Yankees: 4 Aaron Boone quotes in 2021 that will seal his fate as manager

2. “Andrew Heaney has been considerably less bad than the results.”

You thought Boone’s defense of Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez has been bad? Somehow it didn’t take long for new trade acquisition Andrew Heaney to join the ranks of those immune to the manager’s criticism.

Heaney came over from the Angels in a deadline trade and we were confused when that was the team’s final move after acquiring Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo. Perhaps everyone can understand why now.

The left-hander owns a 7.32 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 12 games with the Bombers, but that’s not even really the worst part. He’s legitimate batting practice for opposing hitters, surrendering 13 home runs in 35.2 innings with the Yankees (good for 3.3 per nine innings) and 29 total across his 129.2 innings this year (good for 2.0 per nine innings).

By far, his worst stretch of the season has come in the Bronx … but Boone figured out a way to escape calling Heaney “bad.”

“He’s been considerably less bad than the results.” What’re we doing here?

It’s not like Heaney’s ERA is insanely high and his FIP is low. Or his BABIP is off the charts. He’s all-around bad. Look for a stat. Did you find one? Great. It proves Andrew Heaney is not very good. We’re upset about it! We don’t want to be evaluating our own players as “bad.” But he objectively is, especially this year, and there should be no beating around the bush.