Yankees: Aaron Boone Needs Contract Extension to Avoid 2020 Distraction

The 2020 season is the final guaranteed year of Aaron Boone’s contract with the Yankees.

Need another layer of drama for the 2020 season, Yankees fans? We have an upcoming shortened campaign that still might not even happen. The injuries once again mounted, and we’re still not getting good news on all of them, even with this interminable delay. New York has a number of impending free agents general manager Brian Cashman probably won’t be able to keep around when the offseason rolls around.

And let’s not forget this is the last guaranteed year of manager Aaron Boone’s contract! He has a team option for the 2021 season, but those are never a good look, and leave the door cracked for the media to burst right in to create speculation about “the future” and “transparency with the front office.” Yankee fans do not want that. They do not need that.

That’s why Cashman needs to do the right thing and guarantee Boone for the 2021 season now. Give him ANY extension, even if it’s a year, and keep that team option for 2022 if you so desire. After all, a colossal decision isn’t going to be made after ~2.5 seasons, two of which ended prematurely because of an inexplicably unstoppable Red Sox team and a cheating Astros side, right?

Remember all the unnecessary media surrounding Joe Girardi’s final year in the Bronx? It was almost a dark cloud over a wildly successful 2017 season that put the Yanks on the brink of a World Series appearance. While there were more concrete reasons behind New York making Girardi work through his deal without an extension — he was already manager for nine seasons and presided over the franchise’s first instance of failing to make the playoffs in back-to-back campaigns since 1993-1994 — the team can easily avoid baseless chatter this time around.

Boone deserves some sort of guaranteed security given his work since taking over. While some may disagree with his lineups (from time to time) and bullpen management (everyone will complain nonetheless), the man has 203 wins to his name already and ran into the AL’s representative in the Fall Classic for each of those playoff appearances. Yes, it’s World Series or bust in the Bronx, but he also managed to keep everything afloat (and win 100 games!) with the most injured team in history.

And don’t forget the personality he almost singularly managed to inject into this bizarre bunch.

That alone deserves another guaranteed year. Expectations remain high for Boone, but there’s no reason to keep him somewhat in the dark, especially when we’re likely expected to see the season shrink to 82 games, leaving so many more possibilities for other teams to sneak out of the woodwork and surprise MLB this time around, with the longevity of the year out the window.