Yankees: Is Aaron Boone still the right man for the job?

Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s lack of any experience is now on full display following this past weekend’s sweep at the hands of the rival Red Sox.

Aaron Boone is simply not the person that is capable of leading this highly talented Yankees team to anything other than disappointment and defeat that results in instilling a sense of failure in the club’s highly talented young players. The job seems way over his head right now.

I realized this at the season start when in Toronto, Boone made the famous decision with David Robertson on the mound in the 8th inning and a 1 run lead, to walk Josh Donaldson and pitch to Justin Smoak, who promptly hit a grand slam.

It was wasn’t the decision by Boone that bothered me so much, although I did have problems with it, because he took a gamble and that is okay. It goes with the job. The problem arose for me when in his post-game interview he was challenged by a reporter and he answered that even D-Rob was in agreement with his decision.

That was an alarm bell. Boone was trying to shift some of the blame in order to justify his decision onto his player, and since when does any reliever decides who he throws to in a game?

That reeked of questionable character and certainly inexperience and it has reared its ugly head throughout the season. It became clear as the season continued that the Yankees players had to continually bail Boone out of bad decisions and this was unsustainable.

Before this current losing streak, much of the Bomber’s success was due to such an abundance of talent on the team that they could and would win in spite of their managers sometimes.

Right now, the Yankees are in a spiral from an implosion that is somewhat due to a lack of knowledge that comes from their rookie manager.

He has absolutely zero experience coaching at any professional level and it has shown all season culminating in the club’s humiliation over the last 5 games that began with the first loss to the Orioles and finished in Fenway Park against a Red Sox team that’s better managed. Boone has looked so lost that any attempt on his part to hide it at this point would only work on the blind.

Boone’s lack of ability to manage the Yankees is not a state secret

Aaron Boone’s inability to skipper the Yankees is no secret, although most will not admit it publicly. The owners know it,  although they refuse to publicly say so thus far. However, can anyone doubt that the Steinbrenners are not questioning the judgment of Boone’s appointment?

The fans for sure know it. They are not blind and most Yankees fans have more than a rudimentary education of baseball. In fact, they are quite knowledgeable and one only needs to read social media to get a glimpse of what they think of Boone. It is not pretty.

The writers also know it. The journalists from the major media outlets have given Boone a pass all season. We must remember from where Boone came just before his current job. He has a lot friends with the press and they have cut him a lot of slack, but they too know the truth.

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman surely knows it. He convinced the team’s owners Hal and Hank to fire Joe Girardi and accept the inexperienced Boone after the Yankees finished last season one win short of a trip to the fall classic World Series.

Cashman has the most individually to lose here. He built this extremely talented team on a low-budget for the Yankees organization and stayed under the luxury tax threshold for the first time in 16 years. He has full control over Boone now, but not on his team’s destiny even though he provided the pieces.

To fully understand Cash, one must remember how he never got the credit due him for the last Yankees dynasty that began in 1998 when he became GM for the club. Many said his success was due to the fact that he inherited a ready to win ball-club. However, this year his reputation is dangling in the wind after his hiring of Boone.

Finally, and worst of all, the Yankees players know it. These are professional baseball players. They can see questionable baseball decisions, better than most of us, and by now they must have noticed that their manager is without answers, and blaming them.

These players are looking for leadership. Boone sends Judge. The players really like Boone. He is one of the guys. However, there is a difference between liking and respecting a manager for his ability to run the team. Aaron Boone is not a leader. He is a good public relations operative.

The only question is how long will the owners and front office tolerate it. Will they watch the rest of the season idle if the Yankees seem threatened to lose home field advantage or worse for the Wild Card game?