Aaron Boone is headed into his eighth season as Yankees manager. He’s on track to enter the year in a lame duck capacity. The Yankees exercised their club option on Boone’s services in November. That’s the extent of their activity thus far, as Boone said a few days later that there’d been no talk about a long-term deal.
It seems that’s only a matter of time. Owner Hal Steinbrenner tells Meredith Marakovitz of the YES Network that they plan to open extension talks with their manager in the near future. “We will be talking with him in the days and weeks to come. … There’ll be conversations had with him about potentially staying longer,” Steinbrenner told Marakovitz. He declined to specify a timeline but left open the possibility for discussions to take place during the season, though he added generally that talks “will happen sooner rather than later.”
Teams typically prefer to avoid having managers or top front office personnel working on expiring contracts. That’s not a uniform rule, though, and the Yankees themselves allowed Boone to manage as a lame duck for nearly the entire 2021 season. With his deal set to expire at the conclusion of that year’s World Series, the sides hammered out a three-year extension in the middle of October. That included the aforementioned club option on which Boone will manage the upcoming season.
Like any manager of the Yankees, Boone has found himself under scrutiny from the fanbase over the years. The organization has maintained faith in his ability throughout his tenure. Boone has led the team to the playoffs in six of his seven seasons, with their 82-win showing in 2023 as the lone exception. They reached their biggest heights of Boone’s tenure last year. They knocked off the Guardians to win their first American League pennant since 2009. A five-game defeat to the Dodgers in the Fall Classic extended their title drought to 15 seasons.
While the season ended on a sour note with the Yankees relinquishing a five-run lead in the World Series clincher, it seemed inevitable they would maintain continuity on the coaching staff. Their only change came at assistant pitching coach after Desi Druschel departed to take the same job with the Mets. Boone is the second-longest tenured manager in the AL behind Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash. He’s the seventh longest-tenured manager in the majors. The Yankees have topped 90 wins in five of his six full schedules at the helm. Boone holds a 603-429 record (58.4% win percentage) overall.
Popcorn ready!
I cannot understand why he gets more leniency than Joe Girardi, but if one wants to argue he does, okay. I don’t believe anyone can argue honestly that he deserves more run than 4-time World Series winner, Joe Torre.
This exemplifies a striking weakness within the Yankees org.
Because he’s a Yes Man. Girardi pushed back when the front office and ownership did stupid stuff.
I always felt like Girardi should have been “The Guy” for y’all, Clip…
I was always a fan of Girardi!
@YC: Has Hal simply become more complacent as time has gone on? Maybe he’s realized he doesn’t need to do anything drastic to keep the team competitive and the money rolling in.
RCT: I think Hal is a very loyal owner. Loyal to his people and loyal to the players. I also think that’s an excellent quality, but to a degree. To answer your question, I think Hal wants to win, but his loyalty to Cashman and his trust in Cashman’s management has led to this.
The problem here is Brian Cashman, imho. Cashman wants control and Boone allows him to control every aspect of the roster without interference.
Clip i think they are both to blame. Take this year / off-season. Cashman did a admirable job resetting the roster but it’s incomplete. He is 2-3 pieces away. It’s not his fault on Soto they made a fair offer but to start the season with it incomplete can cost you games in April just as much as September. 1. No lefty reliever tim hill at 2 million he would sign but let’s say he doesn’t how many minor league AAAA lefty relievers have been signed? None there are some out there not saying they are good but that’s 1 thing cashman does well is finds pen pieces take a shot and sign some if it’s $ for not signing hill. 2. OF Grisham good defensively but if 1 injury or if the Martian isn’t ready they have a automatic out why not go get another veteran piece that can plug in at 2nd or 3rd and play a corner outfield spot? Again 3-5 million. So cashman left this roster incomplete for 6-7 million. Trade stroman and a prospect and eat some $ maybe 1 get 1 of those guys back in the deal and you make $ work. Now Boone. He’s a yes man.. every year his decisions cost the yankees 10 to 12 wins simply there are better options.and it’s not that he is bad as we all know there can be worse but there are better options. For 1 I would have picked mattingly over boone. But extending boone now in my opinion is a mistake let it ride if he is doing great revisit at the all-star break he says he loves it here he will want to stay! If he cost them games and they aren’t doing well move on!
@YC, I wouldn’t assume anything yet. The Yankees don’t extend their managers or GMs until the contract expires. This is Hal’s way of showing support, and sending a message to the players that Boone has ownership’s full support. That aside, I don’t expect a signing now, which means it could never happen.
I’m torn. On one hand he’s an incompetent manager. On the other it’s freakin hilarious when he goes on Jomboy and they make him mad.
Haha! So true, Joe.
If the Yankees were to go in another direction who would you want replacing Boone?
That’s a great question, Lou. Honestly, I thought Schildt would’ve made a good manager. I also was in favor of exploring Bochy before he was hired by TX. I think Mattingly would serve well because he’d have the respect of the players and seems well-liked by all accounts; although I read Miami didn’t think too much of him. But, at the very least, they should’ve considered Schumacher.
I’d say Miami not thinking highly of Mattingly is a point in Mattingly’s favour…
David Bell is available.
