aaron boone

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has allowed runs in four straight appearances. Projected 8th inning set-up man, Jonathan Loáisiga has pitched better of late but owns a 5.52 ERA for the season, so far. Lucas Luetge has allowed 5 runs in 9+ innings. Yet, the Pinstripes bullpen is being lauded as one of the best. Why?

If you want to win a World Championship in Major League Baseball, one thing is for sure, the players have to feel that the manager has their back. You hear all of the time about "team chemistry" within winning organizations. That starts with the skipper and in the New York Yankees clubhouse, there is no doubt about where Aaron Boone stands.

Poker players will tell you that you are only as good as the hand you are dealt. Major League managers will privately tell you the same thing. Seasoned big league skippers, at times, know when to push the right buttons to get their teams going. New York Yankees top dog Aaron Boone did a terrific job pushing some key buttons this weekend that may have resulted in wins but, more importantly, are crucial for the Yankees long-term success.

It should have been an awesome celebration. Gleyber Torres came off the bench and delivered a pinch-hit single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 5-4 comeback victory for New York Yankees over the Cleveland Guardians. Fans should have been cheering and players should have been jumping up and down with happiness. That happened briefly, then the ugliness in right-field began.

Home team fans always want to see a victory. On days like Thursday afternoon in Detroit, when the Tigers hosted the New York Yankees in the final game of the three-game series, some in attendance were there for another reason as well, history. Sometimes history has to wait as a result of the opposing team's strategy to win the game and let's just say, that made the Comerica Park faithful less than happy.

So many things have to go right for a good team to beat another good team in Major League Baseball. New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone is faced with two of his strong defensive positions, shortstop and catcher, being light on the offensive side. Going into Thursday night's game, shortstop Isaiah Kiner-Filefa and catcher Kyle Higashioka were a combined 2 for 35 on the season.

Let's start here. Gerrit Cole is a very good Major League pitcher. The question that is looming is whether or not the $324 million man is an "ace." On Wednesday, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone sent his highest paid pitcher to the mound to face division rival and odds-on favorite to win the AL East, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Major League Baseball players that have multi-year, million dollar contracts don't often play winter baseball. The ones that do have a purpose. Usually, that purpose involves recovering from an injury. The smart players know that live-game action against top competition is the only way to know you are ready.

I think the Mets had the slightly better opening weekend than the Yankees. It was a great opening for New York baseball.

In 2022, every American League East victory is going to be crucial for the New York Yankees. That's why Sunday night was so important. Even though there are 159 games left for the Pinstripes, manager Aaron Boone knows this division will decided by a few games or less. A three game sweep would have been sweet but Boston showed that they too plan to stick around this season with their 4-3 victory in series finale.

Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season is a few countable hours away. New York Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, is tweaking the final undecided spots on his roster. Surprisingly, Cashman parted with a valuable left-handed reliever in Joely Rodriguez in his rare exchange with the Mets for righty reliever Miguel Castro on Sunday. It seems like a move that should benefit both teams.

It's the time of year that Major League pitchers in Spring Training are amping up for their first start of the season, very much like Gerrit Cole is getting set to do on Friday. Cole will be the Yankees starting pitcher on April 7th at Yankee Stadium vs. Boston. The pitcher that Aaron Boone had slated to climb the hill for his team the next day, is now skipping Wednesday's Grapefruit League start vs Toronto.

Baseball coaches will tell you that young players will often struggle offensively, if they are not comfortable at their defensive position. Even in the Major Leagues, strong offensive players that are bounced around to unfamiliar positions in the field can encounter simultaneous difficulties at the plate. Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets is a prime example. The Yankees have their own case in point and they hope to fix that in 2022.

Gary Sanchez was the New York Yankees catcher that came into each spring training with an upper-hand on the starting job. Each year, subsequently it seemed like Sanchez played himself out of the starting job or was hurt. 3 weeks ago the player that general manager Brian Cashman referred to as 'The Kraken' was packaged with Gio Urshela and sent to Minnesota. With that move, an opportunity knocked behind the plate.

