Retired pitcher Britton: Analytics caused 'rift' within Yankees

Retired pitcher Zack Britton believes the New York Yankees need to improve their use of analytics.

"As a player there, a lot of times in the clubhouse, it felt like there was this disconnect between some of the things we were presented with and what we were seeing on the field as players," Britton told "The Show" podcast, according to the New York Post's Ryan Glasspiegel.

"Sometimes that creates a rift, which is not what you want. You want - from a clubhouse culture standpoint - everything to mesh well together, whether that be the communication from the front office to the play on the field. And I felt that sometimes, the two just weren't connecting well."

Britton spent five years with the Yankees before he retired earlier this month. The left-hander was a crucial part of New York's bullpen during that stretch, posting a 2.75 ERA in 124 1/3 innings.

He said the Yankees communicated with him well during his tenure but noticed a clear disconnect in how the organization tried to utilize analytics.

"I think sometimes, and this happened with me personally, when analytics comes into play, we get our iPad," Britton said. "You can go down the rabbit hole with analytics, and you can find anything to justify anything, right? The numbers, you can skew them any way to paint the picture you want to paint.

"I think with (general manager Brian Cashman), it might just be needing to blend the two a little more. I'm not sure because I'm not really in the front office. I only knew what I saw as a player and what I was exposed to, and I'm not exposed to what's happening behind closed doors in the front office."

Britton's take on the Yankees' use of analytics comes after a disappointing 2023 campaign in which the Bronx Bombers finished fourth in the AL East with an 82-80 record.

The unsuccessful season promoted star slugger Aaron Judge to say there was "a lot of stuff going on around here that needs to be fixed."

Cashman defended his front office during an epic rant in front of reporters at the GM meetings in early November.