Yankees’ Aaron Boone would’ve already been fired by these 3 teams

2. San Diego Padres

The Padres represent a case of mistaken identity for the Yankees. They pulled off an aggressive coup this offseason, dismissing manager Jayce Tingler from a playoff contender and replacing him with Bob Melvin, who departed the A’s amid a salary dispute. It was the kind of maneuver that created jealousy throughout the Bronx. Wasn’t this supposed to be the Bombers’ fate? Making an aggressive move for a manager no one knew was available while dismissing a manager in Tingler who met expectations in 2020, then flat-lined in the follow-up?

Except … if this were the Yankees, the Melvin hire probably would’ve worked. Considering it’s the constantly-cursed Padres, it didn’t, as Fernando Tatis Jr. instead fell out of favor while Josh Hader struggled to hit the broad side of the Western Metal Supply Building.

That said, the Padres wouldn’t have been afraid at all to dismiss Boone, and probably would’ve done it after the 2021 AL Wild Card Game with a Melvin move in mind.

The Pads are the cautionary tale here. Their aggression has, uh, not exactly been met with results these past few summers. Some of the facepalms have been unforeseen (eg, Tatis getting popped for PEDs after getting thrown off his motorcycle). But the most aggressive trade deadline in baseball sadly resulted in nary an improvement, and might lead to further turtling throughout the league when shakeup opportunities occur.

In other words, the Padres would’ve fired Boone, but the Padres’ disaster is probably Exhibit A in the Yankees’ Museum to Not Firing Boone.