Yankees announce 2025 decision on Aaron Boone, create dangling problem

The New York Yankees provided a formal answer to their current Aaron Boone question on Friday afternoon, but they certainly did not make the greater cloud of uncertainty disappear in the process.

In a move that's been long anticipated since before Andy Martino laid it plain the wake of the Yankees' Game 5 collapse, Boone will return as manager for the 2025 season. Against the odds, the Yankees' skipper finally seemed to turn a corner in cultivating chemistry in October 2024, outfoxing Manager of the Year candidates Matt Quatraro and Stephen Vogt in the ALDS and ALCS. His experience seemed to be winning out.

Of course, then the World Series -- and especially Game 5 -- happened. Nestor Cortes Jr. was called on as the unconventional option out of the bullpen in Game 1, and that move failed. The team's pervasive sloppiness reared its ugly head throughout, but especially in the series' final game. The performance was subpar ... but could Boone's culture really be blamed for Aaron Judge doinking a fly ball? The Yankees didn't think so, and they cemented him as their leader for 2025 by picking up his club option on Friday afternoon.

What they did not do, though, was extend him.

Yankees bring Aaron Boone back for 2025, do not give him contract extension

So, what's next? Will Boone be a lame duck manager on Opening Day? Will he receive a modest contract extension and a mini-endorsement, perhaps exclusively for 2026? Or will the Yankees put their faith in Boone for far longer?

Can this wait until after the Soto Shuffle is completed, or will the Yankees lock down their leader before the Winter Meetings?

At this moment in time, it feels like extending Boone is no priority, given that the Yankees waited just over a week from their World Series exit to the present day just to put a stamp on some clerical work.

Brian Cashman's emphatic endorsement at this week's GM meetings would seem to indicate Boone is safe long-term; “I support Aaron Boone with every decision he made, every step of the way, the way he managed the postseason for us was exceptional" is as definitive as a comment can get.

Still, though, the deed is only partially done as the real offseason beckons.