 Hey, Aaron, Hal Steinbrenner said on the Michael K show yesterday, he was frustrated by the lack of consistency throughout the course of the season. Having some time to reflect, why do you think it was such a roller coaster ride of a season? Yeah, I think in looking back, that's probably one of my biggest frustrations. I take a lot of pride in creating an environment that, no matter what's going on with the rigors of a season, injuries, people dealing with different things. Obviously, this year dealing with the COVID environment, that was a challenge. But creating an environment that we're able to take advantage of that. And I think over the course of the length of the season, the peaks and valleys I felt like should have been better. Despite some of the challenges we faced at different times of the year with injuries. So that part is certainly a little bit frustrating. I feel like we're better than our overall record would have shown. Luke Voight had mentioned after the final game that he was going to get an MRI and have that foot evaluated. Any updates on that? And do you think that affected him in the postseason? No updates yet. No, I don't think that affected him. I think he was basically dealing with the same thing. And actually, probably the last couple of days and into the playoffs was actually maybe a little bit better than he was at different times during the regular season, where obviously he had a monster season. So I mean, look, to some degree, it had a little effect. But this guy led the league in home runs dealing with it most of the year. So hopefully we get that corrected. And it's not something he has to deal with moving forward. But I don't think it had an overwhelming effect on him performance-wise. We could take another from Bruce Beck. Hey, Aaron, do you feel as though you had the elements to win it all this year? And if so, does that add to the disappointment of the early exit? Oh, no question. I mean, that's I think going back now to the last few years, we lose to Boston when we're a couple feet from Gary's ball going out and forcing a game five, where they've already shot their main guy, and they go on to win the World Series. Obviously last year, with Houston having a grueling series with them, going down tight in the eighth inning in game five against Tampa, who's now looking like they're on their way to a World Series. So we understand the club we have, how close. And that does add to the disappointment, because you realize how close you are to being a championship team and just haven't been able to get over the hump yet. So that eats at you, wears at you, motivates you. And it's something we've got to live with. Thank you. Take another from Brendan Cutty. Aaron, yesterday, Hal said that you'll no doubt be back next year. Was that ever a worry for you, understanding that this season was the last guarantee here in your contract? Not worried, you know? Again, I didn't go into this. I love doing this. I love being a part of this organization to get to work for Hal and the Steinbrenner family and Brian Cashman and his staff is a privilege and an honor and something that I've thoroughly enjoyed. But honestly, I've never worried about my status year by year moving forward. I kind of feel like that will all take care of itself. You know, I can't wait to get back to work and, you know, as I say a lot, we're trying to kick that door in and that's we're trying to win a championship. We're trying to climb to the top of the mountain. We know we're close. We know we have a team capable of it. And that's the motivation. So my contract status and all that will take care of itself and my focus is on us and getting us to the top of that mountain. And Meredith had asked about Luke, do you have any other players who need any offseason surgeries or anything like that? Gosh. No, I think I don't I don't believe we have anything coming on the books. No. Thank you. Take another from Brian Hoke. Aaron, it seems like, you know, looking back, game two was really a turning point in that series. Can you go over the decision to start Garcia and Hap? I think a lot of fans would be interested to know how that decision was reached and how involved the analytics department was. Well, I mean, it's something that we started to really discuss right after the Cleveland series about how we're going to line up when you obviously know we're up against another really good team and in Tampa. And one of the things that makes Tampa, you know, a really special club is how they've constructed their roster to exploit platoon advantages. And it was simply a matter of ultimately, you know, probably going to go with Jay Hap in one of those games. And, you know, for a team that, you know, can probably shoot out seven, eight right-handed hitters against him if you want. And if they would have wanted to, just a way of trying to create a little bit of a platoon advantage for Jay in that game. You know, he's been a guy over the last three years that there's about a 200 point OPS difference when he faces lefties versus righties. And just trying to, you know, exploit that a little bit, knowing that, you know, laying in the weeds is Garrett for a potential game five. So it's just kind of trying to creatively use our pitchers