thelesterlee
There are reports this week following the Yankees disappointing Wild Card loss to the Boston Red Sox that the team will most likely keep Aaron Boone as their manager despite his contract ending at the end of the year.
Boone has a 328-218 win-loss record in 4 seasons as the Yankees skipper. He’s made the playoffs all 4 years. Never advanced past the ALCS but still made the playoffs every year so there’s that. Good for him.
But the Yankees haven’t won a championship since 2009. It’s been over a decade and the closest this team can get while having a Top 5 payroll every season is losing in the ALCS or failing to get out of the Wild Card round.
In the modern era of baseball, it’s difficult to discern what exactly it is that a baseball manager does. The lineups are created by the front office and handed to the managers when they arrive at the stadium.
It’s no secret that the Yankees hired Aaron Boone as the face of the organization but with no real power. The point is to limit the human element and the errors of man by allowing computers to make all of the decisions.
But there is a human factor in baseball that cannot be taken away. Your ability to motivate your players to perform as the computer says they’re supposed to perform. After this season, how can we say that Boone is maximizing the potential of this roster and motivating these guys on a nightly basis when they’re watching the playoffs from home.
The fear of moving on from Boone is facing the reality that the manager isn’t the problem but the entire organizational philosophy needs a shakeup.
Let’s say they fire Aaron Boone and he signs with the San Diego Padres leading them to win the NL West and making a deep playoff run. All the finger-pointing at Boone needs to be redirected elsewhere and I don’t trust the Yankees to have the self-awareness necessary to make radical changes.
So just keep Boone because it might get far worse if they fire him. The Yankees are one jenga piece away from becoming the Mets.
