Yankees’ embarrassing comparison for Aaron Boone says it all

The current relationship between New York Yankees fans and their now-and-forever manager Aaron Boone is very much untenable, unless the Bombers can spend enough money to paper over their myriad holes this offseason.

And…even if they do…it’ll always be Boone vs. Alex Cora for bragging rights in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and they will have a clear disadvantage. Hey, optimistic article you got there!

Regardless, it became obvious in recent days that the Yankees intended to run things back with Boone, and the only question remaining was just how long they intended that marathon to be.

On Tuesday morning, it was revealed we were all in for three more years of treading water and maintaining the culture while adding high-priced talent — and possibly a fourth! There’s an option year.

The Yanks announced Boone’s re-hiring officially shortly after word leaked that the reengagement would be going down.

We’re not sure how much vetting was done of the celebratory Boone blurb they plopped out (we assume a lot!), but this description of the many accolades their manager holds was chock full of record-bending gibberish and “postseason berth” cheering, as well as one comparison that perfectly encapsulates the problem.

Yeah, Yankees manager Aaron Boone *is* like Mike Matheny! And that sucks!

Let’s compare Mike Matheny’s 2012-2015 St. Louis Cardinals to Aaron Boone’s Yankees, shall we? Matheny reached the postseason in all four of those years, losing the NLCS, World Series, NLCS and NLDS. That’s kind of Boone-ish, except for the one year where Matheny actually made it further and won the league.

At the time, public perception was that Matheny added very little, though, and was an average-to-poor in-game manager. The 2013 and 2015 teams finished with 97 and 100 wins (coincidentally, 2015 was his only blatant flameout), whereas the other two nabbed 88 and 90. That’s not exactly the standard in pinstripes — or, at least, we think it’s not. Hal Steinbrenner might view it more favorably.

Perhaps most importantly, the Cardinals showed the wherewithal to…fire Mike Matheny, despite that winning percentage! Because he was a quality caretaker, but wasn’t quite good enough to be a difference-maker!

And yet here the Yankees are, using Matheny’s record, pre-firing, to justify the retention of Boone. Really crosses your eyes and makes you pass out involuntarily, doesn’t it?

The bottom line is, Aaron Boone and Mike Matheny seem roughly equivalent. They could guard the door and let their superior rosters waltz to 100 wins on occasion, but won’t make a positive difference in a do-or-die strategic battle down the line.

Neither disqualifies a team from contending, but neither will elevate a roster, either.

The aptness of the comparison belies the reason we’re upset. Why on earth do the New York Yankees think this level is still something to shoot for?

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