to try and get them in the best situations to give us a chance to be successful in a game that we're up against glass now. And, you know, so that was the thinking. So it kind of evolved over about a two day period where, you know, we obviously had conversations about it, which way we wanted to go. Ultimately, you know, talk to Jay about it and told him, you know, our thinking and our thought process and why we're doing things. And that's kind of how it came to. Take another from Pete Caldera. Garrett, as we sit here, do you know who your regular catcher is in 2021 or is this now an up in the air situation? Look, I still have a ton of confidence in Gary Sanchez. I know it was a tough year for him. But I'll go back to, as I've said a lot of times, over the last few weeks, I do feel like he was a different guy over the last month of the season. And it didn't necessarily show up in the numbers result-wise offensively. But I think if you follow us and you watched his at bats, he was a different guy over the last month. It was a struggle for him the first month of the season, you know, where just timing was off, chasing a lot, leaving the zone. And I really do feel like that improved a ton. I felt like he was catching, well, the last few weeks of the season. So the loss of playing time to a large degree there at the end was more a result of what Higgy was doing. Higgy kept earning more and more opportunities with the way he was swinging the bat and obviously what he brings behind the plate. So I feel like right now we have in Gary and Higgy two really quality major league catchers. And I do still feel like in Gary's case, I do feel like his ceiling is really, really special. It's incumbent on all of us to continue to work alongside him and try and help him realize that great potential that I feel like he still has. Sweeney Murdy, you have the next question. Aaron, when you talk about platoon advantages, it applies to your team too. You've been knocked out the playoffs last few years by teams who've brought in right-handers who they have at times dominated your right-handed batters. Do you feel you're too imbalanced as an offense from a right-left perspective? Even over the course of a regular season, it doesn't play out the same way as it does in postseason. Look, Sweeney, I think in a perfect world, you always have that balance where you have a switch-hitter or two, or you have three or four lefties. But it's hard to have everything, right? I mean, so you're constantly tweaking your roster to give yourselves the best chances at success. I feel like in Tampa is unique in that, I would say some of the righties they ran out there, though, are more reverse-split anyway. So it doesn't factor in as much. You get a guy like Castillo that's obviously incredibly tough on righties. So yeah, in a perfect world, you sprinkle in another leftie here and there to eliminate or limit teams' abilities to counteract your strengths on a nightly basis. That said, how our team is constructed and what we have right now, I very much feel like is still capable of winning a championship. Your lineup is, you know, everybody around baseball talks about how feared it is. That's over the course of 162, you end up winning 100 with that lineup. But in a short series, does the lack of balance play out more, I guess is what I'm asking. Is it more necessary in a short series like that? Right. I mean, look, I think if you go back and look at, especially, you know, obviously with Cleveland against one of the, we kind of rolled through that offensively, like you're not gonna see in the playoffs. Even to some degree, you know, offense wasn't necessarily the issue for us, even against Tampa, a team that is really, really as good as anyone at limiting runs. The last game, we only scored one run. You're probably gonna have a game in a series where you don't score a bunch of runs, but I think we scored four, five, 10, you know. So run scoring wasn't necessarily a problem. We got held down in game five, no question. But I think over the course of even a championship run, you're gonna have to win games, you know, in a five game series and a seven game series, two to one, one to nothing, three to two, you're gonna have those games. You're not gonna bludgeon teams every night. I don't care how good your offense was. So yeah, I don't necessarily look at his offense being the issue with our demise this year. Take another from Ron Blum. As you look at your roster, what moves do you think are needed during the offseason given who's free agent eligible and what areas do you need to improve on? Again, that's probably more of a question for cash. And certainly, you know, I'll be a part of that as we dive into the winter and in what's gonna be a unique landscape, I think. There's no question. What's this winter gonna look like from a free agent standpoint? Again, I don't wanna, with obviously the disappointment of sitting here and not being part of the American League championship series, I also wanna make sure we keep in perspective that, you know, how close we are, you know, we just, again, we lost game five in a game we're tied in the eighth inning to a team that's, you know, three nothing right now in the ALCS and probably on their way to the World