Jeter, Torre, Sabathia talk '22 Yankees, Judge, Boone

NEW YORK -- Derek Jeter is all for Aaron Boone’s return as the Yankees’ manager. He would just prefer that the team leaves the 2004 American League Championship Series in the past.

Jeter laughed on Wednesday when asked about the Yankees, down three games to none in the best-of-seven ALCS against the Astros, resorting to viewing highlight videos of the improbable '04 Red Sox comeback at his team’s expense.

"I don’t know the context of it, you know what I mean?" Jeter said. "I still don’t like to talk about it myself. So it makes me sick to this day, thinking about it."

Before Game 4 of the ALCS, Boone said that a four-to-five minute video was sent out to coaches and some players by Chad Bohling, the club’s director of mental conditioning. The tactic didn’t work, as the Yanks absorbed a 6-5 loss at Yankee Stadium that sent Houston to the World Series and a matchup against the Phillies.

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"You try anything," said Joe Torre, the Yankees’ manager in 2004. "My guess is, they were trying to show that it can be done. Unfortunately, we let it get away from us. Whatever they think is going to help, I’m all for it. You don’t hide. We had a 3-0 lead and it’ll always be a sad time for us. Give the Red Sox credit; they didn’t back off."

Speaking on Wednesday to The Associated Press in Tampa, Fla., managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner confirmed that Boone will return for a sixth season as the club’s manager. Boone signed a three-year extension after the Yanks’ ouster in the 2021 AL Wild Card Game.

"Good for Aaron,” Jeter said. "I like Aaron. I played with Aaron. Sometimes when you’re in a situation like that, it’s almost like you’re in a no-win situation unless you win, right? He puts them in a position every year to have that chance to win. Ultimately, it comes down to the players."

Steinbrenner said in that same interview that he and general manager Brian Cashman have had preliminary conversations about the 2023 roster, suggesting that Cashman will soon receive an offer to return. Cashman’s five-year contract expires at the conclusion of the World Series.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Aaron Judge will be in Boone’s Opening Day lineup. The slugger is set to test free agency after an astonishing 62-homer performance, eclipsing Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League record. Judge turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million extension from the Yankees before Opening Day.

"When you’re a homegrown superstar that comes up for free agency, you’ve got to find a way to keep them," said former pitcher CC Sabathia, a teammate of Judge’s from 2016-19. "He knows what this place is. He just had the best season in baseball history in a Yankees uniform. There’s no pitch to give him."

During his career, Jeter and agent Casey Close negotiated two substantial deals with the Yankees: First, a 10-year, $189 million extension in Feb. 2001, followed by a three-year, $52 million deal in Dec. 2010. In those talks, Jeter surrendered a valuable bargaining chip, something Judge does not appear inclined to do.

"I told them I wasn’t going anywhere," Jeter said. "That was the first thing I told them."

The former Yankees spoke on Wednesday at the 26th annual dinner for Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation, which works to create positive change and raise critical funds for the foundation’s signature programs that foster leadership development, academic excellence and healthy lifestyles among young people.

"We see a lot of the same faces year in and year out, which makes us believe we’re doing something right," Jeter said.