About The Off-Season: Meanderings Of My Mind

About The Off-Season: Meanderings Of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

October 26, 2026

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The Yankees were eliminated in the Divisional round of the playoffs yet again this season.

The Tampa Bay Rays, the team that beat the Yankees, currently trail the Milwaukee Brewers two games to none in the World Series. It seems likely that the Brewers will win the series, but anything is possible. The only thing that has been a virtual certainty in the Aaron Boone era is that the Yankees will not win the World Series. In 2024 they played in the World Series, but they didn't do well. If the best you can hope for from your manager is “close but no cigar, that's a problem.

Since I won't have any games to recap until at least March, I will now wander from topic-to-topic as if I were at a farmers’ market, poking around and trying to decide which type of squash would go best with the pork roast and applesauce that I would be preparing that night.

·      Well, Brian Cashman is back and Aaron Boone is back. The only difference between the two is that Cashman has a long-term contract and Boone is only under contract through 2027. He did not get an extension. As I noted in a recent article, because Boone’s contract will expire at the end of next season, there is no guarantee he will make it all the way through the season. In other words when the Yankees hit that inevitable Boone-Swoon as we all know they will, the idea of firing him will be a more viable and potentially palatable option for Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner. One of the main reasons for that will be that when the Yankees are immersed in the Boone-Swoon, Aaron Boone will have no explanation for why it happened or any strategies to make it end. Boone will simply speak to the reporters in irritated and condescending tones, telling them that everything is right in front of the Yankees and that everything will be fine. 

·      Last year, the Yankees essentially ran back the same team as they did in 2025. I don't believe they will be doing that in 2027 as I don't think that either Jazz Chisholm or Trent Grisham will be back. It is quite possible that Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan McMahon will be gone. Paul Goldschmidt will also probably not be there. The Yankees need to do something different that is noteworthy. I would like to say that they need to do it for the sake of the fans to give them something to believe in, but I honestly now believe that Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman really don't care what the fans think. Therefore, they should do something different for the sake of the team. 

·      I had a very nice visit and conversation with our esteemed leader, Paul Semendinger the other day. During our conversation, we discussed the Yankees coaching staff. We agreed that the Yankees should shake things up a bit. They just re-signed Matt Blake, which is a very good move and something they definitely should have done. You'll note that Blake has a three-year contract, but Aaron Boone doesn't. What they now need to do is bring in Shelley Duncan to let him coach on the Major League level. (Paul will have more on this at 1:00 today as well.) Duncan could replace either Brad Ausmus as the bench coach or Luis Rojas as the third base coach. Shelly Duncan has been the manager at Scranton Wilkes-Barre for a few years now and has done very well. He has had other roles in the minor leagues as well. He should now be part of the Major League staff. He is very familiar with some of the players, particularly the younger ones and was given a lot of credit for helping Anthony Volpe handle his demotion to the minor leagues and improve as a player. He is considered to be an actual communicator, unlike Aaron Boone who is described as a communicator but doesn't seem capable of communicating anything. Boone seemingly has limited interactions with his players, particularly the younger ones. Having Duncan on the Major League staff would not only help the players but it could also give Duncan valuable experience so that he could then easily slide into the manager's role once Boone leaves, whenever that may be. It also might serve to make Aaron Boone a bit less secure about remaining the manager for the whole season. It might give him more of a sense of urgency during the inevitable Boone-Swoon to have Shelley Duncan looming over him as a possible and immediate replacement. I don't know if that would make any difference to Boone; he seems to be somewhat arrogant and slightly obtuse when it comes to many things, so he may not concern himself with the option of Duncan taking his place and just plow along as he always does. That would be fine, as it would probably speed up the process of Duncan usurping him.