Series. So as much as we constantly are gonna try to improve here and there's gonna be tweaks to the roster as a result of that, you know, I think it's also important to note just, you know, how still close we are, you know, to being the last team standing, to being capable of being that last team standing. So, you know, I know we'll start our, you know, scout meetings here coming up soon, you know, see where the winner takes us. And then constantly, Ron trying to improve in every area. I mean, that's what we try to do all the time, you know, how can we tighten up from a starting pitching standpoint, from a starting pitching plan standpoint, how we prepare getting better defensively, improving offensively. I mean, it's a little, we're trying to get a little bit better all the time in every aspect. And hopefully when we win a championship, which I hope is next year, hopefully we're trying to get a little better from that. I mean, that never stops. But I think it's also important to realize how close we are. Dan. Okay, go ahead. Dan Martin, go to the next one. Aaron was, was Aaron judge healthy down the stretch in the playoffs? And if so, what do you make of, you know, the lack of production from him late in the season and in the postseason? Yeah, yeah, he was good. You know, I just think probably never got quite locked in timing wise at the plate. You know, obviously still hit, I think three homers in the postseason, a big homer to give us the lead there in game five. So I just think with Aaron, as it always is with hitting, you know, I mean, it's, it's getting to that point to where you really get locked in and then he's the best player on the field. So, you know, he grinded through those last couple of weeks and I just never felt like never probably got that timing to where exactly it needed to be. And that can be a little bit fickle too. I mean, sometimes that can happen, Dan, in, you know, first day back, third day back, fifth day back, sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get those regular bats to get going, but he was still an impact performer for us and, you know, can't wait to see what he does for us next year. Lindsay Adler, you have the next question. Aaron, with all of the talk about, you know, the blend between the coaching staff in the front office, I'm curious, what do you make of the perception that the front office and analytics group may have more of a say over how the games are played than maybe you and your coaching staff do? Look, we're all part of this. I mean, we all are heavily invested and all, you know, a lot of people have a voice. I don't, so it's a collective effort when it comes down to what happens on the field and the decisions, that's me and our coaching staff, but, you know, we're, I'd like to think a really smart organization and a really advanced organization that, you know, we receive a lot of information and have a lot of dialogue and to give us the best chance to win all the time. So I think any really strong organization in 2020, there's influence from all throughout the organization and if you're not, most of those teams are trying to catch up right now. And then you guys have a range of guys from the Eric Cole, the Adamadovino, the very analytics friendly guys, some of the more traditional guys. What feedback have you guys gotten from your players and how do you guys try to kind of find a way to make the information that you guys want them to have kind of fit each guy's individual style of play? Yeah, I mean, that's one of the, you know, that's one of the kind of the secret sauce of how do you tap into every player and who needs and wants a lot? Who do you need to, you know, keep it a lot more simple for? That's one of the challenges. I do feel like we do a good job of that here. I do feel like our players more and more and the players now that are coming up and of this generation are, understand and want and thirst for a lot of the information that's provided for them. So I feel like that's something that's become easier and easier over time. And I hope, I feel like we do, and we got to continue to grow and continue to move forward and get better at doing it. But I do feel like we do a good job of getting the right information in guys' hands to help them not only from a team standpoint but individually in their career as well. Kristi Acker, please unmute, you have the next question. Hey, Aaron, you've talked a lot about learning every year and, you know, trying to progress. What do you take from this year that you will focus on perhaps changing for next year for yourself, for your staff and for your team? Yeah, there's nothing yet that I've, you know, wholesale changing. Again, it's, you know, buttoning up and tightening up our processes for, you know, delivering information to the player to creating strong reviews for players on a daily, weekly, monthly, you know, every other month basis to where we're updating strengths and weaknesses and where they're making strides in their game. So I think in just how we deliver information from a review standpoint that we're really tapping into what players are doing well and where they need to improve. And now, how do we get that information to them? How much information? What's the right amount to