 just wondering what kind of relationship if any do you have with Aaron Boone going into this job and how well do you guys know each other? Thanks Gary. I've known Boone mostly from playing against them. We were both in the National League Central for years even with Cincinnati and I was with Houston but we've kind of got a similar friend group where we know a lot of the same people. Of course we've been across a diamond from each other in a staff position as well. He did come to a Christmas party that I had one time years ago, him and his wife. So I do know him. I wouldn't say that Boone and I have stayed in regular touch but we've always been friends across the field. Hey Brad, congrats. Brian Hoek with MLB.com. What do you like about this opportunity? You've obviously managed in the big league so what do you like or enjoy about the idea of being a bench coach here? Well I did do the bench coach job in Oakland with Mark Katze. So I have done that before and this past summer I didn't do anything. I got a little bit bored to be honest with you. I enjoy the game. I enjoy the strategy. I enjoy the people and there's no grander stage in New York City. I started with the Yankees when they drafted me out of high school. I had never been back since the expansion draft in 93 and you know they're always looking to win a World Series. I've never won a World Series so that tied in with the fact that I do know Boone to some degree. It just seemed like a great fit and a great opportunity. From the outside looking in what do you think of this Yankee team? You know they're a very talented team. There was some injury issues last year and there were some guys coming back from injury that didn't get quite full back up to speed in terms of health. But like I said between this Hal and Cash and Boone and it's the Yankees. I mean every single year they're going to try and win the World Series and that can't be said about every organization and I want to be part of a World Series team. Hey Brad congratulations on the job. Jack Curry from the Yes Network. I was wondering if you could describe the anatomy of how this marriage came to be? Who reached out to you? What were those conversations like and what made it get to the point that it got to? Both Cash and Boone reached out to me I guess it was a few weeks ago now but they both reached out Cash had texted me kind of gauging my interest and then Boone called me to talk one-on-one about it a little bit more in depth and that was prior to any interview process so that's where it began. And then you've as you said served both roles a bench coach and a managerial role. What are the best attributes that a bench coach can have to facilitate the manager? The bench coach has to make sure the manager is prepared. He's got to make sure he's prepared whether it's pregame or in game. Obviously there's some smaller roles in between but the main aspect of a bench coach's job is to make sure that the manager has all the information that he needs to make a decision and if necessary maybe push him towards one decision or another or try to coax him in one direction or another if I feel strongly about it. What did you learn from both managing and bench coach about how the manager and bench coach roles are the same and how are they different? I think they're the same in the sense that you're still strategizing the same way in game. On the periphery you know it's probably the manager has a little bit more on his plate certainly in New York City attending to the media and the bench coach is a little more free to kind of interact with the players engage with the players you know you're not the point man you're not the guy in charge so it's easier to build relationships with players there's more camaraderie although I know Booney has done a very good job of doing that as a manager. I found it easier as a bench coach in Oakland to interact with the players on a personal level and that was actually one part of the job I really really enjoyed because if you don't like players in this game you probably shouldn't be in it and that was something that I really enjoyed. There's been a lot of talk around here about balancing analytical data with more traditional baseball teaching I guess it's a big question but where do you come down on that and do you see yourself as a communicator in that area? I'd say I think both are very important I think they're important to putting together team they're important to making decisions in a team you know data can truth is a lot of the data is extremely valuable but so is experience. I put a lot of stock in decision making that is based on data I did this goes back to me being a catcher I used to do the Skyrim ports in Houston for almost a decade and it was based on data and then I would put it into play in the game and I found that the data was probably right 85 but you have to use your eyes as well it's not a vacuum out there you have to use your eyes and you have to use your experience so I put a lot of emphasis on data but it is it is not the entire answer to winning baseball games. Speaking of catching you know how much of a look have you gotten at Austin Wells so far and what have you seen from him primarily behind the plate? I had I haven't seen him much I saw him at the very end of the year so I don't really want to jump the gun and speak to that you know I really like to get a look at him in spring training and just see him behind the plate see him beside the plate and then make a judgment when I have a little more information. I'm wondering if there was something about the Yankees interview process that stood out to you the things they emphasized the things they asked you about that really like stood out in your mind that that looked like it'll you know be one of your primary job responsibilities or something that you're going to have to consider every day just put something that jumped out to you during this process. Well I've only done two bench coach interviews one with Oakland and one with the Yankees you know both of them involved Zoom interviews they were both extensive both you know I wouldn't put them in the