Boone spurns calls for culture change; Yankees clubhouse remains a 'strength'

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  Jorge CastilloOct 21, 2026, 05:04 PM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Aaron Boone has no plans to start calling out his players publicly more often, no matter how loud the criticism of his club's culture becomes.

"There is probably a time and place for that, but generally speaking, to me that's not leadership," Boone said Wednesday on a video call with reporters. "That's me giving red meat to people that want to be upset with somebody."

Boone, speaking from Yankee Stadium, defended his approach amid a wave of pointed commentary from former Yankees, including CC Sabathia, that has taken aim at the organization's standards since the Tampa Bay Rays swept the Yankees in the American League Division Series earlier this month.

"No disrespect, but they don't know what that standard is," Sabathia, whose No. 52 was retired at Yankee Stadium last month, said recently on the "All The Smoke" podcast. "There's nobody in [the clubhouse] keeping that standard."

Sabathia went on to criticize the organization for not having more former players around the team, something he said was more prevalent during his 11 seasons with the Yankees. Boone said he "would disagree with that a lot," adding that he invites former players to spend time with the club, especially during spring training.

"I know how hard it is to play every single day," Boone said. "I know how hard it is to walk out there every single day in a game of failure. Even when you're having a great year, you fail all the time in this sport. And that's why it's very tough mentally and emotionally to play this game at a very high level, especially here. The accountability factor playing here, I feel like, is very high."

Earlier Wednesday, general manager Brian Cashman, speaking from the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa alongside owner Hal Steinbrenner, said he has "proactively made phone calls based on a lot of the commentary that's been out there" and will continue to.

Cashman declined to specify whom he has called. He said he and those he has spoken with agreed that the issues cited are not why the franchise extended its championship drought to 17 seasons.

"With losing comes noise," Cashman said. "In the bigger markets, there's a lot more noise."

Cashman said the organization is "always trying to push a strong culture." He pointed to the Yankees being one of the first organizations to incorporate a mental skills program. On his end, Steinbrenner said he is "not convinced" invoking his late father's approach of publicly criticizing team executives, coaches, and players would be effective.

"It's just not the way I'm going to operate," Steinbrenner said. "I'm going to talk to them face-to-face."

Boone, who will return for his 10th season as manager in 2027, said issues with players are handled internally "man-to-man" and, when necessary, as a group. He insisted neither accountability nor culture have been an issue for his club. The problems, he and his bosses believe, lie elsewhere.

"I think we can always be better at the standard because we expect to be a champion every year," Boone said. "And I think we do have a lot of the right ingredients in that room that are pushing towards that standard.

"And I even look to our clubhouse this year, where I know that's been brought up...but I feel like our clubhouse this year was, again, a strength. This team dealt with a lot and handled it, and handled it without pointing fingers but just by sticking their nose down and competing really well."