Apparently Mariano made some remarks that were taken out of context and he wanted to clarify.
Mariano Rivera claimed that he would keep Aaron Boone as manager of the New York Yankees and that comments he made earlier this week were taken out of context.
The Hall of Fame reliever told The Associated Press Thursday that he was speaking generically about teams and managers when answering questions Tuesday during a video conference session with Panamanian business executives.
“I said that when you expect a team like this to win, the New York Yankees, with the season they had and not having reached the end, the manager is the one who always ends up paying,” Rivera said in a telephone interview with the AP.
“Even though the manager doesn’t hit, the manager doesn’t pitch, the manager doesn’t run, the manager does nothing but coach and make sure everyone is ready to play, unfortunately they never fire the whole team, they always fire the manager,” he stressed. . “I was giving a generic estimate. And they obviously took it out of context.”
Rivera added that he is not advocating a manager change: “I don’t have to change. Who am I to say it?
During the videoconference on Tuesday, the recording of which was published online by ESPN, Rivera said that “if I am the owner, I would not be there. Sometimes you put all the blame on the manager, but the players also have to do the work. Sometimes, when things don’t go the way you want them to, all the blame is placed on the manager. And someone has to pay the guilt and they are not going to throw out the players. It is always the manager who is fired. So you try to move a piece to see if things work out.”
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said Wednesday that he plans to have Boone return for a sixth season as manager.
He said he was asked three questions, the first about whether Aaron Judge should stay with the Yankees and the second about whether Judge should become captain, the first since Derek Jeter.
“I’m a Yankee for life and he should be a Yankee,” Rivera said. “He has to make his own decision. I want him on my team. And then captain, that’s a privilege you have to earn. And I remember when they made Derek captain of the team, we were all happy with the news, but at the same time it’s a lot of work. Thank God we were there for Derek to help him.”
(Information for this article from ESPN and AP)