managerial extensive category but they were both extensive I think both teams wanted to make sure that their candidates had an understanding of what happened to them dug out and how decisions are made and if if my thought process matched with the New York Yankees and Aaron Boone's thought process. And in what ways do you find that your thought process matches with Aaron Boone's and the New York Yankees? I you know I think that's actually a better question for them they offered you know they they obviously offered me the job so I think the question should be asked them is why Brad Osmos more than me because I don't know what fully what their thought process is I might know you know a year from now but right now I going into the interview process I obviously didn't. Brad you've you know had a long majorly career just who are some of the bench coaches that stood out to you and what can you take from them and kind of apply to this job or maybe did apply when you were with Oakland? You know it's funny I actually would say in my managerial career I probably that experience gave me more value of information than as a player. As a player you know the bench coach is there but you're not you're not necessarily not necessarily focusing on what the bench coach is doing. In Detroit I had Gene Lamont who had a wealth of experience in baseball and I was a first-time manager with no coaching experience and I leaned heavily on him in that regard because he did have the in-game experience to lend to me. When I was in Anaheim I had Josh Paul who had no big league managing experience but it was extremely organized which also is an important asset for a bench coach to be organized for the manager and the rest of staff. I think it's got to fall somewhere in the middle. You've got to be organized but I do believe I firmly believe that having someone sitting next to you as a manager in the dugout that's been in that same seat and understands what it involves is a huge asset not so much even during the game but after the game when you're talking things through or before the game when you're when you're game planning for for that night's contest so it's I just think having someone with the experience having sat in that seat is invaluable. And just a follow-up you've been a bench coach a manager you've been in front offices and linked to front office jobs long term do you see yourself staying in the dugout or moving to a front office and do you want to manage again? I don't know where it's going to take me you know I didn't you know when I was managing I didn't imagine being a bench coach you know there was some a little bit of interest in front office roles but most of the time I when I look at myself I look at myself in uniform just because that's what I've always been I've been a player I've been a manager I've been a coach right now I'm the bench coach for the Yankee so that's all I'm concerned with. You've managed against Aaron Boone how do you I don't want to say judge but what stands out to you about Aaron judge Aaron judge Aaron Boone as a manager? You know it's funny I don't really judge the manager across the way unless unless they do something that I don't understand that's when I when I'll go you know I might look at my bench coach and say why do you think he's doing that? And nothing ever stood out with Aaron he never made a move where he went well that didn't make sense or you know why is he doing that? It's kind of that if he doesn't do anything out of the ordinary you don't really notice him you know kind of like an umpire like if an umpire calls a great game behind the plate you don't really notice him. So Aaron never did anything that made me kind of wrinkle my brow so to speak so I and that's how I would judge other managers if they made me wrinkle my brow. Brad you said something interesting a couple minutes ago that actually reminded me of what Gene Stick Michael used to say and ironically enough he's part of how your career moved in a different direction because he was the GM at the time of that expansion draft. You said 85% of the information you believe is potentially accurate but you have to trust your eyes. Stick used to say that all the time how do you how do you navigate that? How do you know when your eyes are telling you exactly what you need to see as opposed to that information that might be on a sheet of paper? Well you're leading on experience so you know I have in my case I have 18 years behind home plate five years as a manager or a year as a bench coach and I'm leaning on my experience to help me determine whether what I'm seeing with my eyes is real or not. Is it going to be wrong? Absolutely it's going to be wrong sometimes but you hope your experience points you in the right direction a little bit more than 85% of the time. How much did that topic come up when you interviewed with Boone and Fash did you talk about using your eyes as well as using the information that's provided? Yeah we discussed a lot of what we're discussing now. I talked about what I did as a catcher in terms of using data. I talked about what I did as a manager in terms of using data and I talked about using my eyes especially as a catcher because I had 18 years as opposed to five years of managing but that was a big part of the discussion. You've been in the other dugout as a player and a manager against the Yankees quite often over these several decades. I'm just curious what has stood out when they've been at their best? What brand of baseball do you hope that you can help this Yankees team bring to the field in 2024? In the recent past I guess you're worried about the long ball more than anything. These guys can slug, they can hit the ball out of the park, they can drive runs in and actually for big power hitting type players they're very athletic. Even a guy like Aaron Judge at his side is stealing bases so you're trying to stay away from the home run truthfully. You're trying to stay away from the long ball. They obviously had pitching as well and their bullpen is very strong. When I was in Detroit their bullpen was very strong when I was managing in Detroit from 14 to 17.