Aaron Boone survived an organizational inquisition and will be back managing the Yankees in 2027. Next season will be his 10th, and you know what that means:
The Yankees will probably finish first or second in the American League East, win a playoff round or two and then meet a team that has a better record.
And then …
Well, the Yankees will try, try again to rewrite the script from the eight previous times they’ve faced a higher-seeded team in the postseason with Boone writing out the lineups. Boone’ is 0 for 9 in winning a World Series, pushing the Yankees’ championship drought to 17 long years.
Two days after news broke that Boone would not be fired with a year remaining on his contract, his Wednesday Zoom interview included a pointed question. New York Post baseball columnist Jon Heyman rattled off Boone’s regular-season success numbers, which include a 58% winning percentage, then asked if he had to win a World Series to be considered a successful manager.
Boone started his response this way:
“Sorry, you got to deal with me another year, Jon.”
The quip is unlikely to satisfy frustrated Yankees fans who have been calling for change not just after this year’s postseason ouster — a best-of-five Division Series against the Rays that ended in three games.
Here’s another Boone quote for Yankees fans to digest:
“I think I’m good at my job.”
And another:
“I don’t define myself by how people look at me and judge me in my job.”
Owner Hal Steinbrenner certainly judged Boone after the Yankees were embarrassed by the Rays. They were almost no-hit and ran themselves out of their only scoring opportunity in Game 1. They made four errors in Game 2, and most of their lineup was shut down in all three games — everyone but Ben Rice.
Steinbrenner was open to changing managers, but after an organizational inquisition, a decision was made to keep Boone.
Here’s why:
“Every year I’m going to look at the situation,” Steinbrenner said. “I don’t think you can pin the season and the unacceptable end to it on Aaron. The offense had a big part of why, in my opinion, we didn’t get where we strive to get every year and we’re certainly striving to get this year. And that was during the whole year, in the postseason.
“Every year, including this year, we had a week-long conversation about Aaron Boone,” Steinbrenner said. “Was he part of the problem this year? I don’t believe he was. I think he had a good year managing-wise.
“Yes, I would consider, of course, moving on from Aaron Boone if I thought he was a huge part of the problem … but this year I just don’t believe that’s the case.”
The Yankees probably will make changes to their coaching staff — hitting coach James Rowson could be a goner — but Boone is returning for what probably will be a championship-or-bust season.
If the Yankees win the World Series, Boone probably will be back in 2028 with a new multi-year contract. If the Yankees bust again in the playoffs, Alex Cora, Buck Showalter, Brandon Hyde or someone else could be the new skipper.
Steinbrenner said Boone getting an extension before next season “is something that I would certainly consider,” but added, “we don’t normally do extensions” and “nothing has been discussed with him about that.”
Boone says his contract status isn’t weighing on him.
“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “We’ll have players that are free agents-to-be at the end of the season. We’ll have coaches potentially on expiring contracts, front office, all those things. That’s life. That’s part of it. I talk about perspective a lot. I feel blessed to be able to do this job alongside a lot of amazing people, and I’m going to go out there and do it to the best of my ability.
“Honestly, that potential thing hanging over, it’s fine. My focus is only on looking towards next year and trying to help us become the best possible team we can be. Moving forward beyond that, that’s in God’s hands and I’m very comfortable and at peace with that.
“I’m just looking forward to getting back to that point where we saddle up in the spring and go take another shot at this with a lot of really great people.”
Boone has had a lot of arrows thrown at him since the Yankees were eliminated. Fans are angry that he had Trent Grisham leading off in Game 3 against the Rays. Yankees royalty criticized the clubhouse culture … Paul O’Neill, CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, among others.
Boone thinks they’re all wrong.
“I’ve heard a lot of stuff about our clubhouse and this and that,” he said. “I think it was an absolute strength for us this year to go through some of the things we did. You talk about some of the summer months where we really struggled on nights to score and it brought them closer together. Never was it guys pointing fingers at anyone. It was finding ways to win games, which they were able to do.”
The Yankees didn’t win enough in October. They looked great sweeping the Red Sox in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, but those 9-0 and 9-2 romps were followed by one final hitting slump. The Yankees batted .130 and scored five runs in 27 innings across three games against Rays pitching.
Boone knows that this playoff failure and the seven others during his run with the Yankees define his legacy in the eyes of his many critics, and he can’t argue with them.
“I believe it can happen with me at the helm, but any answer I give in defense of that isn’t going to be a great one or satisfy people,” Boone said. “But at the end of the day, we haven’t won a championship with me at the helm. Ultimately, that’s what has to happen to satisfy certainly myself. That’s why I’m doing this, but to answer those questions ultimately, I haven’t been able to do it yet.”
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