Yankees: Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman open up on Phil Nevin firing

Given command of the entire New York press corps on Tuesday afternoon to announce the details of his own long-term return, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t have much prepared.

Often, he spoke in platitudes, which we’re used to by now. He didn’t traffic in specifics. He announced the team needed to get better and he was happy to be home.

We weren’t expecting a detailed, 12-point plan, per se, but what was delivered was a lot of stuttering, a bit of couching, and a dash of motivational mumbling.

Until someone asked Boone about the coaching staff dismissals of Phil Nevin, Marcus Thames and P.J. Pillitere.

Boone didn’t exactly open the vault, but when asked specifically about the role he’d had in the decision-making and execution (in an attempt to pick up hints about how involved he’d be moving forward), he gave us some insight into the complicated process.

Clearly, it stirred up some emotions talking about jettisoning one of his best friends in the game.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone struggled with the idea of Phil Nevin’s firing.

Leave it to Michael Kay to ask this question, too. Big moments require the big guns.

Boone admitted that (obviously) things never came down to a “me or him” situation — otherwise, the manager wouldn’t have been speaking to us at all. However, he made it immediately clear that he maintains great love for all three dismissed staffers, and admitted their departures sent him into soul-searching mode.

Curiously, he also admitted he spoke to Nevin, specifically, about coming back? We’re not sure the context of that conversation, and we’re not sure if that’s supposed to indicate to us that Boone was out of the loop, reaching out to comfort his friend while the rest of the front office was plotting his demise.

And speaking of, Brian Cashman touched on the wave of dismissals, too, but didn’t reveal his hand too much. “Tough calls,” “Great baseball people,” etc.

He did drop one intriguing breadcrumb along the way, though.

How, exactly, do we think the coaching staff will evolve moving forward? And how involved do you think Boone really will be?

Are we thinking the Yankees might be bold enough to expand their staff? It’s been assumed since the moment Thames’ departure was made official that the team would be going with a “Driveline, but for hitting” hire in terms of innovation, but are we sure it won’t be a more experienced veteran?

What about Nevin? Will bench coach Carlos Mendoza be reassigned and replaced by a designated bad cop? Maybe an additional, position-less voice joins the family?

At this juncture, it remains anyone’s guess. Boone was clearly a bit flummoxed, and Cashman didn’t lead us in any defined direction.

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