%20%20--%3E%0A%3Csvg%20version%3D%221.1%22%20id%3D%22Layer_1%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20xmlns%3Axlink%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2Fxlink%22%20x%3D%220px%22%20y%3D%220px%22%0A%09%20width%3D%2239px%22%20height%3D%2240px%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2039%2040%22%20enable-background%3D%22new%200%200%2039%2040%22%20xml%3Aspace%3D%22preserve%22%3E%0A%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFFFFF%22%20d%3D%22M38.5%2C7H28.2v26h10.3V7z%22%2F%3E%0A%3Cpath%20fill-rule%3D%22evenodd%22%20clip-rule%3D%22evenodd%22%20fill%3D%22%23FFFFFF%22%20d%3D%22M26.1%2C25.5c0%2C5.8-4.1%2C7.5-12.9%2C7.5C3.9%2C33%2C0%2C31.2%2C0%2C25.2v-1.1h11.6%0A%09v2.4c0%2C0.7%2C0.1%2C1.4%2C1.2%2C1.4c1%2C0%2C1.2-0.4%2C1.2-1.3v-0.9c0-1.6-0.9-1.6-3.5-2.2C2.2%2C21.7%2C0%2C19.7%2C0%2C15.3v-0.9C0%2C9.3%2C5.5%2C7%2C12.9%2C7%0A%09c10.2%2C0%2C12.8%2C2.6%2C12.8%2C7.4v1.8h-11v-2.9c0-0.6-0.4-1.1-1.2-1.1c-0.6%2C0-1.2%2C0.4-1.2%2C1.1v0.9c0%2C1.5%2C0.9%2C2%2C3.3%2C2.5%0A%09c8%2C1.6%2C10.5%2C3.3%2C10.5%2C7.5V25.5z%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E%0A)
Aaron Boone Offers Bleak Optimism for Yankees Amid Slump
The Yankees' slide continued on Sunday in the form of a 7-1 loss to the visiting Astros. New York has now lost 7 of its last 10 games and each loss feels progressively more painful. But for manager Aaron Boone, there's optimisim. Bleak optimism, for sure. But optimism nonetheless.
Speaking to media after Sunday's defeat (from which he was ejected in the third inning), Boone insisted that despite their struggles, the Yankees are still well-positioned to make a run. Once they start playing consistent baseball, that is.
"The game is littered with dead and buried teams," Boone said, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. "We're in playoff position right now. We've been through two bad months where we haven't performed at a level we need to. Go back the year before, the year before, you can pick out a number of teams that are sitting in a worse position than we are right now that go on a run. We have the people to do that, no doubt in my mind. It's just sitting here as talk right now.
"We haven't been good enough the last two months. This is different than '23 where I didn't think we were necessarily capable of that run that we needed to really get hot. We were out of it at that point. This is different. We're in a position right now where we're in control of things. We're in a playoff spot, technically. I believe we have the people to get it done. We got to play consistent baseball, period."
Boone isn't wrong to an extent. Even after the defeat to Houston, the pinstripes own a half-game lead on the Cleveland Guardians for the last wild-card spot in the American League. If they manage to keep hold of that spot and make it to the postseason, anything can happen.
Right now it's hard to see Boone's vision. It's up to his players to make it reality. And time is starting to run short.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
feed
Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.