And Mike Schildt is not.
🙂
OMG NO NO NO. WHY WHY WHY. Bring back Mattingly
Eventually you will complain about Mattingly too. It’s normal for dans to become frustrated and think the next guy will be better. It happens in every city.
Dugmet
Do “Dans” call for “Dons”, or is it “fans”?
Boone seems middle of the pack to me. Mattingly seemed middle of the pack with Dodgers and Fish.
Not a change that I would make if I was limited to those two choices.
I was thinking “dems”.
He’s not much better lol.
Steinbrenner’s doing it for the fans, since he knows they love Boone so much!
This can only end well for the fans.
As pissed off as us yankee fans were after Boone put in Nester to blow the game with Hill sitting there and being the perfect arm in the last round still kills us, but I think he learned from that game,,he should get a few more years
Yay! Keeping the NY Post comment sections hopping for decades to come. Red Sox fan here, and it’s always nice to see folks have someone to blame—constantly.
i’ll take boone over cora any day, and i think boone is a nincompoop
Mattingly will be the Yankees manager in 2026 depending on how the Yankees fare this year. Better for the organization and it will definitely appease the fans and me for one. But I’m hoping they get Arraez to play 2nd and have a great season.
Ol man Steinbrenner woulda already fired n re-hird em 2 times.
As a Redsox fan.. thank u baby Jesus
Boone and Cashman…. The tandem used to terrorize Yankees fans everywhere.
I hope the Yankees give Boone a 20 year contract……lol
Yikes
Yankees r Doom i swear !!!!
Put the deposit on the ring today. Figure wedding will be in a year or so and then kids following so it’s putting me at a 10-12 year timeline where my future kids hit their peak fandom. I had the luxury of being in 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th grade while the Yankees ran through baseball. Some of the best memories with my dad were those years so I’m hoping I get to watch a great Yankees team with my kids too.
So…you have 10-12 years to get this crap right Steinbrenner or I’ll have to become a billionaire and buy the team from you. Really rather take it a bit easier in life than the billionaire hustle so you better start figuring out what/where you’re completely screwing this up.
So you were 5 when Steinbrenner got banned for life… in 2nd grade the last time they had a losing season. No wonder you’re pissed. You got spoiled by a dynasty. They don’t happen that often. No one has had one since. The previous one was 15 years before you were born in Oakland.
Nah not pissed. Luckily I was aware that what I was watching was special and unique. I already count myself blessed as a Yankee fan even if they never win again. Now I’m hoping almost 40 years later they will do the same for my kids when they hit that age. The same timeline happened for my father where they were good when he was a kid as well (he was born in 1951) and tapered off. Let’s keep the tradition going!
I, for one, support this tradition.
Yikes! His teams consistently play bad fundamental baseball. Throw in his love of shot veterans, and poor game management and you have a bad manager. I guess the players like him and he’s decent witb the media. I’m far from thrilled that he’ll be extended.
Steinbrenner is satisfied with profitable mediocrity (given the budget and the market), though how you can tolerate 15 years without a WS, and only rarely even getting there when you can run a payroll as high as anyone in the game in the world’s biggest market, is… something.
It’s almost possible to feel for Yankees fans.
Blame the GM and ownership for not building for and paying for a roster. Boone’s job is to handle the NYC media and be the ownership’s whipping boy for playing cheap (at least for NYC standards.)
I hate it here
Boone will be 52 in March. Connie Mack managed until he was 87. If NYY fans are lucky Boone might have another 30+ years as your skipper:)
boone’s job is with dealing with the media, lying about player injury status and keeping clubhouse conflicts under wraps. everything else is decided by the analytics team and imo that includes going to nestor over hill
I’m perfectly happy with Boone being there but if he had to be replaced there’s no one I would want more than a rod. There’s nothing the media can throw at him that’s going to get under his skin. The man is a baseball genius. And you can probably put on the cleats and play Third if we don’t feel that gaping hole LOL
but all jokes aside I think he would bring and X Factor to the managerial role who cares if he gets steroids the only difference between him and dozens of other players he handled it wrong and was made an example he’s no better or worse a person than a lot of other people that played during the time he was on the field
Noooo no no no no NO!!
I always find it amusing when Yankees and Dodgers fans complain about their managers when their teams win the division / make the playoffs virtually every season. Try being a fan of any other team.
No one remembers losers
Unless you win the WS you are a loser
Say that to Ted Williams, Ken Griffey Jr, Tony Gwynn… who all played when it was EASIER to win a WS but never did.
I see a few Yankee fans clamoring for Mattingly. As a Reds fan, I would see Reds fans do it with Barry Larkin before they hired Francona. Be careful what you wish for.
I remember the Reds hiring Tony Perez years ago to be the manager and they fired him after 44 games. If you have a beloved player become manager and things not work out it can get awkward very quick when it’s time to make the change to someone else.
Personally, I would rather remember and appreciate the guy for what he did on the field as a player and not take the chance on things not working out. That’s just me though.
Omg, so terrible, let’s not keep a guy that’s gotten us to the playoffs almost every year and to the World Series this past year. Let’s get rid of this a-hole that defends his players with every breath! Oh no!