Aaron Judge is arguably the New York Yankees most popular players. His All Star performance mixed with a million dollar smile help make 99 a true fan favorite. After this season, Judge is a free agent. Obviously, Yankee fans don't want to lose him and they shouldn't.

He has been on the radar of New York Yankee fans since the age of 17, when he signed with the team and played in the Dominican Summer league. Seventeen is a young age to determine if someone is going to be a Major League Baseball player. That's why they call them prospects.

In 2018, he broke Joe DiMaggio's record of 45 doubles by a New York Yankees rookie. He hit 27 home runs and knocked in 92 runners for the Bronx Bombers. He finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. Do you know his name?

The New York Yankees starting rotation is always a revolving question-mark behind Gerrit Cole and maybe pretty reliable lefty, Jordan Montgomery. Will Luis Severino return to form in 2022? How is Jameson Taillon following his ankle surgery? Well, another question-mark presented itself on Thursday.

The New York Yankees had answers on their roster to the question, 'who would play first base in 2022?' They just didn't THE answer that fans and probably manager Aaron Boone wanted to hear. Luke Voit did a great job anchoring first base and hitting home runs, when he was healthy. DJ LeMahieu can play over there but he will play a lot of places, according to Boone. But the Pinstripes needed something more. Maybe someone that they had before.

The Super Bowl has come and gone. Most years, Major League Baseball players would be flocking to Florida and Arizona to begin spring training. That is not happening now due to this insane lockout. It may be a while before the Major League owners and the MLB Players Association get on the same page. However, some MLB players are putting aside the noise and are focused on getting healthy. One of them could be a very important piece to the 2022 New York Yankees starting rotation and that is clearly where he wants to be.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has a ton of time to think about his pitching rotation these days. One problem is, he doesn't know who is doing well coming off of injuries and who is not. Nor does he know who general manager Brian Cashman will be able to add via trade or free agency. As the players are locked out of team facilities, communication between organizational staff and their players is supposed to be non-existent. From everything that I can gather, that is true. So, let's give the manager some help and design a realistic starting five to take the Bombers back to the World Series.

When Opening Day will take place, may be a bigger question than even the New York Yankees questionable Opening Day line-up. Let's have some fun and give general manager Brian Cashman a little help, while providing manager Aaron Boone with a winning line-up. Remember, we have to be realistic with our wish-list additions!

They have battled the ups and downs of 156 games of Major League Baseball, played through, hopefully, the back end of a pandemic. They weathered the criticisms of the media, as their $200 million dollar payroll dipped precariously out of the playoff picture. The experts wondered aloud if Hal Steinbrenner would drastically part ways with the steady hand of general manager Brian Cashman. Or, as most think would be the likely outcome, would Aaron Boone take the hit for his underperforming squad? 3 games may answer everyone's questions.

If you ever watch old World War II movies, some 5 star General would be bellowing, "We may have lost the battle but we will win the war." All year long, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone preached to his team and to the media, to paraphrase, "the offense will come around. We're close". He was right. Boone may have been more correct than even he knew.

Issues with vision have been an issue for New York Yankees' outfielder, Clint Frazier. Comments from Aaron Boone have made that situation even less clear.

We have all seen teams collapse like the Yankees have been and unfortunately, they don't turn it around too easily. Teams that continuously blow leads seem to play the game scared. Anyone remember the collapse of the 2007 New York Mets? They had a 7 game lead in the National League East with 17 games to play. If your dugout is afraid that the game is going to fall apart, then it probably will.

Bullpen implosions like the ones yesterday demonstrated by both New York teams happen most everyday in baseball. When meltdowns happen on the last day of the season, the final game before the All Star break or on a getaway day at the conclusion of a series, it may demonstrate something more, focus.