Phil Nevin, recently told by the Yankees that he would not be offered a new contract, is one of Aaron Boone’s closest friends, while hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere were also told they would not have their contracts renewed.
For Boone, it was a tough pill to swallow as he negotiated his return to the Yankees, but he is now back on a three-year deal, even if his friends and former colleagues won’t be back with him.
“It hurt, honestly,” Boone told reporters on Monday. “Those are people that I love and care about a lot. But at the same time it’s also the nature of the business. There are tough decisions that have to be made. That’s a reality we have to face every year, some years they hit you a little harder…my relationships with those guys remain strong and I know they’ll land on their feet wherever the road ends up next in their baseball life, but the relationship I have with those guys will last forever.”
Boone said he wasn’t much of a part in the decision-making process that led to the franchise making a big coaching overhaul, but he expects to be a voice when the team moves forward in deciding who will be hired in their place.
“I’m always included in the process,” Boone said. “Not a lot of say in the decisions that came down, but in terms of putting a coaching staff together, that’s always something I have a hand in. I think my opinion is valued…so yeah, we’ve got some big shoes to fill and some big spots in our staff…we’ve got some important decisions in front of us.”
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Nevin previously said that he was told his fate wasn’t decided by performance, leading Boone to believe the organization took the coaches’ expiring contracts as an opportunity to bring in new voices. But Boone will still be there, and regardless of who else is brought in, it will take some getting used to without his friends and former co-workers there to go through a 162-game season with.
“That was a tough couple days for me, where I had to do some soul searching,” Boone said of the days after Nevin, Pilittere and Thames were told that they wouldn’t be back. “In the end, I think that’s sometimes that nature of the business…you have to say goodbye to some people and have some inevitable turnover. But certainly at peace with them and ultimately making my decision to come back.”
Now, with his job secured, Boone is ready to move on with whoever comes next, and believes the staff will be in position to finally get the Yankees back to the Fall Classic.
“I think it’s important to acknowledge that I feel like we have the people in place to get it done,” Boone said. “There’s gotta be tweaks and adjustments, starting from my standpoint and my staff, we all have to get a little better and hold everyone accountable to the high expectations that we all have.”
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