Steinbrenner’s decision to retain Aaron Boone stokes fears for 2023 season

Hal Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, has confirmed that Aaron Boone will be back as manager in 2023. The manager has also the full backing of general manager Brian Cashman. But fans are not happy and they fear that Boone’s sixth season will turn out to be another lackluster year for the Yankees.

Fans are impatient over the failure of the Yankees to win a title since 2009 and they are not ready to see Aaron Boone again in charge. When Boone took over from Joe Girardi as manager in 2018, he took over a team that was in contention for the pennant, but he hasn’t been able to get the Yankees to the World Series in his five seasons in charge.

Aaron Boone’s first managerial year in 2018 ended with a 3-1 ALDS defeat. In 2019, the Yankees went down to Houston in the ALCS. They fell in the ALDS in 2020. Boone got a contract extension in 2021 despite the Yankees losing the Wild Card game.

After his team lost to the Astros in the ALCS, the fans are up in the arms against the manager seeking his dismissal. However, owner Hal Steinbrenner told The Associated Press last month that he wouldn’t be making a change at the manager’s job and Aaron Boone was “a very good manager.” This put an end to rumors that Boone’s job was in danger.

Friday, the Yankees‘ general manager, Brian Cashman, went one step further and said that Boone, who is in his fifth season as manager, “did a great job.”

In October 2021, Boone signed a three-year contract with a team option for 2025. This came even though the Yankees lost to the Red Sox in a one-game Wild Card at Fenway Park. Boone was given a three-year contract extension with an option for 2025.

The next season, the Yankees won 99 games and the American League East, which is the toughest division in MLB that season. But after Boone and the Yankees won five games against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, the Houston Astros swept them in the ALCS. Fans were very angry about how the season ended, and some of their anger was aimed at Boone. Steinbrenner may have left a very small way out by saying “don’t see a change there,” but he also strongly suggests that Boone will be back in the Yankee dugout.

In his five years as manager, Boone has led the Yankees to a 427-281 (.603) record, two division titles, and a spot in the postseason each year. But in the postseason, the Yankees have a record of 14–17 under Boone, and they have never made it past the ALCS. Boone has done a great job with the Yankees during the regular season, but what happens in October will always be the true test for MLB’s most popular team. In that case, the Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009, which is a long time.

Analysts and fans too blasted Aaron Boone for questionable decisions and long-time Yankees voice Michael Key led the aren’t against the manager. During the Yankees’ four-game AL Championship, Boone was criticized more for his moves and lineup choices. His decision to pull ace Gerrit Cole from ALCS Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.

Boone’s most trusted relievers in the postseason, Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Wandy Peralta, were passed over for Lou Trivino, who allowed the Astros to win 5-0.

A year after Boone’s longtime friend and third base coach Phil Nevin was fired, there could be some changes to the Yankees’ coaching staff. However, nothing was changed and the team’s top brass belittled fans’ expectations. This resulted in the catastrophic 2022 ALCS exit.

There were rumors that Carlos Mendoza, who is the bench coach, and Luis Rojas, who is the third base coach, could be considered for managerial jobs. People thought that Don Mattingly, Carlos Beltran, and Joe Espada, the bench coach for the Astros and a former Yankees coach, would replace Boone if the Yankees got rid of him.

After the ALCS debacle, fans wanted the Yankees to say goodbye to Aaron Boone and Cashman. But it fell on the deaf ears and Steinbrenner, the owner, made his choice clear — both Boone and Cashman are going to stay. However, fears persist over the 2023 season and fans expect no change in the team’s fortune.

A fan wrote on Twitter, “As long as Aaron Boone is the manager of the Yankees they’re not gonna win a World Series.”

Others tweeted,

“Aaron Boone deserves to be fired after this postseason and I hope he gets canned.”

“Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone do not understand that for most Americans, the #Yankees ARE Major League Baseball.”

“Yankees will have another year of Brain Cashman and Aaron Boone making dumbass decisions leading to us getting bounced by a divisional rival or the Astros in the DS/CS.”

Does Steinbrenner need to reevaluate his Aaron Boone decision?