Yankees: This AL coach would be solid replacement if Aaron Boone is fired

The New York Yankees have been completely running out of steam over the course of the last few weeks, as their 13-game winning streak in August was followed up by some genuinely pitiful losses that have Aaron Boone feeling the pressure. It’s not a forgone conclusion that he will be back in 2022.

While he didn’t have a ton of coaching experience after getting pulled out of the broadcast booth, the Yankees were banking on his baseball mind leading the team to championships.

He’s won his fair share of games, but those wins have come amid some very rough patches.

Meanwhile, the rival Toronto Blue Jays have made up most of the ground that they lost earlier in the season, as a power-packed lineup featuring the likes of George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have been able to overcome the odds and get back in the thick of it.

Charlie Montoyo deserves a ton of credit, but hitting coach Guillermo Martinez has done a fantastic job getting this lineup in gear.

If the Yankees decide to kick Boone to the curb after this season, they should give Martinez a serious look as a manager despite the fact he is just 36 years old.

Could the Yankees replace Aaron Boone with Guillermo Martinez?

Martinez has been with the Jays organization since 2012, and he was promoted to major league hitting coach in 2019. This year, the Blue Jays have the highest OPS of any team in the major leagues, clocking in behind Houston in the batting average department.

With a lineup that features some of the most powerful hitters in the game between Springer, Bichette, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and a pair of MVP candidates in Guerrero and Marcus Semien, Martinez’s advice has been almost infallible.

The Blue Jays are also a young team with several top prospects scattered all over the lineup, and Martinez has been instrumental in their development. Perhaps he could be the type of coach that gets Gleyber Torres driving the ball again?

The Blue Jays clearly value him, as he signed a contract extension before the season started.

Martinez only had three seasons of experience as a coach at the professional level, and going from the hitting coach in Toronto to the manager of the Yankees is quite the promotion, but he’s done everything that could be asked of him as an assistant, and he’ll get plenty of interest as a manager eventually from other clubs.

Boone was hired with the notion he could manage personalities in the locker room and make slight tactical changes when needed. He’s not translating those skills into wins, so perhaps hiring the young hotshot with the magic hitting touch could be a prudent strategy.

If Martinez gets this lineup of mashers to start mashing again, the hire would’ve been worth it.

Yankees: Recent losing is so poor it hasn’t been seen in over 100 years

The Yankees haven't been swept in a four-game series at home without leading since 1908, when the team was known as the New York Highlanders