3 old school managers Yankees fans shouldn’t be begging for (and 1 they should be)

Got some bad news for you. If you wanted the Yankees to fire Aaron Boone and replace him with a legendary name with a resumé stacked with success, then Bruce Bochy was the guy.

Texas already got him. Last offseason. Worked out pretty well. They also spent a lot and built a representative roster, nearly choked, acquired Aroldis Chapman (probably by accident?), and wound up in the Wild Card series. Jordan Montgomery started Game 1. They swept the Rays. Pretty neat.

Therefore, the Yankees will be keeping Boone in place for 2024, per reports. It's a lame duck season; the manager will serve his seventh (!!!) season in pinstripes without a contract extension in place. He can be handed his walking papers at the end of the year, but will likely never be officially fired. The new Yankee Way. The antithesis of George Steinbrenner's reign. Again, never a happy middle ever.

Boone isn't the Yankees' largest issue. He was given a lopsided roster and is beloved by the few in-their-prime stars the team does have in place (actually, has anyone ever asked Gerrit Cole if he likes him?). But, after zero pennants in such an exciting window, it's fair to watch your eyes wandering to nearby alternatives.

If Boone is ever replaced -- and it'd be after 2024 -- then it's highly likely young, new blood will slide into his vacancy. It'll be on the Yankees to discover the next Skip Schumacher, not give Jack McKeon a place to rest into his mid-90s. That's how the game typically works these days, after all. Ex-players who are well-trained in the game of modern baseball have a significant leg up.

Plus, for good measure, the non-Bochy fleet of old-school guys gets weaker every day.

3 old-school managers who'd be worse for Yankees than Aaron Boone (and 1 who might fit)

No Thanks: Joe Maddon

Once upon a time, Joe Maddon was the perfect chaos agent for a young Rays team that broke all of baseball's long-held rules. It was almost impossible to beat his story as a baseball lifer who lived inside well-worn clubhouses for 30 years, worked his way up several different org charts, then was finally given a chance by a group of analytics pioneers who had no other path to victory in the loaded AL East. It worked immediately; Maddon's Rays won the American League in 2008 and he became the gold standard of "old school, new school" blended methodology.

Then he became a star. Somewhere along the line, it would seem he stopped listening to the new-school numericals (or, at least, put more stock in crafting his image). Innovations took a back seat to Wacky Roadtrips and Dress Like a Taco Night. By the end of his Cubs tenure, it seemed his fuse had burned out, as the team took a postseason step back annually. His Angels career should've been longer than it was, but it's telling that all it took was one lengthy losing streak in 2022 for his homecoming to go bust.

2008 Maddon would be an exceptional hire for the Yankees, but his currently outsized personality would feel like a terrible culture fit without a total regime change above him. And that's not happening.