Aaron Boone's label of 2025 Yankees feels like an attempt to erase previous failures

Aaron Boone proclaimed that the 2025 version of the New York Yankees was the "best team" he'd managed in his tenure at the helm in the Bronx, just before getting swept by the Miami Marlins back in August.

The distinction was dubious at the time. That declaration came in the midst of the club's midsummer swoon and foreshadowed that the trade deadline reinforcements wouldn't live up to their billing.

Boone's apparent motive was to fire up his team for the stretch run and make October a fruitful endeavor. Now that we know that won't be the case, it's time to address the clear falsehood of that statement.

Aaron Boone's proclamation that the 2025 Yankees are the best team he's managed is erroneous at best and deceptive at worst

Boone was hired in December of 2017, on the heels of the Yankees' ALCS defeat at the hands of the sign-stealing Houston Astros. He has now be the captain of the ship for eight seasons, more than enough time to see the organization change and grow.

With that much time, he should be able to look back and objectively analyze which of the squads he presided over was truly the best. A quick glance shows Boone's belief in the 2025 squad is misguided at best, and deceptive at worst.

Starting with the 2018 team, Boone had a squad that won 100 games in the regular season. While the 2025 club may best that unit in the lineup and the rotation, the fantastic bullpen, which featured Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zach Britton, David Robertson, Chad Green, and Jonathan Holder, puts the 2025 unit to shame. And then some.

The following year, the club would win 103 games, though they'd succumb to the Astros again in the ALCS. Much of the DNA of that team was the same as the 2018 squad, though a full season of production from Luke Voit, the emergence of Gio Urshela, and the addition of Edwin Encarnacion made the lineup more formidable than it was the year prior.

Another contender for a better team was the 2022 squad, which saw a legitimate ace in Gerrit Cole anchor the rotation, Aaron Judge ascend to his current otherworldly form and take home his first MVP trophy, and yet another dominant bullpen. This club had some holes in the lineup, but still managed to win 99 games.

Lastly, there's the 2024 roster, which is the only team during the Boone era to appear in a World Series. It's hard to argue that a lineup that featured two top-five players in the game with Juan Soto joining Judge, and an ace in Cole rather than a high-end No. 2 like Max Fried, wasn't better than this year's version. Oh, and while it seems like a common theme at this point, the bullpen was better, too.

All of this begs the question: if 2025 was the best team he ever managed, why didn't Boone get more out of it? After all, at the time the comment was made, it could've been seen as excusing away past failures.

Now, though, with this team crumbling and failing to reach the heights of some of those past "inferior" clubs, it's time for Boone to take a long, hard look in the mirror and recognize his large role in why the team underachieved — and has for years.