Brian Cashman Rolls Dice on Naming Aaron Boone Manager

When the dust settled Friday night on the Yankees naming of Aaron Boone as manager of the New York Yankees there was a collective groan for a majority of Yankee fans on social media. Many decried the fact that Boone has no experience as a manager. Some poked fun at him, saying he will name his ESPN partner, Jessica Mendoza as his bench coach. Others were just upset that Aaron Boone is not Carlos Beltran, Hensely Muelens or even Joe Girardi.

No, Aaron Boone is not the peoples choice to manager of a team that was one win away from the World Series this past season. If anything the decision to go with a guy who has zero coaching experience is a gamble that will be directly tied to the legacy of Brian Cashman.

Cashman was recently named the Executive of the Year for his work building a team that features perennial all stars in Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird. It was a deserving award. He helped change the culture a franchise that had been dominated by years of reckless spending, for a new approach of building from within.  Whether or not Boone can get this team there, and keep the arrow pointed upward is going to be the biggest challenge, but considering Cashman's track record of late, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps Cashman and other Boone supporters will point out to the fact that Aaron Boone comes from a baseball family, his grandfather, father and brother all played in the majors. His father, Bob Boone was a manager for the Phillies and Reds in his hey-day. In addition, we have seen a wide array of coaches with next to no experience succeed when the got the head job.

Steve Kerr had no coaching experience when he took over a loaded Golden State team, and they have won two NBA world titles since he has been there.

Bob Brenley went from the broadcast booth to the dugout, and led the Diamondbacks to a world series title in his first year, back in 2001 against ... the Yankees.

Larry Dierker was the Astros broadcaster when he got the managerial job and turned the team into a contender in the late 90s.

Those are just a few examples. But the bottom line is Boone spent the past 10 years of his post-playing career in the broadcast booth for ESPN. He has certainly seen his fair share of baseball games, enough to get an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of different players around the league, but coaching the game is totally different that sitting in a booth and watching.

He has to motivate, illuminate and teach a group of young players that are still learning. He is going to have to guide the team through the cruel months of July and August where losing 5 of 6 can happen at any time. He's going to have to figure out a way to win a division that is incredibly tough with a good Red Sox team that is right behind them. So the pressure will be on Boone from the start -- especially in New York City. If he's not ready for the moment, the fans and media will sniff it out right away. I hope for Boone's sake he knows what he's getting himself in to.

Does Boone deserve the benefit of the doubt? On most teams and in most cities, the answer is yes. But with the Yankees, and the expectations on this team, how Boone succeeds or fails will have a direct impact on the man who hired him.