Please ignore Aaron Boone's comments on Josh Donaldson, Yankees fans

By no means are we suggesting fans become numb to what New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has to say from time to time ... but it's probably best not to fly off the handle on the other side of the spectrum and lose your mind every time he offers up a gag-worthy quote.

Boone's not exactly the figure you want in front of the media representing the world's most recognized sports franchise, as upsetting as that is to type out. He's not exactly eloquent, he stammers a lot, has to answer for inexplicable player regressions, and he covers for a front office that makes unacceptable mistake after unacceptable mistake. Some of it is his fault, some of it isn't and that makes it all worse.

As you can imagine, Josh Donaldson and Brian Cashman aren't helping Boone whatsoever. Cashman absorbed $50 million of Donaldson's contract in a horrific trade with the Twins last offseason and Donaldson responded by putting up a career-worst offensive campaign (yes, the defense was great, but not "$25 million great").

But that hasn't stopped Cashman and the rest of the organization from declaring Donaldson the starting third baseman for 2023 despite DJ LeMahieu being able to take over without issue. The decision has already been made.

So what do you expect Boone to say when he's asked about Donaldson's outlook for 2023? "Yeah, 2022 was bad for Josh ... expect it to be even worse in 2023, after which I'll head up to Mr. Cashman's office and smack his sandwich right out of his hand"?

Just ignore Aaron Boone's comments on Josh Donaldson, Yankees fans

OK, fine. Boone didn't have to say we were "crazy" for thinking Donaldson won't bounce back in 2023, but you get the picture. Perhaps he could've said something to hold the veteran a bit accountable, too. But like we said, this isn't a well-trained media figure. The Yankees are really bad at this. They'd also love to trade Donaldson, if they could!

The problem is Yankees fans being so dialed in that they can sniff out every lie, whether insigificant or unforgivable. That's why quotes like this need to be ignored. You know Boone isn't going to say anything disparaging about one of his guys. He hardly said anything inflammatory about Gleyber Torres' hustle issues or a word in response to Aaron Hicks giving up on that dropped ball in the outfield back in September.

You think he's going to start off spring training heading into a new season with a banger of a quote to throw everything off the rails? If Donaldson is shipped out of town or relegated to the bench, it'll happen swiftly and quietly.

It's a new season with new expectations. Aaron Judge is back. Carlos Rodón is here. Tommy Kahnle returned to the bullpen. LeMahieu is healthy. Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera are ready to take leaps. A full season of Harrison Bader is incoming.

Control what you can control and ignore the frustrating lip service. You'll be in a much better mental state when the Yankees inevitably slump in July and look like a bottom-five team.