The Tuesday Discussion: Aaron Boone

November 5, 2024

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This week we asked our writers to respond to the following:

Should the Yankees bring back Aaron Boone as manager of the Yankees?

Here are their replies:

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Paul Semendinger - Absolutely not. The team has lacked energy from the start. The Yankees have been a poor fundamental team since he arrived. None of that has changed. Boone is often out-managed in big spots. The question isn't how many games he's won - one has to ask how many championships might the Yankees have won with a different manager. That's a very fair question to ask. Aaron Boone had seven seasons including two Aaron Judge MVP seasons and a Gerrit Cole Cy Young season and he could not get the Yankees a World Championship. It is time to move on.

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Cary Greene - The Yankees should make a change but it's been widely reported that not only is Hal Steinbrenner going to pick up Boone's option, he will likely extend him. Once again, what many (including myself) think the Yankees should do and what Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman will do are two very different things. I've grown to understand that it's pointless to hope that the Yankees will move on from the team's current leadership (both Cashman and Boone). If I was the team's owner, I would take this opportunity to promote Cashman to team president and I would not extend Aaron Boone. The team needs a new direction, not more of the same. Don't take this to mean that I'm an idealist -- far from it! I won't be holding my breath on this subject, hoping for a change. 

A lot went right for the Yankees this season but as I've written many times, if the Yankees ever due end the championship drought and break on through to the other side, they'll have to do it in spite of Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone and Hal Steinbrenner. 

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Ed Botti - No, they should not. After 7 years I have seen enough. He sounds like a great guy, but I’d let him go back to broadcasting. But, we all know the chances are very slim that they would do that. He isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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Tamar Chalker - I think it’s hard to say you should get rid of a manager when your team made it to the World Series. I also think Boone gets blamed for a lot of things outside his control, but at the same time he continually makes questionable calls (especially in terms of how he uses the bullpen). The Yankees were pretty close to number 28 this year (arguably the series should have been 3-2 in their favor and gone back to LA), so I wonder how much you want to mess with what was a successful team that could have won. At the same time, maybe that little shakeup would be what they need to get over that last hurdle. How is this for a completely noncommittal take?

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Lincoln Mitchell - No.

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Ethan Semendinger - Absolutely not. If Joe Girardi can get fired after losing Game 7 of the ALCS (to a team that we later found out was cheating), then Aaron Boone can be fired for running a team that: 1) Nearly got swept, and 2) Had the worst World Series collapse ever.

For years, myself and many other writers here have commented on the lack of fundamentals the Yankees have shown, and the unpreparedness was on full display in Game 5 and across the postseason. The Yankees don't know how to properly run the bases, they don't know how to bunt, they make far too many errors in the field, and they don't ever show effort.

For all of those faults, especially after 7 years (!) of the team showing these same signs of weakness over and over and over again, the manager needs to take the blame. Aaron Boone should've never been hired, he should've never been given an extension, and especially after the disastrous end to this season, he should now be fired. (I'll see you all again in 3 years when we're having this discussion again after his next extension is set to end.)

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Andrew Hefner - This question is tough as it really all boils down to, should he be kept based off of the regular season he had, or fired based off of the 5 games of the World Series. There's no question that fans have not necessarily been pleased with Aaron Boone's performance for a couple of years, especially considering the amount of talent he has had at his disposal. I would include myself as a part of this group of fans who wanted him out, but over the last season I realize more and more that he is capable of working with this team. He was actually given the resources he needed this year, and while his performance in the WS was inexcusable, he still got us there and that has to count for something. All I heard going into the World Series was this season is a failure unless they win, and although that's mostly true, Boone grew more and learned more as the manager of the Yankees than he has any other season. He needed this, so why get rid of him after his most successful season yet. He knows what it feels like to be in the World Series, so I think it would be safe to assume that he wants to be back there as soon as possible. If he just trusts his gut instead of the analytics being poured at him by the team, I think he will be a much more successful manager. I would trust him much more if he just went for it and used the baseball knowledge that he has gained over his years. He still has plenty to learn, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt and get him back for 2025. 

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Mike Whiteman - All managerial tenures end at some point. Aaron Boone's tenure with the Yankees will eventually end.  

I have skepticism that a new manager with the current/comparable blend of Yankee players will move the needle in an appreciable way. That being said, I'm ready to see a different brand of baseball from the Yankees. So, I'm fine if the Yankees move on from Boone, and replace him with another manager with a proven record.