each individual because everyone's a little bit different to continue to help them grow as players individually? Look, again, I think we do that well here but it's something that, you know, hopefully we continue to get even better at. You made a lot of changes to your staff last off season. Do you anticipate any changes this off season? I don't right now. You know, obviously it's very raw right now coming out of the series. So, you know, these are things we'll, you know, there's always a little bit of change within an organization. From a player, whatever it is, you're always gonna have some losses or some changes, but no plans of anyone on my staff right now. Thank you. Yeah. Andy Martino, you have the next question. Erin, based on the metrics that were available publicly, your defense this year kind of as a whole graded out below average, what can you do when your staff do with their current personnel to tighten that up? And is positioning something, if a guy lacks some possibly natural range, how much can positioning help? And can that be something that continues to be emphasized? Well, positioning is an important part of the pie. I mean, the defense, you know, so that's something that, you know, I feel like over the few years that I've been here, I feel like something overall we've done pretty well, but it's something that you're constantly trying to evaluate, make decisions on, especially as more and more guys, I feel like in different situations are becoming more capable of exploiting those things and trying to exploit those things. So that's, but we're always trying to be, you know, as obviously as strong as possible as far as positioning goes, but then it's continuing to pour into helping guys continue to grow and improve. And I feel like at a number of positions, we're special, even elite, but there's obviously room for improvement for us in a number of areas. And those are things that you tackle from a routine, strength and conditioning, work, teaching, and hopefully trying to help each individual grow and reach their potential defensively. So that's an area that doesn't stop either. Did you send Glaber home with any specific advice about a few things he could do to take the next step as a shortstop? Yeah, I mean, with Glaber, we constantly have these conversations. I think Mendy does a great job with him. I think he has a really good routine that he's gotten into. I think for Glaber, it's about becoming excellent at the routine. I mean, ultimately that's what separates, you know, really good shortstops from average to below average, whatever it is. You know, I think for Glaber, it's about, you know, making that routine play day in and day out. And that's what's gonna allow him to become a really good shortstop. Thank you. Take another from Marley Rivera. Hi, Erin, you talk about hopefully learning as a manager and as a person every year. So what were your biggest lessons this year? You know, I think the challenges that came with playing a season in this environment in 2020, you know, I think the importance of because in a lot of ways, it was harder to communicate and casually communicate with players and have normal interactions and routines that you get into as a big league team, as players, as coaches. So there were, you know, just different hurdles each and every day that you kind of had to get through. So I think it's just making sure that, you know, the communication and information is seamless from me, coaches to players so that whatever adverse situations you may find yourself in, which we found ourselves in this year, still thrive in this environment. And, you know, that's something that I want to make sure we're better at. And just as a quick follow-up, is the loss in the divisional series easier to swallow now that the Rays are a game away from the World Series or is that irrelevant? No, it's really hard every year. I would say this is different from last year, is different from the year before in different ways. But when you love what you're doing and love the people that you're doing it with, and you know you have a team that's one of the handful of teams that really is close to being a championship team, ultimately when you go home, that hurts a lot and it's hard to get through and get over if you do and we will because we still have too much great opportunity in front of us, but it's difficult. Taking another from Joel Sherman. Aaron, after the game two, at least passive aggressively, Jay Hap indicated he didn't like your decision. Cece Sabatio went on his podcast and pretty much ripped up that decision. He's a guy who I assume has connection to your clubhouse. He still has connection to your organization. So I have to imagine other members of your clubhouse probably had real questions about that decision. So do you feel like you have any kind of mending to do, especially I think the implicit thing there is, is the manager to something you answered before? As much as it's collective in 2020, a puppet as opposed to someone who's making his individual decision, and do you think you have to reemphasize with the team that these are actually your decisions? Well, it is my decision and I have those conversations all the time with players and difficult conversations when we're