Yankees: Aaron Boone defends Gary Sanchez in latest lightning rod quote

We may be in the final weeks of manager Aaron Boone turning our brains into pretzels, Yankees fans. Savor it.

Or don’t.

Boone’s contract expires following the 2021 season, and unless the team goes on an incredible run or the front office remains unreasonably committed to their puppeteer work, this should be the end of his run in the Bronx.

We won’t miss it, and we’re especially sick and tired of parsing his motivational quotes, none of which seem to reflect what we’re watching on the field. They continually strike the wrong chord; instead of a “C,” it usually sounds like Boone is playing a, “Smack the Front of the Guitar With Your Open Palm”.

Case in point: Right after Gary Sanchez’s latest miscue behind the plate, a dropped foul pop that ignited a seven-run rally, Boone was blunt, stating, “Yeah, you’ve got to make that play.” Plain. Simple. He didn’t defend the indefensible.

Then, 48 hours later on Monday, he pivoted, again saying that Sanchez’s excellent defensive work doesn’t show up in the box score.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s Gary Sanchez quotes didn’t line up.

See, the thing is, it doesn’t show up in the box score because it never happened.

Conversely, some of his worst gaffes don’t show up in ink, either. The missed tag against Jonathan Villar of the Mets, where he waited days, months, years for the runner to arrive at the plate only to not tag him, doesn’t exactly translate to the print edition. You had to see it to believe it.

Boone has not exactly given the most honest of assessments this season, and his Sanchez defense here is far from his most disingenuous moment. It is, however, the latest example of the skipper stepping up and defying bad optics, while mostly remaining silent on, say, Luke Voit, who’s been demoted for next to no reason (not performance-based!).

The Sanchez quote isn’t even his greatest hit from the past 24 hours. For that honor, we choose the “the fight is still there” gibberish from the wake of Sunday’s loss.

What fight is still where, Boonie? If you’re referring to the fight in the parking lot after the game, catalyzed by the Yankees’ ineptitude in their most important games of the year and 15-16 Molsons, then yes, that fight is still raging.

On the field? Not seeing it, sorry. Getting your teeth kicked in, I can see, but not “fight”.

Better luck next year to all of us, as we attempt to keep our heads on straight as the team dissolves into sand. Boone might not be here for another round of quote salad.

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