Dudes, y’all are bananas. Other teams beg to have these records. Every manager makes mistakes now and again and have major flaws. For sure Giradi did, for sure Torre did, and yeah of course Boone does, too! And yeah I get mad at him, but that goes without saying because us as fans see things differently from the stands or at home than these guys do in the clubhouse.
And sorry, I don’t prescribe to the notion that the team gets where they do in spite of him. That’s just a convenient out to the conversation. Bad management doesn’t get to the playoffs and World Series even if a team is good because bad management turns a team off. When that happens, teams tend to stop caring. I haven’t seen the Yankees do that under Boone. When they do, we’ll know, and Boone will be gone.
Either way he may be gone if management wants it all and he doesn’t deliver this year. I get that, too, and will have no problem with it. I like Boone, personally, and thinks he gets too bad a rap, but ultimately this team does need to win it all at some point again and sometimes changing the voice could push you over the edge.
So yeah, two sides of the coin here, but for sure he’s earned the right to at least this season, if not more.
I agree to a point. He Boonedoggles in October.
Give him the Coughlin treatment and let him manage out his contract. We may get a ring. Managers should be kept hungry.
You’re delusional, Salzilla!
The Yankees have gotten into the playoffs — and ultimately LOST for more than a decade — ONLY because they’ve spent more MONEY than any other team over the last 15 years. It’s only in the last few years that the Dodgers surpassed them in spending.
But, unlike the Dodgers, the Yankees have ZERO Championships to show for their spending, whereas the Dodgers have TWO World Championships in the past decade.
I don’t care if we make the playoffs every year if we’re just going to end up LOSING every year.
And Boonehead is part of the reason we haven’t won a Championship. He’s a Grossly Incompetent magaer, who’s more concerned with his players loving him, than he is in demanding that the Yankees play smart baseball and hustle all the time.
So the Yankees’ EPIC INCOMPETENCE in the 5th Inning of the last World Series game is directly attributable to Boone NOT demanding that his men play smart baseball & hustle on every play.
That 5th inning Disaster wasn’t a surprise to any fan who watched 150+ Yankees’ games in 2024 because that’s Exactly the sort of Sloppy & Incompetent play that Boone has routinely tolerated his entire managing career!
Boone is easily one of the 10 Dumbest Managers in baseball.
Having Boone as a manager is like spotting the other team 1-2 runs every game. If we ever win with him in charge, it will be IN SPITE of his gross competence, not because of his managing.
How many teams haven’t made the playoffs or the World Series in that time???? Too many!
Attributing the brain parts of that one inning to Boone is nuts. I’ll attribute putting Cortes in game obviously to Boone, but that? Sorry, that’s on the players.
I’m not delusional. I’m realistic. The delusional lies in thinking this stuff doesn’t happen to anyone else. Again how many teams didn’t make the playoffs or weren’t any good? Yikes.
I am not impressed with Boones ability to be a brilliant manager
The Yankees should have had one of the game’s best managers and general managers in place long ago.
Given the pool from which their money and market should allow them to choose, this is straight pitiful. How do you not have someone like Stearns or Anthopoulos or Freedman running your team—instead settling for Cashman, a mediocrity at best, who regularly falls on his face with obvious foolishness like the Donaldson deal, or the last two year deal for Rizzo, or Montgomery for Bader….
You don’t have to second guess reasonable moves like the DJLM for 6/90m contract in order to indict Cashman and Boone for letting DJLM get 228 PA and a negative 1.6 bWAR in 2024. A big market club letting a guy subtract nearly two wins in that short a time is a badly run team. He clearly had less than nothing.
16 years without a WS is unacceptable with the resources the Yankees have.
An extension on the $20 he owes Hal or?
Not sure what Boone has done to deserve an extension,
With all the talent and very high luxury tax busting payroll
that the NYY carry every year,
they could name Bob Uecker Manager in abstentia
and still get similar results..
OK, but why? What area does Boone excel at? Tactically, eh. Management of pitching, eh. Lineup construction, eh?
Boone is a favorite in the clubhouse, especially to the two guys that matter, Judge and Cole love the guy. I just wish he wasn’t so against changing up the lineup when, for example, Volpe is in a slump.
Jomboy brought this up during an interview and he almost lost his marbles at the suggestion of giving Volpe a day off lol
What has he done to deserve an extension?
Mediocrity..
There should be no extension till after the season. Everything should depend upon if the NY Yankees win a championship. It has been far too long and if we don’t then Cashman should be gone. I mean he is given 300 million to spend and it may be time to get new creative minds instead of doing it the same old way every year.
Boone isn’t the problem in the Bronx. Cashman is the problem. I hope they both stay with the Yankees for 20 more years.
You can also add Hal too!
Baboone will be the manager as long as Karen Judge is playing for the Yankees.. She wants her little buddies who can’t play around her for emotional support, and Girardi was too mean for her, and her friends. Dig It!!!
Nothing new with the Yankees, Stephen A. Smith nailed it Hal is like the other owners. He cares little about winning. He is as cheap as the other owners are in MLB.