Yankees: Aaron Boone says Rays can do things that NY 'can't do'

As they trail in the AL East standings by 10 games, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the Rays have a leg up on his team.

The New York Yankees trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 10 games in the AL East standings. The last time they faced such a deficit in the standings this early was in the 1980s. The Rays recently took two wins from a three-game series, further showing that they are once again a better team.

The Yankees have a supreme collection of talent and pay big price tags for their star players. But the Rays spend way, way less and still have stars and depth. New York manager Aaron Boone said that the Rays have a leg up on his team, according to Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post.

“They can do some things that we can’t do,” Boone said, via the New York Post. “I’ll just say that. They can do a lot of things that we can’t do.” Yankees fans will surely not be happy that the manager of their championship-hopeful team is admitting stuff like this about a division rival.

Boone said that the Rays make “really sound moves of when to be able to move on and finding those diamonds in the rough throughout Major League Baseball that they bring in, all while maintaining a top-line farm system that they can always kind of grab people from. I think you got to respect them as one of the more well-run teams certainly in baseball, but in sports. They do a great job.”

The Rays' player development is matched by few teams. Gems like Wander Franco, Brandon Lowe and Shane McClanahan and trade acquisitions like Randy Arozarena and Tyler Glasnow have developed into very good players for them. Free agent additions from over the years like Yandy Diaz, Zach Eflin, Drew Rasmussen, Harold Ramirez find ways to play the best baseball of their careers for the Rays.

While the Yankees also have stories of developmental success in Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, successful free-agency additions like Nestor Cortes, Jose Trevino and DJ LeMahieu and good additions via trade like Anthony Rizzo, they have not been able to put it all together and win the American League. The Rays won it in the shortened 2020 season and look destined to win it right now.

A lot can change, though. One difference over the course of this season for the Yankees must be a return to winning baseball.