It is an issue that has lingered in the background for the Yankees in recent months, a cloud over the combination of the general manager, Brian Cashman, and manager Aaron Boone. It all started when the Yankees were eliminated by the Blue Jays in the ALCS in October, and one of Boone’s former teammates–Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, who worked under Cashman in his career–speculated that the front office was directing Boone’s in-game decisions.
“I’m pretty sure Aaron’s not the one that’s calling every move that they make throughout the game,” Jeter said, noting that he did not have “inside knowledge” that it was the case. The bulk of Jeter’s criticism, as well as that of former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, was that Cashman had failed Boone in supplying personnel.
That was hard to argue against. But still, it was Jeter’s suggestion that Cashman was pulling Boone’s strings from beyond the dugout that carried weight and became a winter controversy for the Yankees to quell.
Aaron Boone on Brian Cashman Charge: ‘It’s Not True’
On Monday, Boone appeared on WFAN in New York to talk about the Yankees’ upcoming trek to Tampa, where they will open spring training next week. Boone was asked about the idea that Cashman is calling the Yankees’ shots, and the manager offered a defiant denial.
“It’s not true,” Boone said. “And even to the degree of the other stuff — like before a game, we meet and that’s not really how it goes down either. … Cash is not in the weeds on the baseball stuff. Cash is the best hirer, delegator, overseer that I’ve ever been around. He’s not in the weeds. He’s not that guy.”
That echoes what Cashman said back when Jeter first lobbed his unsubstantiated grenade into the team’s inner workings.
“It’s not true, clearly,” Cashman said in October. “They don’t know. Clearly, they don’t know. I know that [Jeter] said that. I don’t know what he meant by it. He said he doesn’t have inside knowledge when he said it, but he did say it, for whatever reason.”
GettyBrian Cashman, New York Yankees
Yankees Did Not Do Much in Offseason
Of course, in the big picture, for all the flak that Cashman and Boone take, this was a team that won 94 games in 2025 despite some significant injuries and surprising disappointments (ahem, Devin Williams, Anthony Volpe). The Yankees were in the World Series in 2024, and in the ALCS in 2025–if Cashman is phoning in orders to the dugout, it’s working pretty well.
But the more realistic worry about the Yankees is the notion that they mostly stood still this offseason while three other AL East teams–the Red Sox, the Orioles and the Blue Jays–made changes and got better.
Aaron Boone Sees Yankees Having ‘Hunger’
Boone, though, said the sting of losing to Toronto should bring some hunger to the group and carry this team through.
“The end of last season was arguably the hardest one I’ve had,” Boone said. “Because I felt so strongly about our group. … We’ve had a couple of great teams, but maybe we’ve been [broken] at the end of the year, beat up. Last year, it was happening, and so that’s what made it difficult at the end for me is that now you get beat and you go home, and it was to a division rival that kind of beat you up throughout the course of the year.
“So I’m personally excited about having the players that we do going back at it because I think there’s a hunger there after we didn’t finish the job, and I think we’re really good.”
Yankees’ Aaron Boone Fires Back on GM Brian Cashman Controversy