Aaron Boone has been the New York Yankees’ signal caller for the previous six years, but his journey may come to an end after the 2024 MLB season.
Boone has led the Yankees to five winning seasons throughout his managerial stint. The Bronx Bombers have made it to the ALCS and ALDS thrice in that time. Boone has also guided Yankees phenom Aaron Judge to 62 home runs and the American League MVP award in 2022, as well as AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole in 2023. New York has experienced incredible success on both a team and individual level, but there have been a few barriers that left something to be desired from the former Yankees player turned main man, which could lead to his departure from the Big Apple in short order.
According to reports, the Yankees will need a deep playoff run to keep Aaron Boone as manager.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Boone may need to lead the Yankees further than he has ever done as manager in the 2024 MLB playoffs in order to sleep comfortably at night once winter arrives, even if it isn’t with a World Series trophy next to him.
“I would say, first and foremost, they have to make the playoffs and win at least one round,” Heyman told Bleacher Report. “I believe he is adored by Hal Steinbrenner, the owner. I believe he is adored by general manager Brian Cashman, and I believe they badly want to keep him, but if they are eliminated in the first round, it will be difficult to retain him, so I would say that’s a pretty comfortable seat.”
How the Yankees’ season finale might make or break Boone’s job.
Heyman’s assessment is sound. However, Boone has already met the benchmarks he set. In prior years, the Yankees struggled to beat the powerful Houston Astros in the American League. When things got tough in the postseason at the start of the Judge era, New York needed another top arm in their pitching staff, despite having punch at the plate and reliability in the bullpen. The Yankees got it when they signed Cole in 2019.
Now, the Yankees are bolstered by star power at every turn, having recruited another MVP-caliber slugger in Juan Soto and developing a young prospect in Luis Gil into an emerging ace in their pitching lineup.
The Yankees (69-49) are one of the American League’s top contenders, but they will face the conference-leading Baltimore Orioles (70-48) and a plethora of other clubs vying for standings position. If New York makes it to the World Series, clubs like the Los Angeles Dodgers (68-49) and the National League-leading Philadelphia Phillies (69-48) have star power to match them.
A premature exit from the playoffs would look poorly for Boone after the Yankees’ 82-80 2023 season, which saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The addition of Soto is currently the largest variable in Boone’s equation with the franchise. He and Judge are both playing at MVP levels, while Cole has around seven more starts to get back into form after recovering from a right elbow injury on June 19. If they, along with solid performances by Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton at the plate, Carlos Rodon Jr. on the pitching, and Clay Holmes closing the show, fail to execute on Boone’s game plan, things might go wrong for the latter.
Boone signed a three-year contract with the Yankees before the 2022 season, which continues through the end of the current season. Though he has a club option for 2025, his future in New York will be heavily dependent on how far he takes what is perhaps his most talented group yet in the 2024 playoffs.
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