The Yankees surely understood at the beginning of this ALCS that the Astros had the superior team -- no one with access to analytics or eyes could deny that -- but it wasn’t supposed to be this ugly.
With a brutal ALCS now out if its misery, attention turns immediately to who will be running the team and whether the star right fielder will return.
First, here’s what I know from reporting on Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone’s future.
Cashman’s contract is up, of course, and most in the organization believe that Hal Steinbrenner will ask him back, and that Cashman will accept. If Cashman returns, Boone -- finishing up the first year of three in his current deal -- is expected to come back, too.
The only way it seems that this could go sideways for either of them is if fan vitriol becomes so toxic that Steinbrenner decides he must initiate a GM change that no one believes he wants to make.
Cashman has been part of a front office that has posted a winning record in 30 consecutive seasons, and the head of it since 1998.
The owner and GM would still have to negotiate a contract, and haven’t begun to discuss that. This could still fall apart -- but it is not expected to, say people with direct knowledge of the team’s thinking. Not after a 99-win season, AL East title and ALCS appearance.
As for Boone, Cashman’s baseball operations department may not agree with every lineup or in-game decision (and they have left him to make those lineups himself in consultation with the coaching staff, but rarely the front office, all through the season, sources say) but continues to believe that he is the right man for the job.
If Boone’s relentless positivity when talking about players rankles many fans, the organization considers him an important firewall between those players and the relentless negativity emanating from just about everywhere else.
In fact, the front office wants to find a way to make the experience of being a Yankee more enjoyable, which it wasn’t for many this year. Most see Boone as part of that solution.
As for Aaron Judge, we’ll say this: As his free agency nears, his intentions remain just as mysterious to the organization as they do to the fan base. The Yankees have no idea if he wants to be here, but they’ll find out soon when negotiations resume for the first time since Opening Day. Judge and the Yanks never did talk contract after he rejected that April offer, per sources.