TAMPA — When Aaron Boone said “I love this question,” it seemed for a moment that we were doing a jokey thing, so I responded with, “thank you.” Then Boone’s eyes darted up; he shot a sharp look right at me that conveyed, cut the crap, I’m being dead serious. Okay, sorry.
The question was about how the Yankees could retain the edge that helped drive them to the World Series last year — and it turned out that Boone had been rolling that around in his mind for weeks.
Last year, you’ll recall, the Yankees reported to camp angry — and in many cases early — after missing the playoffs in 2023, a season that GM Brian Cashman called a “disaster.” Guys were working out across the street at the minor league complex for most of the winter. A few actually did report in the best shape of their professional lives.
Players talked amongst themselves about a strong desire to claw back from that embarrassment. Coming off an American League pennant, that same edge might not come as organically.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about this, really over the last month,” Boone said, sitting at a table in the pavilion at George M. Steinbrenner Field for his first media availability of spring training. “I think you can have a great situation, a great culture, a great closeness about your team, a great professionalism about your team — [but] I think sometimes the separator, where a team that’s good can be great, a team that’s great can be a champion or what have you, is that hunger. That is not a given.”
As the manager spoke, his passion for the topic remained clear.
“Even with the best of people and the best of teams, there’s no question in my mind, last year we had that edge,” he said. “We had a hunger, maybe in part due to coming off the season in which we didn’t make the postseason. For the people who experienced that year, I think that showed itself very early in camp, but we got to work at that.
“And what I’m seeing so far across the street, I’m very encouraged by, the level of focus, the level of commitment. It seems to be there, but we gotta work at that every day. We gotta fight for that every day. That’s the thing you hold each other accountable [for] — we want to walk in these doors every day with a hunger that can be a difference maker, especially in a long, tough season.”
WHO’S ON THIRD?
With Jasson Dominguez likely, though not definitely, the Yankees’ starting left fielder this season, third base is the team’s only truly open position. Privately, Yankees people are framing the situation in the same way that Boone did publicly — as a likely timeshare between DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, and Oswaldo Cabrera, unless one of those players grabs hold of the position by strongly outplaying the others.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is capable of moving between second and third base, but the manager prefers to lock him into the former. And while the team might yet acquire another infielder, it will not be a headline-grabbing free agent.
The Yankees did consider Alex Bregman earlier in the offseason, league sources say, but have long since allocated the dollars that might have been his to players like Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, and Devin Williams. They have never seriously considered a trade for St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado, sources say.
BOONE EXTENSION SOON?
Boone acknowledged that he and the Yankees have engaged in discussions about a contract extension.
The manager’s current deal expires after this season, and an agreement to extend his employment for an additional year or more during spring training seems likely, given the mutual affection between Boone and the organization. It would be out of character for the team to agree to an extension during the regular season, so expect resolution sooner than later.
