 Okay, as a reminder, please wait for the microphones. We'll open it up for questions for Yankee manager Aaron Boone Andy and you ready to announce your rotation? Yeah, Tanaka will go game one Paxson will go in game two and then savvy at home in game three and then we'll Will be TBD from there and the what was the thought process behind flipping Tanaka and Paxson from the first? Again, I felt like it was a good decision you know a tough one to be made but similar to the division series where I was going back and forth a lot um Just felt like masa here game one. It's the way I wanted to go in the end. Were they on the right? Aaron both teams had their bullpens well rested. How do you think that will affect the 7th series? Um Well, I mean, I I think it's clear the you know, bullpens will have to get important out You know, you would expect some close games So so games that come down to the end where if you're going to be able to win a ball game You're going to have to close it out. So You know, obviously we we lean on our bullpen heavily So, you know, I think even for Even though starting pitching is obviously very important and if you're going to get where you want to go You got to get good starts out of it as well Um, you you know, usually when we look back at the end of these things The teams are able to close out leads Keep on advancing Here in the middle What do you think of this franchise and what they've been able to build? How they've built it three consecutive seasons with 100 wins and Three consecutive seasons in the alcs with a world series title. Yeah, I mean it's um I mean, obviously a great team. Um, you know Very well run obviously a Uh, they've done a great job with their farm system of developing, you know, kind of homegrown superstars as well as making a lot of decisions Um, smart decisions of bringing in whether via trade free of free agency. Um, you know, they they've certainly Kind of established themselves as the class of this league here the last few years and um You know, hopefully we can we can ding it a little bit Yeah, and you're far right kent Aaron you've been on you've played, uh, series and went the maximum length. Uh, and then you just managed to sweep Do you think one team has an edge and you know, you're playing a team that went the distance I don't think so. I mean, you know, I mean you could sit and make a case for both ways You know if want to keep on playing and playing high stakes games and um, you know, us having a little bit of rest You know I'm sure whatever way the first couple of games go Uh, I'm sure people will harken back to that and say The rest helped or hurt us or or vice versa. So Um, I don't think there's a magic formula You know we're these are obviously two great teams and you know, hopefully, uh, You know, we'll kind of deliver Uh, I think what the baseball world's probably anticipating We're gonna stay here on the right dent Aaron have you made any, uh, roster decisions and in particular with hicks and uh, cc? We have not finalized yet. Um Still working through it actually so, um You know, obviously watching last night's game. We're All of everyone was at home. So we we we did have a you know, a big roster meeting and talked through a lot of things Yesterday for quite a while You know and then obviously with the game last night and now Flying this morning. Um, we'll kind of get together again and and hope to Nail it down here pretty soon, but we have not made the final call They go in the back buster wait for the mic He did okay, then we'll go over here to dave And as successful as the astros have been at home this year and they have a very loud, you know Pretty charged up atmosphere here. You can't really do anything in baseball to counteract a home field advantage But do you think you guys are are suited for that type of atmosphere? Just because of the the games you play in all the time and you know, whether it's in boston Or some of these other places. Can that be a benefit? I do. Um, I think our guys Um relish in this You know Clearly the astros have obviously shown that they have a real home field advantage here um Not only this year, but even going back now a few years and and I think a lot of us are aware of how loud this place can be um, but I do feel like our guys Will relish in that embrace that and and hopefully, um You know Find a way to have success through it all, but I don't worry about that affecting our guys and our performance Down here in the first row How are you all able to stay motivated going through all the adversity especially with the injuries that you had this year? um Well, we had no choice and we had guys that were called upon in those You know kind of replacing injured players and guys that Were were a lot was still expected of them. They expected a lot from themselves and and across the board guys delivered for us and and in impactful ways and allowed us to You know stay afloat and and thrive all season long and You know kind of looking back on it all the amount of people that Really played important roles some that aren't even with us right now some that are down in Tampa Staying sharp some that are already home Um, we've had so many different guys have a hand in us being here today third row far right Here when you took over this team after the 2017 ALCS, I mean I earned judge gary Sanchez those guys who just played in their first playoffs How much have you seen those two guys and this whole team grow to maybe be better prepared now to go through a series like this? Well, they represented pretty well back then and and obviously showed at a very young age that they were equipped to you know Handle all that the postseason can throw at you um You know I think in both cases those guys have continued to grow and they're not only their game But they're their roles on the team. They're you know a growing voice on the team and uh, you know, obviously the in you're talking about erin and gary those are two Faces of our franchise and and core players for us that In the end if we're going to win big this year those guys will be right in the middle of it Right here in the hat left Most your guys have like a lot of guys have poor numbers against our big three But you guys did get to see verlander twice this year. I think you're a grinky twice this year Did not see Cole. How much is a vantage that you got to see Cole here, didn't I? I don't think you saw him this year Yeah, we did we played Cole here. Okay. Well, how much is advantage of it that? You got to see so we get some looks off of those. You know what? I think it's I think it's better than not seeing them, you know, obviously, you know, we're talking you're talking about the elite of the elite pitchers, so It's always going to be difficult But I think the fact that you know speaking as a hitter any time you've at least had a little bit of experience against a pitcher I think that's beneficial and hopefully something that Some of our guys take with them You know we look forward to to the challenge of facing guys that are Obviously as good as what the astros can roll out there at you Take a few more Sweeney, right Aaron could Does the longer series mean maybe a little bit longer leash on your starters or do you think you'd be just as aggressive with your bullpen? The game will kind of dictate it, you know and and where you are in the series and You know When the off days fall who you've used It just kind of depends. I mean we're you know, we're going for broke. So You know, we'll we'll we'll try and do everything we can each and every day to to win a ball game You know keeping in mind that everything has an effect on everything. So Each and every day you got to make those kind of adjustments and So we'll see how that plays out Okay, last one Bob Aaron last night when you said you're sitting back and watching the the astros game Are you admiring a Garrett Cole's performance? Or you're already thinking he had my guy having to try to beat him in game three I was thinking Didn't he he looked like he aged out or something, you know, like check his birth certificate He's he's like the the kid's still pitching in Little League. That was a little too good for the league, you know He's obviously A great pitcher in the prime of his career and in a really good stretch right now So anytime you go up against a guy like that You know, it's it's it's hard It's but it's also really fun and especially when you have a team like us that Is as good as we are offensively and as confident as those guys are I think they'll look forward to that challenge and and hopefully be able to When you do get that mistake, hopefully you're you're able to take advantage of it because you know, there's those are going to be few and far between Okay, thank you, Aaron. All right. Masahiro Tanaka will be in in a minute