The last thing you'll need to read about the Yankees' manager situation

From "Aaron 'Bleepin'' Boone!" to "Aaron 'Bleepin'' Boone?"

One punctuation mark certainly has changed the perspective of Yankees fans (and, to some extent, Red Sox fans) with the hiring of Boone to be the next Yankees manager.

PHILLIPS: Boone gives Yanks someone Cashman can mold

The decision to hire Boone has befuddled some Yankees fans across the always reasonable and fair-minded internet. Some words used to describe the hiring: "Confusing," "unexciting" and "bad."

While the soap opera has ended for the Yankees, fans are still scratching their heads trying to figure out what happened. Kind of like watching "Batman vs. Superman," but in baseball form.

I'm here to untangle the web for you.

Was the process messy or organized?

There seems to be two conflicting schools of thought regarding the entire process of the Yankees searching for a new manager. Some believe it was messy, while others seem to believe it was well organized.

Not a lot of information came out from the interview process, aside from the customary post-interview phone conference with the media, but the Yankees certainly did their due diligence searching for a new manager — some reports said they had up to 30 candidates in the pipeline.

Ultimately, six candidates interviewed for the position — Rob Thomson, Eric Wedge, Carlos Beltran, Hensley Meulens, Aaron Boone and Chris Woodward.

Not sure what's messy about leaving no stone unturned and exhausting every candidate to find the right guy.

But what about Joe Girardi?

Managers are almost always the last piece of the puzzle for a championship-contending team.

If the Yankees, a championship-rich franchise that preaches nothing but excellence, felt that Joe Girardi was the guy to lead this team to multiple titles, you would see him on the bench in 2018. That's a fact.

But whatever the reason may be — lack of a connection with the Yankees' young players, a schism with the front office or seeming inability to go with his belly over his binder — he's not in pinstripes anymore, and Brian Cashman, Hal Steinbrenner and whoever else involved believe that it's for the best.

The franchise felt it best to move on — which really is saying something for a guy who won 91 games with a young team learning to win together on a big stage. 

If Girardi's personality was abrasive behind closed doors and his communication skills were as poor as some reports made them seem, then he earned himself the boot. Those flaws in a manager are the kinds of thing that can wear on a club over the course of a long season, or a long tenure.

After all, he was in New York for 10 seasons and has a sole championship ring to show for it — a ring that happened in his second season managing the team. He had inherited a fairly young, talented team then, and had some very successful regular-season teams that would be ousted in the playoffs early and often.

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Still, 10 seasons is a long time for any manager in Major League Baseball, let alone New York, and when you're managing a young team and have apparent issues with the front office, it can wear on a squad. No one wants the added drama in New York, anyway.

While Girardi will likely find a new job next season, the breakup was ugly and maybe indicative of his recent years with the team. Steinbrenner even knew it was time for Girardi to go.

"He and I have had these discussions for a considerable length of time over and over again, with different people involved sometimes, but similar type trends," Steinbrenner said after the season. "This isn't something we just decided we wanted to sit down and do at the end of the season. We've had a lot of discussions through the years."

Girardi wasn't the guy. That's the story the franchise has stuck to, ALCS appearance or not.

But … Aaron Boone?

Sorry, Casey Stengel isn't available.

When you consider some of the other candidates for the position, not one really evokes excitement. And that's fine.

— Eric Wedge, who last managed in 2013 with the Mariners and had two 90-plus win seasons with the Indians, has an overall career .495 winning percentage.

— Hensley Meulens, long-time Giants bench coach who managed the Netherlands in the 2013 WBC, could be the heir apparent to Bruce Bochy in the Bay Area, meaning maybe it was smart for him to stay and wait in San Francisco. 

— Rob Thomson, Yankee stalwart who accepted a position with the Phillies as their bench coach and has been a spring training constant, was a holdover from this previous regime.

— Carlos Beltran was likely too "fresh" off the field, despite having relationships with some Yankees and the front office.

— Chris Woodward has more experience than Boone and comes from an analytical organization, but is a harder sell to the fans than someone with a big Yankees moment.

See, managers aren't supposed to "excite" you. In today's baseball, they aren't big personalities. Sure, they can have personalities, but seldom are managers at the forefront for any team. Gone are the days of the Ozzie Guillens or the Billy Martins, the loud, brash and boisterous personalities that made headlines for their rants or tirades and not their managerial decisions. Fans pay to see the players, not the manager.

Boone is heralded by colleagues current and past, claiming that he's a great fit for the team. It's not like the Yankees decided to interview some jamoke from Jerome Avenue to manage the team. He obviously impressed the front office in the interview. He's forward thinking and analytics savvy. 

Plus, he does have that pennant-winning home run working for him. 

What does a manager do, anyway?

Yes, analytics play a leading role in lots of lineup decisions, determining matchups and strategy in the everyday game.

But over the course of a 162-game season, it's still important to remember players are human. They need to rest. When they struggle, a manager has to decipher the reason why, and maybe chat with them. Some guys need a kick in the pants, others need a pat on the back. Some need to be left alone. 

A manager needs to be able to communicate and take the temperature of the clubhouse; there are 25 players, with 25 personalities, dealing with each other for 250 days of the year. Being the mediator is a difficult task.

Theo Epstein acknowledged as much after his Cubs won the 2016 World Series — he built the team not just on stats but on personalities and chemistry.

Managers won't win you every game, and they won't lose you all of them. They're responsible for a handful of decisions in wins and losses throughout the season. But everyone beating the "analytics are king and managers don't matter" drum should probably look at what A.J. Hinch did with the Astros in the World Series this year.

Hinch is known as one of the game's more progressive thinkers, as is Houston as a whole. But there were times in the World Series when Hinch went with his gut and eyes over his numbers. Just an isolated example: Sticking with Brad Peacock in Game 3 for 3 2/3 innings was a bold move, and likely one not in the books.

So, yes, while numbers play a part, in today's game where front offices are more involved with the construction of the team, lineups and so forth, it's equally as important for a manager to be there for his team mentally and emotionally — and that's totally OK to admit.

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