Harold Reynolds joined BT and Sal during their live broadcast at the MLB Network studios on Wednesday, and said he is looking forward to seeing Aaron Boone operate like a manager in 2024.
Reynolds doesn’t believe the Yankee skipper has been given the chance to do that yet.
“In all fairness, I don’t think Boone has had a chance to manage yet,” Reynolds said. “The governor is on him. It’s been front office deciding personnel, for one, but also decisions.
“They’re scripting games out in meetings the night before. That’s not just the Yankees, that’s industry wide. It’s hard to judge the manager. Did you really make those calls?”
Boone is entering his seventh season as Yankees manager, and Reynolds says it likely will be his first where he gets full autonomy when it comes to lineup construction, bullpen management, and other in-game decisions. So, 2024 will be a true test of Boone’s ability to manage.
“We haven’t fully seen him manage yet. Now we’ll get a chance,” Reynolds said. “I think they had a big conversation, the Yankees have brought in some people to kind of move away from all the analytics. You get Omar Minaya and bring in Brian Sabean. They’re turning back towards, ‘Let’s watch the game instead of just the information given to us.’ Boone, I think he gets to talk baseball a little more and gets to manage a game.
“I hope he gets the freedom to see what he can do.”