Suzyn Waldman might've just confirmed Aaron Boone is the problem with the Yankees

For years, New York Yankees fans have often wondered how much of Aaron Boone's decisions are actually his, versus how much comes handed down from a predetermined script from the top.

The Yankees have long been one of the most analytics-forward organizations in the league. That comes with a lot of good, but also some bad, especially as the wave has swept up more and more teams. With more clubs on board, the advantage that once provided has become a lot slimmer.

On top of that, relying too heavily on what the numbers say you should do takes out any sort of feel for the game. Case in point being the decision to lift Max Fried from Game 1 of the ALWCS, which resulted quickly in a Luke Weaver implosion.

While Boone has faced his fair share of criticism over the years, the sentiment that he was the organization's puppet enveloped him in a sort of protective armor. However, a recent revelation from Suzyn Waldman on WFAN shows that Boone is just as culpable as the ones we thought were pulling the strings the entire time.

Aaron Boone is more responsible for the Yankees' failures than previously thought

According to Waldman, Boone is in "lockstep" with the organization regarding game planning and strategy, though she adds that the actual in-game decisions are his alone to make. This synergy means the club doesn't question him when things don't work out, because if they had prescribed a certain move, it would've likely been what Boone decided anyway.

Looking at this in totality, there's a lot of rot here. When Boone writes out weird lineup cards, like when he kept 57 homers on the bench against Boston and Garrett Crochet, the front office seemingly doesn't question him on it.

Then there's the accountability issue. Even though at many points this season it would have made a ton of baseball sense to sit a struggling Anthony Volpe down and give Jose Caballero an extended look at shortstop, Boone didn't do it. And the higher-ups agreed, because the analytics say that Volpe's power is more valuable than the speed and defense that Caballero provides.

Of course, getting outside of that vacuum and looking big picture, one could agree with that philosophy, but also believe that a message needed to be sent to the struggling golden boy that his level of performance was unacceptable and he needed to do more to continue hanging on to his starting job. Instead, Boone let him coast with the Yankees' blessing.

Contrast that to Boone's predecessor, Joe Girardi. Girardi came up under Joe Torre and modeled a lot of what he did on those lessons he picked up while playing for the Yankee legend. Torre was a longtime baseball man who did things like utilize the hit-and-run to try and create havoc, something that the modern game might as well have outlawed based on how seldom the tactic is used today.

That's not to say that Girardi didn't also buy into analytics. He certainly did. But he knew how to put them into the context of what was unfolding on the field and against the backdrop of the human element. Compare that to Boone, who simply seems like he looks at a spreadsheet before making the decision that the spreadsheet says he should.

Girardi was ultimately dismissed due to communication issues with the younger players, like Gary Sanchez, whose frequent passed balls had worn Girardi's patience thin. Sanchez played significantly worse under Boone than he did with Girardi.

One can imagine that those communication issues with Girardi extended upward, too. The organization found it was too hard to control a manager, so instead they went out and got one who thinks just like them.

There's a reason why general managers build teams and managers manage them. The roles require very different skill sets. Yet, with an ideological equal in the dugout, the Yankees don't have to worry about pushback, no matter how valid. Instead, they have a partner, not a puppet.

What Boone has done on and off script has regularly been derided, to the point that it should now be clear that he's the primary problem.