Yankees: Possible replacements for Aaron Boone as manager

Melvin was a former baseball player and was on several teams in both the American and National Leagues. He briefly played first base and catcher for the Yanks in 1994.

Melvin is currently the manager of the Oakland Athletics. He has occupied that position since mid-2011 when he replaced the previous manager, Bob Geren. Before then, he managed the Arizona Diamondbacks and received the 2007 NL Manager of the Year award. Seeking to move in a new direction, the Diamondbacks fired him in the middle of the 2009 season.

Under Melvin’s outstanding leadership, the Oakland Athletics have made the playoffs six times during his nine full years as the Athletics’ skipper.

During the 2018 season, the team was picked by most analysts to finish last in the AL West. Instead, the club won 97 games and reached the wild card game to end a three-year absence from the postseason.

Melvin is now in his 11th season as manager of the Athletics and has a 767-689 record operating in a small market with limited resources. His overall record across 18 seasons managing the Seattle Mariners, Diamondbacks, and A’s is 1,271-1,203 (.514). He’ll earn $3.5 million in 2021, and has a club option on his deal for 2022.

According to A’s general manager David Forst, it’s up to Melvin to decide what he wants to do going forward. Given the team’s modest budget, it’s fairly likely that the Athletics will not be willing to offer him more money for 2022. On the contrary, he may be asked to accept a pay cut as part of the negotiations. That will likely create an opening for the Yankees to hire him if they wish to do so.

If the Yanks’ managerial position becomes open at the end of the 2021 season, Melvin would be an outstanding candidate. Given how well he has managed multiple MLB teams in smaller, one can only wonder what he could do in a place with a lot more assets and elite talent.