doing something that's a little bit out of the box, I guess you'd say. So the conversations I had personally with Jay were forthright and honest and to some degree a little bit difficult, but and certainly informative in explaining exactly where I was coming from and ultimately making the decision that I did. So that's, that's part of it. I mean, you know, part of my job is you're not always gonna make a popular decision that's gonna play well with an individual player and you have to weigh that and sometimes find yourself having to make difficult decisions that sometimes work out really well and sometimes they don't. But ultimately, you know, I have to make that decision and take the information I get and try and do what's best by our team and that's what I've always done and will continue to. Well, if I could just follow up that, I guess what I'm asking is not just the Jay have thing, but even in 2020 where I do think the players recognize the collective nature of decision making and analytics and strategy, do you think you need to reassert to your clubhouse with all of that when it comes down to who's in the lineup and what order, when I use pitching, how I use pitching, the game is in my control. Do you think that needs to be reasserted? To your own group, not just- Yeah, I don't think so, Joel, but, you know, we'll see where we are in the spring and next year as things unfold. I think that room understands that ultimately, I'm right now at the lineup and I'm making these decisions and I think that's understood. I think people understand that I listen to coaches, I listen to front office personnel, especially when we're doing something that making a big decision or a big change or something that may be out of the box. I certainly consult with a lot of people, but I think our guys understand that ultimately it's my decision. Thank you. You take another from Bob Clapish. Hey, Aaron, you said a number of times today that you feel this team is really close and you're just about to kick the door down. I'm just wondering how hard it is to keep saying that year after year and is it becoming more difficult to believe it or to get your players to believe it or to get the fans to believe it without sensing there's a stagnation here? Yeah. Not harder to believe it because I believe it with all my being. I mean, and I think our guys do too. And I think if you look at us honestly, from the outside, even though we all share in the frustrations and I understand the frustrations of the fan base, but I think if you really look at it, we are it's razor thin. The difference between us and say the team is gonna win the World Series this year. So it's not hard for me to continue to say it again because I do believe that we are gonna get there and I believe our players feel that way wholeheartedly. It doesn't make it any less frustrating and disappointing though because ultimately, there's a number of reasons I guess that I came back to do this to be a part of a team. The number one reason was to win a championship. So that's where the focus is. That's where the work lies and that's what I'm trying to do and be a part of for the Steinbrenner family and for this organization. We wanna win a championship and that's where, and I believe in a good way. That's where all of our players focus is and that's where their hunger lies. And I do believe that they are very hungry to get that done and I believe it'll reflect in the work they do to prepare for next year in the winter time. I can follow up. The reason I asked specifically is the way that Luke, the way he reacted to that loss. He seemed really specifically demoralized by that it's been the third time and next year going to the fourth time around. And I'm just wondering if you worry about your players being demoralized at the randomness of the postseason. No. Yeah, just sometimes no matter how good they are just don't get there. Yeah, there's no question. There is a little randomness to sometimes through the postseason, but no, I don't worry about the guys being demoralized. We play for an organization where a lot of people care. Players, people in the front office, people that work for this organization certainly are amazing fan base. That's one of the great things about wearing the pinstripe is how much people care. So when you don't reach your ultimate goal, people are frustrated, people are in pain, it hurts. And I wouldn't want it any other way. That's the arena I want to be in. That's the kind of organization I want to be a part of. And that exists here. And I think we're all thankful for that and why many of us choose to be a part of this organization and as much as we're hurting right now and trying to get over the pain of losing a playoff series with so much at stake is because we know the opportunity that's still in front of us with a lot of great players. Jack Kerr, you have the next question. Aaron, understanding that a negotiation has to happen and it takes two sides to reach an agreement, how critical is it that you're still writing DJ LeMay using even a lineup card next season? I just saw DJ in here. I think I've said this a lot over the last couple of weeks. I think if you take a snapshot of the last two years, you probably count on one hand how many