Hal Steinbrenner says changes are coming, though exactly what they look like remains to be seen.
After the Yankees held organizational meetings last week in Tampa to begin their deep dive into what went wrong in an 82-80 season — their worst since 1992 — Steinbrenner indicated that the tweaks may not be major.
“We’re going to make some changes. Some may be more subtle than others,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday at Sportico’s Invest in Sports conference, per the Associated Press.
“Possibly personnel but not necessarily personnel. It could be practices. It could be the way we communicate.”
The meetings included general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone, among other team officials.
“At times it got a little dicey, but it was respectful,” Steinbrenner said, adding that the topics of discussion were player health, clubhouse culture, analytics and scouting.
The Yankees managing general partner asked the group to “check egos at the doors.”
“I want you to challenge everything, all of our philosophies,” he said. “I want you to challenge each other.”
Steinbrenner had said in the summer that he would be asking tough questions if the Yankees failed to make the playoffs, which they did for the first time since 2016.
Aaron Judge, who was expected to talk with Steinbrenner (as was Gerrit Cole), had said before the season ended that he had some ideas to help the Yankees improve in the future — including how the club used analytics.
“I think on the analytics side, the information and resources the Yankees provide are great,” the Yankees captain said on the final day of the season.
“I think it’s just about how we use them and how we value them is an aspect that maybe we need to look at again. I think the Yankees are top-notch in the numbers we get. All that, it’s great. I think we’re the best in the game at that. But I think it’s now about funneling those down to the players in the right format.”
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