Yankees: Aaron Boone feels vindicated by Astros punishment according to Buck Showalter

In a recent interview on Yankees Hot Stove, YES Network analyst and former New York manager Buck Showalter gave his thoughts about the punishment handed down to the Houston Astros for sign-stealing in 2017. Showalter also revealed that he reached out to Aaron Boone and says the Yankees current skipper feels vindicated after Monday’s huge announcement.

The record books will always show that the Yankees were defeated by the Astros in the 2017 and 2019 ALCS, but the legitimacy of Houston’s victories will always be questioned.

We know that Houston’s 2017 title run will forever be tainted and even though they weren’t found guilty for any wrongdoing this past season Aaron Boone can feel somewhat justified with his concerns during the ALCS. Following the Yankees Game 1 win in Houston, the New York coaching staff was reportedly upset about whistling that they believed was coming from the Astros dugout.

Third base coach Phil Nevin was the most livid about what he heard especially after Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron flipped the bird to him and everyone else in the Yankee dugout. It was a childish act and the next half inning Nevin went to his coaching box by third base and had some choice words for Houston All-Star Alex Bregman to relay back to Cintron.

The accusations by the Yanks than led to the now jobless AJ Hinch’s memorable media session before Game 4 of the ALCS when he called the complaints “a joke.” He added that if he had known that was a way to get under the Yankees skin they would’ve practiced the whistling during Spring Training. We now know Hinch was totally full of it and on Monday he got the punishment he deserved when he was suspended for the entire 2020 season and then fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.

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Boone and the rest of the Yankees should feel justified but I doubt when he apparently texted Showalter about feeling vindicated that he was referring to his friend Hinch getting fired. It was likely more about the Astros organization finally getting caught for cheating the game.

Looking ahead to Spring Training it will be interesting to see if Boone or anyone else from the Yankees publically address the cheating scandal. After the big news broke on Monday Commissioner Manfred notified all Major League clubs not to speak out about the Astros penalties.

Players and coaches all over the game will surely be peppered with questions about the investigation once camp starts, but the potential punishment for speaking out probably isn’t worth it.