Yankees' Aaron Boone Sets Record Straight on Playoff Debate

Though there's a prevailing narrative that teams who earn first-round byes are at a disadvantage in the Division Series, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone doesn't subscribe to that belief.

"I'll take the bye all day long. It's winning a series, essentially without having to play in one," Boone said, per a video from SNY. "Anything can happen in the postseason, but anything could happen in the best-of-three in the wild card. I don't think either is saying, 'That team is going to win it all.' We've seen teams come out of the wild card situation and run the table. We've (also) seen it the other way. If you're asking me if I get to choose one or the other, I'll take the bye."

Aaron Boone says if he got to choose, he'd prefer the Yankees to get a bye to the ALDS

"It's winning a series, essentially without having to play in one. Anything can happen in the postseason, but anything could happen in the best-of-three in the Wild Card" pic.twitter.com/peLdPTMTQQ
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 25, 2025

New York is currently slated to play a Wild Card Series as the No. 4 overall seed, meaning they'd host the No. 5 seed, which currently belongs to the Boston Red Sox, in a best-of-three set at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees have a real chance to overtake the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, however, as the two clubs are tied for first place with matching 91-68 records. Toronto won the season series 8-5, however, meaning it owns the tiebreaker over New York and would win the division if the teams were to remain deadlocked through the end of the weekend.

Sep 24, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) and relief pitcher Paul Blackburn (58) celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

It's been quite a volatile season for the Yankees, who owned the second-best record in the AL and a 5 1/2-game lead in the division at the end of May before a summer swoon dropped them as many as 6 1/2 games back of the Blue Jays in August.

Now, however, New York has a shot to win the AL East for the second year in a row. The club will have to take advantage of its opportunity against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium this weekend while simultaneously hopping that the Tampa Bay Rays can play spoiler against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Since MLB officially expanded the playoff field to six teams in each league and introduced the Wild Card Series during the 2022 season, the Yankees have twice earned first-round byes, doing so in 2022 and 2024. The team advanced to the ALCS both times and even made it to the World Series last year before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers, so it's no surprise that Boone doesn't have any reservations about the potential implications of a bye.

There is some evidence to suggest that clubs have been hampered by the extra time off, as three of the four teams that advanced to the Championship Series in 2023 didn't have byes, but there was only one such case in that regard last season with the New York Mets.

With home-field advantage throughout the playoffs on the line and little evidence that a direct trip to the ALDS would hurt them in particular, though, the Yankees and Boone have no reason to be afraid about the potential side effects of a bye if they were to win the AL East.

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