Is Yankees Manager Aaron Boone on the Hot Seat?
In less than a month, the New York Yankees will begin their 2025 journey in Tampa. After an embarrassing loss in the World Series, Yankees manager Aaron Boone will return to lead the team for the eighth season with the most pressure to win a World Series he has ever faced. At least that is what New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman suggests: “But the Yankees only picked up Boone’s option after the World Series appearance last year. Is he really going to get another three- or four-year deal without a championship?” Boone is in the final year of what turned out to be his second four-year contract. He enters his “walk year” facing the early challenge of proving the Yankees can overcome the loss of superstar slugger Juan Soto and finish in the postseason. In his time, the Yankees have gone 1032-603 for a winning percentage of .584. While that ranks Boone fourth in the winning percentage among managers in the Live Ball era, it puts him sixth in the Yankees’ overall history. He does not have a World Series Championship in his name, and ultimately, that is how he will be judged.
The game has obviously changed since George Steinbrenner fired managers on a whim. The Boss’s son, Hal Steinbrenner, the managing partner who now controls the team, has shown much more patience and understanding of the landscape than his father. Sherman points out that the Steinbrenner family, including Hal, are very fond of Boone. Also, veteran general manager Brian Cashman has gone to bat for his manager several times when the Yankees fans have pulled out the torches and pitchforks to go after Boone. Still, you can argue the Yankees’ window is closing soon. Aaron Judge is going to be 33 in April, and Gerrit Cole will be 34 in September. The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2009.
You have to wonder if the team’s patience will extend to another contract for Boone if the Yankees do not win it all in 2025.
