Aaron Boone's low-energy comment on Red Sox series has Yankees fans feeling resentful

There is not a single living, breathing Yankees fan on this planet who would say any given series against the Red Sox isn't the most important matchup on the schedule at any point in time — in most instances, of course. Typically, these teams are jockeying for playoff spots/positioning, and the fact they are hated divion rivals just adds more juice to the contests.

But don't tell that to manager Aaron Boone! We know his philosophy. You simply can't get too high or too low with your emotions during the baseball season. You must maintain equilibrium until the playoffs or else you've lost the plot. That's the Yankee Way since 2018.

When asked about potentially doing his best to line up the bullpen for success (before Wednesday's game vs the Rays) against the Red Sox in the upcoming four-game set, Boone, in classic fashion, bored everybody with his response:

Boone: "I mean ... I don't know. I would disagree with that. We haven't even play today's game so I don't know what tomorrow brings. You've got to try and win games when you have the opportunity."

Jomboy: "Yes, but the games against Boston count as double, that's just the math of it."

Boone: "Ok. Ha. ... Ideally you're always trying to reset, but it won't be at the expense of another game. Let's keep it moving. Come on."

Hey, maybe it's time to treat these games differently! Because on Thursday the Yankees lost the series opener thanks to four errors and 10 runners left on base. The bullpen couldn't hold it down. The Red Sox went 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position and left 14 on base but still managed to win 6-3. Rookie Roman Anthony silenced the Bronx with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth. It's a classic Yankees tale, getting punked by players left and right who managed to establish themselves in the rivalry in the blink of an eye while the Bombers stand around and look at one another.

It's hard to even say Boone was "pressed" in that conversation by the Talkin' Yanks crew, too. He was essentially being asked about certain series being more important than others, and instead responded with the diplomatic "every game is crucial" ahead of the team's biggest matchup to date. How is that motivating in any capacity? How does that get the fanbase excited?

Everybody knows it's wrong to outright say, "The Rays stink, we are clearly overlooking them to prepare for the Red Sox because we have no time to focus on Tampa." But is it so hard to say, "We need to really gear up for this series against Boston since we are neck-and-neck in the Wild Card standings and are only 1-5 against them this year. That said, we will be trying to win Wednesday night at all costs."

Meanwhile, on the other end of the rivalry, we have Alex Cora telling the Yankees to "suck it" during the Red Sox's World Series parade, and he's comparing rookie Roman Anthony to Juan Soto right before Boston is ready to take on New York. How about taking a page out of that book for once? Hunter Dobbins LIED! We can't even express honesty or passion or urgency in a boilerplate manner?

Nobody's asking the Yankees to go above and beyond to be pesky agitators every time we're set for a highly-contested matchup against a rival — after all, the Yankees talking trash rarely works out in their favor. But mundanely approaching every game in the same exact manner does absolutely no good when you're talking about preparing for the postseason ... unless, of course, they're playing an AL Central team.

It's about time this team experienced a philosophical lift or attitude adjustment. If they don't take care of business against the Red Sox this weekend, the calls for that will only grow louder. Already off to the worst start possible.