Phillies save Yankees from managerial mistake with run-it-back Don Mattingly decision

If the New York Yankees move on from Aaron Boone - and they don't seem likely to do so until next winter, but bear with me here - they need a cunning, innovative thinker with a disciplinarian streak. What they do not need is a franchise icon with a less-than-stellar managerial record who cannot be used as a scapegoat without further alienating the fanbase.

Think Buster Posey in San Francisco. Even as his roster flails around ... man, how can you fire that guy? Posey has done irreparable harm to his own reputation as an executive, but the man is still beloved. There are still certain sects of the fanbase that will probably never be able to blame him. It wasn't fair for the Giants to put Posey in such a position, and he has also done himself no favors.

Nobody wants to say it out loud ... because we all want him to succeed ... but Don Mattingly as manager of the Yankees would fall into a similar bucket. Imagine your frustration with Boone on a night-to-night basis, then ascribe it to your childhood idol. How would that make you feel? What's in it for Mattingly, who has a lengthy resumé of good-not-great managerial work and frustrated fanbases in his wake? He's a God to Yankee fans. Would he really want to risk his current reputation by planting himself firmly on the hot seat?

Thankfully for all parties involved, the Phillies took Mattingly off the table on Wednesday, formally agreeing with him on a two-year extension to remain manager.

Yankees hiring Don Mattingly would've been an unfair mistake, and his track record doesn't inspire confidence

Mattingly earned the Dodgers' managerial gig in 2011, piloting the Hanley Ramirez Dodgers to the playoffs for the first time two years later. He was at the helm for their disquieting NLDS loss to the Cardinals in 2014, when Clayton Kershaw was allowed to keep going and going as the Cards' improbable rally overwhelmed and consumed him. After another sour postseason ending in 2015, Los Angeles decided Mattingly was the man to take them through a season, but not to get them over the hump.

Sometimes, a first job is the learning curve that sets you up nicely for the second gig. Mattingly's Marlins tenure, which came next, is difficult to parse. He led a franchise buried in the muck and the mire. They improbably made the playoffs in the shortened 2020, but mostly bottomed out. He managed there from 2016 to 2022! They were nearly irrelevant (almost by design) the entire time. It's hard to glean anything from this, other than that Mattingly is a very good man.

Last season in Philadelphia, Mattingly came perilously close to overseeing one of the most potent late-season collapses in MLB history, navigating a parched pitching staff to elimination in the Wild Card Series. Arguably his strongest coaching work to date was as a bench coach for the 2025 Blue Jays, building strong bonds with players like Bo Bichette on a roster that went further than expected.

That would've been the only seamless fit on a 2027 Yankees staff. In the room, lending his prestige and expertise in a secondary chair, but not leading the effort (even as a hitting instructor in recent years, his outdated philosophies have come under fire, setting Toronto back in '24 before losing that duty). Manager of the Yankees? That would've been rude to Mattingly and unhelpful for a team in flux. Thankfully, the Phillies took all speculation off the table.

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