It was a bumpy road in the Bronx, and ultimately, the New York Yankees were eliminated from the MLB Playoffs, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in a 3-1 series.
And it’s expected that manager Aaron Boone will be back for next season.
Boone has been the Yankees skipper for eight seasons with a career record of 697-497 and playoff appearances in all but one season.
After the 5-2 loss in Game 4, Boone was outright asked if he expects to be back next season, and the answer was a profound “Yes.”
Prior to the game, baseball insider Jon Heyman was asked about potential pressure toward Boone’s job.
“Is there pressure on Aaron Boone? I still don’t think so… Obviously it’s a tough job. It’s his eighth season, seven playoffs… I think it’s difficult to make a change. A couple of big questions there. First of all, his regular season record is outstanding…
It feels like Aaron Boone’s going to make it. He did get that two-year extension in spring at $5 million per. It’s not the money, it’s the message that it sends… there’s a lot of reasons to keep him; he’s a great public face, [but] other question is, ‘who do you get?’ Who is better than Aaron Boone?”
And it’s a fair assessment. Because the best options that are on the table are probably Bruce Bochy or Ron Washington – both who are in their 70s.
Maybe you could make an argument to bring in a newcomer like Mark DeRosa or George Lombard, who spent 10 years as an assistant and won a World Series with the Dodgers.
Heyman then goes on to say that Boone isn’t the best strategist, but the sole fact that he got past Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox, who is one of baseball’s greatest strategists, is a feat of its own.
“He’s a pretty good manager. Is a number-one manager in baseball? Probably not. But he got through Alex Cora."
But if you ask Yankee fans, they’d want him gone yesterday.
Look up his name on X, and you’ll see a whole lot of opinions on the guy, just be prepared for profanity.
His use of the bullpen can be one of his great downfalls though. There have been many times throughout his managerial career where Boone has coughed up a game because he liked a certain pitcher or trusted in the analytics.
The Yankees bullpen finished in the bottom 10 in terms of blowing games, which makes sense since their supposed closer Devin Williams posted a 5.50+ ERA for the most of the season until he slightly improved.
Keeping Boone in the grand scheme of things may be a smart way to keep the franchise intact, but there are times that he can hold the team back.
Either way, we’ll see next season if he does indeed return.