players have been as good as DJ LeMay and how important they've been to their team. So look, we'll see what happens moving forward. All I can tell you is he's been a pleasure to be able to manage and to watch him go out and prepare the way he does, perform the way he does. And in his way, lead the way that he does. He's a special player, a special person. And of course we'd love to have him back, but you never know what this off season's gonna, where it's gonna go. But all I know is we've been fortunate to have a great player and a great person at the top of our lineup the last couple of years. We're gonna take a few more. Obviously we're not gonna get to all of the hands in queue. We have Brian Cashman following. We'll go to our trusted Eric Boland for the next question. Aaron, along the same lines as what Jack asked you, but in regards to Tanaka, how badly would you like to see him back forward? Yeah. You're fully realizing that's not your call. Right. You know, one of the great things about my job is the relationships that you form, getting to manage not only great athletes and special performers, but special people and competitors. And that's what Masa is. He's obviously great at his craft. You know, he's the ultimate professional. I love watching him work. I love watching him prepare. I love watching him do press conferences. I love his sense of humor, who he is around our team. You know, the way he's just a part of the culture here. So again, I'm not gonna speculate or get into anything. All I know is I've had the great privilege of getting to manage and watch Masa be who he is as a player and a person. Thank you, Aaron. We'll take two more. Mark Carrig, please unmute. Hey, Aaron. I was just curious, statistically, right? Percentage-wise, there's a lot of information that I'm sure you have in front of you. You're making a call like this. How much of your chances of winning game two increase with the plan that you put in place? Right. Yes, how do you balance that, right? Because you're constantly making choices between what you're hearing from the player and what the statistics say. Right. How often do you trend towards the numbers on that? Because it's a lot of problems. Yeah, it's a good question. Again, that comes back to the balance and it's one of my jobs is to strike that balance. There's things throughout the year all the time that I may go a certain way because maybe that's a little unorthodox or a little player may not like just because I feel like it gives us too much an advantage or an edge. There's other times that I stay away from that. And sometimes, especially during the regular season, every day is a little bit different. You're not in a vacuum every single day. You got to strike that balance and that's what I try to do as best I can. And percentage-wise in this case, Aaron, was that enough of a number in your mind? Well, clearly it was that you made that decision, but I guess could you give us context of how much that at least statistically pushed it toward that? Yeah, I don't know statistically like, I felt like this gave us a 15% better chance or anything, I'm not saying like that. I just felt like it gave us the best chance to win that game. And so ultimately, and in that case, it was something that evolved over a couple day period where I had conversations with the player involved, trying to dive into the numbers of where the advantages may or may not lie, and you try and strike that balance and then make the best decision. So maybe it's a little nuanced in that regard, but that's it. Thank you. Take a final one from Nate Makoborsky. Nate, please unmute. Aaron, just to go back for a moment so that you talked about the hurdles you faced, obviously, in 2020, playing in an empty Yankee stadium, I would think would be one of those. What do you think was the biggest impact overall of your team not playing in front of Yankee fans every night at home? And do you think there will be an even greater appreciation for them when that day comes again? No question, a greater appreciation. Although I do feel like one of the reasons a lot of our guys love being Yankees or our guys have chosen to be Yankees for his playing here and playing in front of our fan base and playing in front of a fan base that cares as much as it does. But I think anytime you go through something like this, hopefully one day when we get back to normal and a full stadium, there's no question in my mind that you'll appreciate that and have a greater appreciation for that than maybe even you did before. And there's no question in my mind that a number of our guys missed out on having that the energy that that provides. And I do feel like a lot of our guys thrive because there's something about playing in a full stadium whether it's here, whether it's on the road and there's a hostile environment. I think there is something about that where a lot of guys and especially a lot of our guys thrive in that environment and thrive on that energy and that different edge that fan bases can bring to a game on a nightly basis. So I think we all long to get back to that and hopefully that happens next year. Aaron, thank you for the time. Everybody hang tight. We'll be back with Brian Cashman in the next few minutes. All right.