Around the Empire: Yankees news - 10/27/22

SI.com | Ben Silver: There’s a chance that the Yankees could lose 94 home runs from their lineup in a single offseason. Aaron Judge is of course the premier free agent, but Anthony Rizzo is likely to opt out of the $16 million remaining on his contract for 2023 and test free agency again after bashing 32 homers with a 131 OPS+ in 130 games last year, his best since at least 2019. This report is technically a couple days but deserves to be brought to light here because the slick-fielding first baseman was so important to the team in 2022. Losing him would create a void at first, and though solid, DJ LeMahieu might not have a potent enough bat at this point to fill it.

Associated Press | Mark Didtler: This was the report cited in Peter’s post yesterday on Aaron Boone’s return, but the link is here in case you missed it. Didtler talked with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner briefly on Wednesday afternoon, and he affirmed his support for the current skipper. Steinbrenner said that he thinks Boone is “a very good manager” and that he “[doesn’t] see a change there.” As Peter alluded in his own take, the fact that Boone only just completed the first season of a three-year contract is probably a major reason for the status quo despite the midseason slider and ultimate ALCS disappointment.

Steinbrenner also noted that he was in preliminary conversations with longtime general manager Brian Cashman on a return. His contract expired after 2022, but despite understandable criticism, the organization has endorsed him forever, so it never seemed likely that they would move on from Cashman.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Derek Jeter’s annual Turn 2 Foundation dinner took place last night in New York, which granted Hoch an opportunity to chat with Jeter and former manager Joe Torre about a few topics — including Boone and the current coaching staff’s controversial decision to have the team watch 2004 Red Sox highlights for inspiration while facing its own 3-0 deficit to Houston in this year’s ALCS. Jeter and Torre mostly gave non-answers and also didn’t have a problem with Boone returning (“Ultimately, it comes down to the players,” per the Captain), though Jeter did say that thinking about the series “makes [him] sick to this day,” so deep down, I can’t imagine that he was thrilled.