Ken Rosenthal becomes first MLB insider in years to wonder about firing Aaron Boone

At a time of year when the New York Yankees should be firmly entrenched in the trade market, one week out from learning which reinforcements will help propel their playoff path, they're instead forced to balance that ambition with addressing roster rot and incompetence. The Aaron Boone Problem has come to roost in another sloppy summer swoon, and MLB insider Ken Rosenthal isn't afraid to address it.

Arguing for Boone's dismissal against outsiders has been difficult for years. His win-loss record is ironclad. The Yankees still make the playoffs annually. There are starving fans in Pittsburgh. Is Boone Ball really so bad?

Watching the Yankees in the World Series last year seemed to change the narrative for some, though, as the world collectively realized that putting pressure on New York's defense and decision-making really did make them wilt. This past showcase series in Toronto served as something of the final straw for Rosenthal; the Yankees' flaws turned the once-proud franchise into a punchline. The Blue Jays' Twitter account brazenly flamed each one of their seven errors — and, as silly as it sounds, Rosenthal took notice. Boone (and Hal, and Cashman...) have crafted the biggest brand in the game into a team that makes so many flubs that opposing teams have no bones about calling them the "YankEEEEEEEs" in victory; they know New York has no counter.

And so, on Thursday, Rosenthal finally went public with a take that's likely been boiling for a while: perhaps Aaron Boone isn't the sole problem with the Yankees. But what is he doing to improve them?

Will New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone ever be fired? MLB insider Ken Rosenthal is asking the question.

For those hoping that a road AL East series where the Yankees had to fight tooth-and-nail just to capture a single game miraculously — and it actually felt like a win! — might be the genuine final straw for Boone, Rosenthal did note that the Yankees' manager "appears in no such danger" of being dismissed. That note came after he claimed games like Wednesday and series like this one are the "kind of thing that sometimes gets managers fired".

While Rosenthal acknowledged that it's difficult to find a balance between discipline and coddling, and it's eternally tough to know what's happening behind closed doors and what flubs we can ascribe to a manager's tone over a player's incompetence, the bottom line is that the Yankees are laughed at more than feared these days. That's enough for him to consider plunging the dagger.

As Rosenthal concluded, "Well, the Yankees’ performance is again lacking. And until they play cleaner baseball, it will be fair to question whether Boone is doing enough to hold the players accountable. If he is not, the accountability ultimately will fall on him."

For the first time in forever — since the 2022 collapse and Red Sox 2004 Highlight fiasco — it's starting to feel like a question of "when," not "if" again.