Is Yankees’ Aaron Boone on hot seat? Brian Cashman on manager’s future, fans wanting change

SAN ANTONIO — The way Yankees manager Brian Cashman saw it, Aaron Boone did a great job this season managing the Yankees to the World Series.
What about taking Gerrit Cole out after 88 pitches in Game 1 of the World Series: What about bringing in Nestor Cortes in with the game on the line when he hadn’t pitched in a month?
Cashman has no problem with any of that.
What about all the baserunning mistakes the Yankees made all season, then throughout the playoffs?
Not Boone’s fault, Cashman said.
Because of all that, the Yankees probably will be announcing by this weekend or early next week that the club option in Boone’s contract will be picked up.
More guaranteed years could be added, as well.
Why the delay? The World Series was over last week.
Cashman said he was busy dealing with other things, such as Gerrit Cole’s opt out and Anthony Rizzo’s buyout.
“Clearly, it’s on the list of things to do,” Cashman said Tuesday at the GM Meetings. “I’m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he’s a great manager and I think we’re lucky to have him, but obviously let’s go walk through the process and have the conversations that haven’t been had with the people above me.”
The process will be Cashman discussing Boone with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, who also is a big Boone fan.
“I know it’s 10 days after the World Series, so it’s certainly coming up,” Cashman said. “I think probably by the weekend.”
Cashman knows a lot of Yankees fans want Boone fired. Their boos at Yankee Stadium and complaining on social meeting doesn’t change his mind at all about Boone, whose .584 winning percentage in seven seasons is second highest among active managers behind the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts (.627).
“Fans are passionate,” Cashman said. “They’re going to have their say. But I know managing is not easy. And I know there’s a lot of experts that have to talk about or dissect a specific game, but the manager has personal information every day that the public doesn’t have and why he might have gone one way versus another.
“It’s a tough job. And I know he’s certainly up to the task. He’s super qualified for it.”
Boone was criticized by Yankees legend Derek Jeter, YES broadcaster Michael Kay and many others after the Yankees lost Game 1 of the World Series 6-5 in 10 innings when Freddie Freeman took Cortes deep for a walk-off grand slam.
Cortes hasn’t pitched in 26 days due to an elbow injury, but put in the game in the 10th to protect a one-run lead with two Dodgers on base and one out.
“With the managers, that’s the most impossible job because Nestor belonged on that roster and he was there for a reason … for certain matchups,” Cashman said. “Aaron Boone is going to make decisions that are either going to work and you’re smart, or it didn’t work and you live with the regret. That’s the position they have.”
Cashman also had no issue with Cole being pulled after he allowed a leadoff single in the seventh with the Yankees leading 2-1.
“I support Aaron Boone with every decision he made, every step of the way,” Cashman said. “The way he managed the postseason for us was exceptional. Clearly, the Nestor situation on that particular day didn’t work out for us, but it’s the just nature of the beast.
“You push every button and you hope all of them work out, but some don’t. But again, full support on him. I think he did everything he possibly could to help us win a World Series, and I look forward to trying to do it again.”
As for the Yankees’ baserunning and fielding mistakes – the latter of which killed them when the Dodgers rallied to win the Game 5 clincher – Cashman exonerates Boone and his coaching staff.
“We had issues with certain players in certain categories all season, just like we’ve excelled in certain categories in certain seasons,” Cashman said.
“First and foremost, I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series. First and foremost, we all saw that. Unfortunately, our ‘A’ game didn’t show up when it counted the most.
“I don’t think it’s a fair representation. I think it’s more fair to say, ‘Did we just play poorly in that series and underperform?’ I think we underperformed in that series more so than somehow this team was lucky to get into the World Series and how do we even get there?’”
Cashman added that the Yankees are so respected for how they teach baserunning that Matt Talarico, their director of speed development and baserunning, already this offseason has interviewed for three major league coaching positions.
“I know the industry values this individual enough to be wanting to take him from us,” Cashman said.
Cashman added that the best way to fix this issue is “personnel changes, obviously.”
All of this points to Boone returning for 2025 and maybe longer with a contract extension.
“All those things will be discussed,” Cashman said.
Like it or not, Yankees fans, Boone’s boss is still a big fan of him.
Why?
“The fact that he is the same person day in day out despite the storms that come and go,” Cashman said. “He has our players backs, even though it’s ad nauseam probably for you guys (in the media) covering him, especially because you’re in the press conference every day.
“But having someone with that type of consistency is so vital to this pressure cooker of New York. It can’t be understated.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected].