The Yankees suffered another early playoff exit this season, and one of their former players took full advantage of the opportunity to pile on while the chips are still down.
New York boasts one of the biggest payrolls in MLB, yet the team failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. To the Yankees’ credit, they did take the Rays to five games, and had a great chance to emerge victorious in the winner-take-all showdown. A late home run given up by Aroldis Chapman did them in, though.
Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius knows all about coming up short in the postseason while rocking the pinstripes, as he played for the Yankees from 2015-19. He recently threw some shade at his former team, as Gregorius seems to feel manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees rely heavily on analytics.
“The biggest difference? Let’s see,” Gregorius began, during an appearance on Radio.com, as transcribed by NJ.com. “They’re both good managers. For me, the only thing I see different is Joe [Girardi] goes more with his instincts – that’s what I think – and Boone goes more with analytics.”
He continued:
“That’s what the team is doing now most of the time. I always tell people I understand the analytics part of the game, but you’ve also got a take the heart of the player. You can’t measure that on paper or anything.”
It should be fun to watch the Phillies and Yankees square off next season, given what Gregorius had to say.