Yankees: Aaron Boone was robbed of the AL Manager of the Year Award

In his second season on the job, Aaron Boone helped lead the Yankees to 103 wins with a roster that was absolutely ravaged by injuries throughout the year. Somehow that wasn’t good enough to earn him the AL Manager of the Year award after it was announced on Tuesday that Boone came in second to Twins rookie skipper Rocco Baldelli.

The Manager of the Year Award voting can be very subjective but Boone not winning is completely ridiculous. If there was ever a year for a Yankees manager to take home the honor this was the season for it to happen. No one else in either league deserved to win more than him.

It was well documented how many injuries the Yankees suffered during the 2019 season. 30 players were placed on the IL over the course of the season and collectively they totaled 39 separate stints on the IL which was a major league record. Of the injured players many of them were perennial All-Stars and guys who make up most of their payroll and yet this Yankee team still managed to overcome all of it to win 103 games and their first AL East title since 2012.

A lot of the credit goes to GM Brian Cashman and the players who stepped up and made the most of their opportunities, but just as much of the credit needs to go to Boone. The job he did leading this group through so much adversity was outstanding. Every day the injuries kept piling up at a rate we’ve never seen before but he never allowed himself or his team to use that as an excuse.

Boone continued to believe in the players he had on the 25-man roster and embraced that next man up attitude and I think that was a big reason why this team was able to perform at such a high level. He also did a terrific job handling the pitching staff and making sure his bullpen was well-rested throughout he season by never pitching a reliever three days in a row.

Rocco Baldelli had a terrific rookie season leading the Twins to their second 100 win season in franchise history, but there’s no way he was more deserving than Boone. The Twins played in the weakest division in baseball and beat up on two 100-loss teams in the Royals and Tigers and an 89 loss team in the White Sox. Against them, they went a combined 41-16. They also had a losing record against winning teams (32-37) and went 2-4 against the Yanks.

The Yankees, on the other hand, had the best record in the AL against winning teams with a record of 43-32 and went 54-22 against the AL East which is a much better division. Even though the winner of the award is decided before the postseason let’s not forget the Yankees and Boone swept Baldelli and the Twins with ease during the ALDS. Baldelli’s decision making during the series wasn’t very good at all while Boone had a terrific series and pushed all the right buttons.

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The vote was a close one with both managers receiving 13 first-place votes, but Baldelli edged out Boone with 13 second-place votes compared to his 9. Rays skipper Kevin Cash finished in third place which is just as hard to understand and Tampa Bay fans have every right to be upset about him being snubbed after the job he did leading his team to 97 wins and a playoff berth.