Ben Rice is heading into his second season as a member of the New York Yankees and manager Aaron Boone is confident in the role he will have with the team this season.

Boone explained how he does not view Rice as simply a catcher and is confident in his ability to serve multiple purposes.

“No, I want to keep that first base flexibility with him… I think having that flexibility is valuable, a lot of the focus will obviously be on catching this spring but I want to keep the first base stuff in the mix,” Boone said

Rice appeared in 50 games for the Yankees last season. Things could have gone better for the Cohasset, Ma.  native at the plate in 2024, as he slashed .171/.264/.349 with seven home runs and 23 RBI.

The Yankees will hope to see Rice develop into a serviceable option to replace Anthony Rizzo at first base.

Aaron Boone takes shot at Los Angeles Dodgers 

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone talks with media during a press conference as spring training starts at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
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New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was not pleased with how the Los Angeles Dodgers reacted to winning the World Series matchup between the clubs in November.

“The reality is we didn't play our best in the series and they won, so they had that right to say whatever,” Boone said via ESPN. “Hopefully, we're in that position next year and handle things with a little more class. But the reality is it's a great team, it's a great organization with a lot of great people that I happen to know and respect, too. So a few people sounding off isn't necessarily how I would want to draw it up.”

In addition to elaborating on the situation with the Dodgers, Boone weighed in on losing star outfielder Juan Soto to cross-town rival New York Mets.

“There's no running from the fact of losing a player like Juan Soto,” Boone said, “and we all saw how important he was to our club last year, and we did a lot to try and keep him here. I think everyone understands how much we wanted him back. That being said, there's a lot of ways to build a great team, and I think the moves that we've made this offseason give us that chance.”

Boone and the rest of the Yankees hope to end up back in the World Series this fall, ending things by raising up a trophy this time around.