing bet for continued MLB prop wagers
The perils of baseball’s prop bets were a popular topic at the GM meetings as two Guardians relievers were indicted for an illegal gambling operation centered on rigging pitches.
Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz potentially face decades in prison for allegedly throwing pitches according to how bets were placed on them — balls or strikes, and even by velocity. With the rise of legalized sports gambling and the ability to place wagers instantly via a smartphone app, these sorts of micro-bets are considered a catalyst for consumer engagement, as well as a boost to revenue streams for teams and sportsbook sites.
But all that comes at a cost, as the alleged Clase/Ortiz conspiracy showed just how easy those prop bets can be manipulated. MLB’s immediate response was to limit those bets — capping the market at $200 and keeping them out of parlays — but did not eliminate them completely.
To many, including Scott Boras — the industry’s most high-profile agent — that doesn’t go far enough to protect players from suspicion. And he’s right.
“I think for players, the concern they have is the integrity, where they don’t want to be questioned,” Boras said. “What creates question is when a player is out on the mound now and he overthrows a pitch and it goes 55 feet, you wonder. So you have to create a system that does not allow for such events where they can wager a bet on it.
“So when I read about they can only do X, you have to remove those prop bets to make sure that the integrities of the players aren’t questioned. Because there’s going to be all forms of performance questions given now to pitchers when they throw certain pitches to the back of the screen or situationally. We don’t want any part of that.”
If having two players, including one of the game’s top closers in Clase, facing extended prison time isn’t enough for MLB to erase prop bets altogether, we’re not sure what it would take.
Bottom line, they’re too lucrative for the industry, and so MLB figures the payoff is worth the gamble.
A second (half) thought on MVP
Aaron Judge edged Cal Raleigh for American League MVP honors this past week in the closest race since 2019, recording 17 first-place votes to 13 for the Seattle catcher. While Judge held the statistical advantage in every category but home runs and RBIs, the margin is glaring upon examination of the second-half production for each player.
Judge’s slash line of .286/.448/.603 outpaced Raleigh’s .229/.333/.526 as Seattle teammate Julio Rodriguez (.290/.341/.560) led the Mariners to a 39-27 record after the break that clinched the AL West title.
You could say Giancarlo Stanton provided similar help for the Yankees, outslugging Judge in the second half (.650) with a team-best 20 homers and 52 RBIs during that stretch. But Judge still was an on-base machine, resulting in 52 runs scored in 56 games — nine more than the next-closest teammate, Trent Grisham — as the Yankees tied the Blue Jays for the American League’s best record and earned the top wild-card spot (94 wins).
Vegas vignettes
*** Newly crowned NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes faced questions about his future in Pittsburgh after an anonymous former teammate reportedly told NJ Advance Media that he repeatedly has stated a desire to play for the Yankees.
Skenes, 23, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2029 season, so it’s a moot conversation at this point unless he publicly demands a trade before then.
For his part, Skenes expressed surprise at the report, saying “I’m on the Pirates. My goal is to win with the Pirates.” But it’s not hard to believe he someday would welcome a move to the Bronx, especially after he and his social-media-star girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, recently tried to buy Babe Ruth’s former Upper West Side apartment but were rejected by the co-op board. Dunne reportedly opted for a one-bedroom in the West Village instead.
*** Stony Brook native Anthony Kay, a former Mets first-round draft pick in 2016, generated robust interest at the GM meetings after posting a 1.74 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 24 starts (155 innings) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars last season. The 30-year-old lefty led all NPB starters with a 21.9% strikeout rate.
*** Boras’ twice-annual stand-up routine resumed Wednesday at the Cosmopolitan, where he again launched into a series of punny sales pitches for his clients. For Cody Bellinger, he deployed a lengthy “Top Gun” diatribe, naming no fewer than seven pilots, from Wolfman to Hollywood to Goose. While the coffee theme for Beantown was a puzzling tack for Alex Bregman’s future in Boston, tying in a “Brexit” reference definitely fit. We also enjoyed Boras’ deep cut for Dylan Cease: “Unlike the other famous Dylan, this one is exclusively electric.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
