Yankees' Aaron Boone Disputes Alex Cora's Red Sox Underdog Rhetoric

"A lot of people knew the Red Sox were coming"

Aug 29, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) speaks before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

"Whoever says that we were a playoff team, that’s (expletive) bull-(expletive), to be honest with you."

That was Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, speaking on Saturday after the team clinched its postseason spot the night before. And outside of Boston, the comment didn't seem to go over well, because despite their three-year streak of missing the playoffs, the Red Sox have rarely been overlooked as threats.

Entering Tuesday night's Wild Card Series matchup with the New York Yankees, the Red Sox may ever-so-slightly be underdogs. But the Yankees skipper isn't giving Cora credit for his "us against the odds" mentality.

Aaron Boone doesn't buy Alex Cora's logic

Sep 26, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) addresses the team after they clinched a playoff spot after their game against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

On Monday, Boone disputed Cora's notion that the Red Sox came out of nowhere, rightfully alluding to the fact that most "experts" picked Boston to make the playoffs before the season.

“I think a lot of people saw it coming, too,” Boone said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “Contrary to what (Cora said). I think he’s played the little engine that could over there a little bit. I think a lot of people knew the Red Sox were coming this year.”

According to Smith, Cora changed his tone on Monday and said he was referring to the narratives in June surrounding the Rafael Devers trade. Boston was just one game over .500 at the time, and played .584 ball the rest of the way to make the playoffs.

Certainly, though, Boone respects Cora, a longtime friend, and the job he's done with these Red Sox.

“Obviously, they’ve gone through a couple of tough years but he’s always been the clear leader of that group,” Boone said of Cora, per Smith. “You started to see it come together a little bit last year I felt like.”

The Red Sox gave the Yankees some excellent battles last season, especially before the pitching staff crumbled in August and September. This year, they just flat-out beat them head-to-head, winning nine of the 13 games between the two and three of the four series.

And one person no one sees as an underdog is Garrett Crochet, who will take the mound with his big-league-leading strikeout total on Tuesday night looking to take down the Yankees one more time.

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