NEW YORK — One of the biggest questions surrounding the New York Yankees’ offseason was whether the club would bring back manager Aaron Boone for the 2025 season and beyond. The club held an option on Boone and chose to let him enter the 2024 season with his managerial future in question. With major roster decisions still to come this offseason, the Yankees have taken care of one order of business.
After guiding the team to its first World Series appearance since 2009, the Yankees have decided Boone will return in 2025. The club announced it has picked up the 2025 club option for the manager. General manager Brian Cashman suggested the possibility of extending Boone this offseason as well.
“I am grateful for the trust placed in me to lead this team. It’s a responsibility – and an opportunity – that I will never take lightly,” Boone said in a statement released by the Yankees. “It’s a great privilege to show up for work every day and be surrounded by so many determined and talented players, coaches and staff members. Starting with Steinbrenner family, there is a collective commitment to excellence within this organization that is embedded in all that we do. I’m already looking forward to reporting for spring training in Tampa and working tirelessly to return the Yankees to the postseason to compete for a World Championship.”
Signs throughout the 2024 campaign suggested Boone’s return for at least an eighth year was all but inevitable. The primary reason for his return is the respect and admiration his players have for him. There’s no greater supporter of Boone than the Yankees’ captain, Aaron Judge.
“He’s always had our back,” Judge said at the end of the season. “He’s always been there for us, always put us in the best positions day in and day out. He’s a guy that every single person in this room will run through a wall for. The culture we have here — it’s something special, and it starts with him at the top.
“Being in this position, we wouldn’t have the players we brought in fit so well if it wasn’t for a manager like him to really bring all of us together.”
At MLB’s general managers’ meetings in San Antonio earlier this week, Cashman took the opportunity to underline why he believes Boone is the right man to lead the team moving forward. Echoing Judge’s sentiments, Cashman praised Boone for building a strong clubhouse culture that has been vital to thriving in the “pressure cooker” of New York. Cashman also reiterated his full support of Boone’s decisions throughout the World Series, including his choice of using Nestor Cortes out of the bullpen in Game 1 instead of Tim Hill.
“You push every button and you hope they all work out, but some don’t,” Cashman said. “I fully support Boone. I believe he did everything he could to help us win a World Series, and I’m excited to try again.”
Brian Cashman was asked if there were any playoff managerial moves made by Aaron Boone that disappointed him
“The manager job is so impossible, you can play the game of second guessing. I think he’s a really really good manager. We’re lucky to have him” pic.twitter.com/d4PXkGTxkc
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 5, 2024
Of course, Boone’s biggest critics point to the Yankees’ inability to win a championship during his tenure. Despite consistently having one of the highest payrolls in MLB, 2024 marked only the first time under Boone that the Yankees advanced to the World Series. In comparison, his predecessor, Joe Girardi, won a World Series in his second season but failed to reach the Fall Classic in any of his next eight years. Both managers have led the Yankees to three division titles, but Boone reached that mark in just seven seasons, compared to Girardi’s 10. Under Boone, the Yankees have reached the American League Championship Series three times, while Girardi’s teams made four appearances.
There’s no denying Boone’s success in the regular season, though. With a .584 career winning percentage, Boone ranks 15th all-time in that category and currently has the second-best winning percentage of all active managers. Only Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers (.627) has a better mark. Of the 14 managers with a higher winning percentage than Boone, 13 have not managed a game since 1951, and eight are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Roberts is likely to join those eight in the future after adding another title to his resume in 2024.
Boone’s tenure has not been without its on-field challenges. Moving forward, the Yankees will need to address areas of concern that are at least partially a reflection of his management. Chief among these is the team’s sloppy play, which was on full display in the World Series. In Game 5, the Yankees blew a 5-0 lead due to defensive lapses and failure to execute routine plays. Throughout the season, they were the worst team on the basepaths, committing a series of mental mistakes that have plagued the team for years. When asked multiple times earlier this week if this issue pointed to coaching, Cashman did not offer a direct answer.
“As an organization, from top to bottom, we’re always preaching and practicing best practices,” Cashman said. “In some cases, we can improve players on those margins. In others, it’s part of their DNA, and they’re just not typically good at certain things.”
Boone has now managed 1,032 regular-season games — the most in Yankees history for a manager without a championship. But despite that dubious distinction, the Yankees remain confident that Boone is the best option to break their 15-year title drought.
(Top photo of Aaron Boone: Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
