Aaron Boone has been the New York Yankees’ manager for three years now and took his team to the ALDS this season. However, they lost in a gut-wrenching way. The Yankees took it to a Game 5 but lost by a close score of 2 to 1. Although Boone took the team to the ALCS in 2019, he has not guided them to the World Series. His record in the regular season is 236-148 for a .615 winning percentage. The big question is “Should Boone be fired due to not fulfilling the expectations of the team this season?”
Aaron Boone Staying in New York
The answer to that question is no. I do not think that Boone should be fired because he is a manager that communicates well to the team and is a great clubhouse guy. He listens to the analytics department on pitching decisions and what parts of their game the players can improve upon.
Aaron Boone Scrutinized in the Postseason
Boone has been criticized for Game 2 in the ALDS when he started pitcher Deivi Garcia for only one inning and then went to J.A. Happ for 2.2 innings with four runs given up. The reason that Boone made those two pitching decisions was that he listened to the analytics department and the front office.
Alex Rodriguez who was a former New York Yankees player, heavily scrutinized the way game two played out. Rodriguez said:
“To me, the Yankee roster has to bail out (general manager) Brian Cashman and the front office,” he said on the Fox Sports postgame show. “They’ve done some wonderful things. Game 2 was a mistake, and it was a mistake for about 20 different reasons.”
You start spending so much time trying to outsmart the Ivy Leaguers over there, that’s not your game. Don’t play ‘Jeopardy.’ Play baseball. Players win championships. We used to say, ‘If the manager could stay out of the game, that would be great.’ Now, we have to say front offices have to stay out of the game. Frustrating.”
Rodriguez began his rant by calling the Yankees the “most successful franchise in sports” and noted their MLB-leading payroll. Both of those statements are true which always factors into the expectations for the Yankees. Yankee fans expect their team to at least to be a World Series contender every season. The Yankees are also expected to play their game a certain way. Bronx Bomber style!
A-Rod continued: “You’ve done it as an alpha. You did it the old-fashioned way,” he said. “You get to Game 1, you did it the old-fashioned way. Great starting pitching, and then you get nine outs from the bullpen. And then you get to Game 2 and now the front office wants to get involved. Then you start getting gimmicky.”
Rodriguez’s rant was very accurate and shows why Aaron Boone should not be the focus of the criticism. The front office was to blame for the gimmicky Game 2 opener. Managers nowadays do not have as much control as they did in the old days. So Yankee fans should really be angry with the front office and not Boone at least for that Game 2 decision.
Aaron Boone Loves the Analytics
Boone is a relatively young manager who has embraced analytics as the way of the future. He is also a great clubhouse manager and has done very well the last couple seasons considering the Yankees have consistently had injury issues. He continues to get the most out of players who were never considered superstars before they came to New York. Could Boone have done a better job communicating to the team on the analytics? Yes, but it was a 60-game season and also, there were a lot of COVID-19 protocols that made it tough for Boone to be able to speak to the team on a daily basis.
Will Aaron Boone Win a World Series?
I do think that Boone is the right manager for this job as now his next biggest challenge is the team’s extremely high expectations to win it all every season. The Yankees’ management clearly agrees as they announced Boone will be returning for another season. Hopefully, fans being in the stands next season can give the Yankees that extra boost to push them over the top. We will see about next year but I think Boone will lead the Yankees to their 28th ring.
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Yesss pls , get a manager that knows how to handle their pitching staff.