Aaron Boone's no-brainer decisions should do nothing but concern Yankees fans

On Tuesday night, the New York Yankees won their second straight game thanks in part to drastic lineup changes finally instituted by manager Aaron Boone. Jazz Chisholm Jr. returned to second base after being shoved at third for six weeks, Jasson Dominguez served as the leadoff hitter, and Oswald Peraza took over at the hot corner. Earlier that morning, Boone revealed DJ LeMahieu would be headed to the bench.

Despite getting blanked through five innings, the Yankees went on to win 10-3. Their new-look defensive alignment made a number of impressive plays that had fans both turn their head and say, "Why did it take so long for the team to realize this?"

We also learned prior to the game that LeMahieu wasn't happy with the decision. And how could he be? He was finally starting to hit! Boone also ruled out LeMahieu playing third base because it's a "challenge physically" for him, but then what was second base? Defenders certainly need to be a bit more mobile and agile to play there.

Though the Yankees improved their overall defense by upgrading at two positions with internal options they had all along, they also somehow upset a veteran they have spent the last four years catering to. And once again, they couldn't make the correct call with timing. This was like 2023 when Aaron Hicks finally started to hit (.296 with an .869 OPS in May) and then was promptly DFA'd. The Yankees had so many chances to bench LeMahieu. They had so many chances to DFA Hicks. And they opted to do so when both were showing signs of life after years of not.

So, inherently, there's the DFA LeMahieu situation. How long are the Yankees going to keep a disgruntled player on their bench? And why are they now limiting him to one position after he's spent a good portion of his career as a utility option?

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Then there's the trade deadline. These lineup changes, in theory, should be viewed as short-term fixes, and nothing beyond two weeks. Oswald Peraza is not a major league hitter. Great defender? Yes. Great last guy on the bench/defensive replacement option. He is not somebody who can receive everyday reps. But there's a chance the Yankees trick fans into thinking this was the change they needed to make all along and that trade reinforcements weren't needed. They had the internal options in front of them for the last couple of years and finally budged on July 8, 2025.

And of course, there's the decision making in general. On June 12, the Yankees were 42-25. Heading into Tuesday night's game, they were 49-41. They went 7-16 and endured two six-game losing streaks. Boone and the front office made no discernible changes over that span to fix whatever was going wrong (everything). Now we're supposed to trust they'll make the right call at the trade deadline? Or in mid-August when the usual suspects start falling off a cliff? Or in September when roster expand and they need proper infusions of talent? (Remember what happened last year with Dominguez?).

Wins are nice, yes. Two straight wins is a reprieve, but the Yankees haven't wont three straight games since June 10-12. There will need to be a tangible shift in play and attitude in order for anybody to buy into the surface-level changes Boone made (and that fans had been asking for since early June, mind you).

The concerning part about all of this is the Yankees had the pieces all along. Were they the long-term solutions? No. But they had the chance to stop the bleeding weeks ago and they opted to sit on their hands. Much like how they handled Dominguez over the weekend in the Subway Series, the Yankees' fickle yet stubborn decision making process shouldn't have anybody feeling faithful about what's to come over the second half of 2025. This organization has been stuck in its ways ever since Boone took over in 2018. There's rarely intent behind their decision making. There's never urgency. And finally, when something of magnitude is green lit, it's months or years too late.

The Tuesday night changes should've been made in mid-June, at the latest. So, by those calculations, the Yankees will realize on August 29 that they should've made smarter trades at the deadline the month prior.