·      One of the nice things about the arrival of fall is that it is the best time of the year to make soups and stews. I will be whipping up a big batch of chili today. I have a nice big chuck roast that I will be cutting into small cubes. I am also trying something different. I will be including Italian sausage in my chili. I have sampled chili with Italian sausage in it and found it to be rather tasty so I'm going to try it in my own recipe. The grocery store was out of dried kidney beans for whatever reason so I will be transplanting pinto beans for the kidney beans. For my spice base, I use a variety of different seasonings, but the most prominent one will be chef Paul Prudhomme’s fajita seasoning. To that I will add chili powder, chili peppers, and smoked paprika. I also include just a bit of cocoa and some mustard as well as a dark beer. I will serve it with a dollop of sour cream and some cheddar cheese on top. I never like to make my chili excessively spicy. In my view, heat should enhance the flavor rather than overwhelm it. If people are eating your bowl of chili and are spending more time wiping their foreheads and gasping for air than they are actually tasting it, that's a problem. A little bit of heat is fine, and people can always add more hot sauce or crushed pepper flakes to it if they so desire. I think I will also have some nice cornbread to go with it. I found another recipe that I will use after I make the chili. Basically, you spread some chili in the bottom of a casserole dish and then place sliced hot dogs on top of it. You then cover that with shredded cheddar cheese. Lastly, you prepare some cornbread either a box mix or one made from scratch and pour it over the top. You then bake it in the oven. When it comes out, you have the nice cornbread on top with the cheese, chili, and hot dogs underneath.

·      Ben Rice had a tremendous season in 2026 and has progressed very nicely since he came up in 2024. I think it is possible that he could have an even better year in 2027. This will be his third full season in the Major Leagues and if he remains healthy and has a healthy Aaron Judge in the lineup, Rice should put up tremendous numbers once again. Rice has quietly developed into a budding star. He also proved that he could perform well in pressure situations, including the playoffs. The question is which of the other Yankees young players is most likely to progress to become a mainstay with the team the way Rice has. I am strictly referring to offensive players because Cam Schlittler has already taken over the role of the ace of the pitching staff. I think George Lombard, junior is primed to have a very strong season for the Yankees in 2027. The trajectory he has demonstrated throughout his minor league career is that once he gets to a level it takes him a little while but then he essentially masters that level. He did quite nicely last year and also performed well in the playoffs. However, I think that if he is given the opportunity to play on an everyday basis all season in 2027 and remains injury-free, Spencer Jones will put up extremely impressive offensive numbers. He did hit a reasonable amount of home runs in 2026 but I think that was just the starting point. I think if he is the regular centerfielder and there are enough other strong offensive players in the lineup, Jones will produce and have a similar rate of improvement to that of Ben Rice.

·      I have always enjoyed cooking and I still do. However, since I don't have a big family to feed on most nights, I frequently look for ways to simplify things. I have used slow cookers for years but the technology that exists today makes these new slow cookers amazing. You can have them perform 942 different functions. You can use them to prepare a roast, make a stew and I believe even bake a cake. If they could just set the table and wash the dishes, I wouldn't be needed at all. I'm thinking of eventually getting one of the new slow cookers because I saw some demonstrations of them on the Internet and was quite impressed. The one I have is fine but it's an older model that is fairly limited. Since I'm an older model that is fairly limited, one of us is enough in the house.

·      I honestly hope the Yankees do not trade Carlos Lagrange during the offseason. It was unfortunate that he was injured last year and could not make it to the Major Leagues. I think he could be a very strong addition to the bullpen beginning in 2027 and may be able to stay there for years to come. I know he was originally a starting pitcher, but I think the Yankees could better use his abilities could put his talents to better use in the bullpen. I know there are other young pitchers in the system that could come along rather quickly as well. Matt Blake seems to be quite adept at developing talent. After all Angel Chivilli came over to the Yankees last season and was described as a big arm but didn't have much to show for it. During his tenure with the Major League team, he had a long stretch of effectiveness that bordered on dominance. Then he had one bad outing, which may have been the result of overuse and was sent down to the minor leagues. After that, he was injured. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts the 2027 season in the bullpen for the Yankees and does relatively well. The Yankees will need to have a strong bullpen next year and hopefully one that will not have its best members overworked by Aaron Boone. The best way to make sure that doesn't happen is to replace Aaron Boone as quickly as possible in 2027 with Shelley Duncan. By the way, that is likely to be a theme of my articles from this point forward so brace yourselves.