Yankees Owner Hal Steinbrenner Plans On Aaron Boone Returning
It sounds like Aaron Boone is staying put.
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner told Mark Didtler of The Associated Press that he plans on keeping the manager. The expected news comes a few days after the Astros swept New York in yet another American League Championship Series matchup that proved far less even than past iterations.
“As far as Boone’s concerned, we just signed him, and for all the same reasons I listed a year ago, I believe he is a very good manager,” Steinbrenner told The AP on Wednesday at the Yankees’ player development complex in Tampa. “I don’t see a change there.”
Steinbrenner was referring to the three-year contract the Yankees gave Boone last offseason. The pact came with a team option for 2025. And as for the reasons Steinbrenner cited last year?
“We have a person and manager in Aaron Boone who possesses the baseball acumen and widespread respect in our clubhouse to continue to guide us forward,” Steinbrenner said in a statement announcing the new deal last October.
Boone, 49, owns a 427-281 (.603) record after five years of managing the Yankees. New York is coming off a 99-win season and an American League East title.
But the skipper has never taken the team to the World Series – Boone inherited a club and a core that lost Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS to Houston – and a contingent of fans have grown impatient with a franchise that hasn’t reached or won a Fall Classic since 2009 despite a championship or bust mantra. Boone’s in-game decisions and communication skills – the latter being one of the primary reasons for his initial hire – have been criticized. This past ALCS was no exception.
Still, it is no surprise that the Yankees will run it back with Boone after re-signing him last year and advancing further than they did in the 2021 postseason. The Red Sox bounced New York in a lopsided wild card game last year.
While Boone has a few years on his contract, general manager Brian Cashman is on an expiring deal. The AP reported that Steinbrenner was meeting with Cashman to discuss the upcoming offseason.
