Yankees' refusal to put Aaron Boone on the hot seat is premier baseball malpractice

At some point, somebody needs to take the fall. New York Yankees fans have been critical of manager Aaron Boone — relentlessly so, at times — but we've asserted there are at least three other problems to address before pinning legitimate blame on him. But now that's come to an end.

Since 2020, Boone has overseen mini collapses of all different kinds. His tag team effort with Brian Cashman in 2023 resulted in the Yankees' worst season in 30 years. He's now had four completely different rosters since 2021, and the results have been nearly identical.

A completely re-worked 2025 roster after Juan Soto's departure was supposed to change a lot of things. The team was supposed to be better with runners in scoring position. The defense was supposed to be better. The lineup is more balanced. The pitching staff is deeper. Though they lost a powerful presence like Soto, they got rid of a number of imperfect roster fits and moved on for the better.

Yet, here we are, on July 5, and the Yankees blew a seven-game AL East lead in the blink of an eye. They have dropped 15 of their last 21 games and are sitting in third place as their heinous slide has coincided with surges from the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. They are now in third place.

Speaking of the division, under Boone since 2020, this team cannot handle their business against AL East opponents. Their record against the Jays, Rays, Red Sox and Orioles over that span is 164-158, with 2020's outlier winning record against two of the worst teams in the league (Baltimore and Boston) saving them from a sub-.500 mark.

The roster has been changed countless times. The coaching staff has been changed countless times. Yes, many of the problems could be traced back to Brian Cashman, but Boone has become the easiest scapegoat for this team to make a change and attempt a philosophical overhaul of sorts, and they refuse to do it. His messaging has become so stale that fans have made their own "Boone Bingo Board" because they already see what's coming.

Yankees' refusal to put Aaron Boone on the hot seat is premier baseball malpractice

The Yankees telegraphed a 10-year marriage to Boone for no other reason than preserving their image of "stability" under Cashman. But Boone isn't in the same stratosphere as the Yankees' last three managers — Buck Showalter (who they parted with after four years!), Joe Torre and Joe Girardi. The fact he's getting the same treatment as two of the most successful managers of the last 25 years is the oversight of all oversights.

Boone came into his tenure with the Yankees having never managed a game. It seemed to be an attempt for the Yankees to gain a mental edge of sorts over the Red Sox because of the pain he caused Boston with his walk-off home run in the 2003 ALCS. But ... the Yankees lost that World Series and then endured the worst collapse in baseball history to the Red Sox the very next year. Who in Boston is ever thinking about Boone anymore?

Besides that, Boone might have wins and playoff appearances under his belt since 2018, but there's a clear ceiling with his capabilities. He cannot motivate this team through difficult stretches. They only worsen. His highs and lows of managing the bullpen are far too drastic. His lineup construction has been a point of contention for years now. (Again, that could be traced back to Cashman, but the manager's job is to figure it out.)

A lot of what the Yankees fail at could be traced to "intangibles" — the main of which is messaging. The Yankees are not clutch. They rarely ever step up in unison. Every player, at some point, appears to get complacent. There's no competition. There's no lack of job security for those who, in theory, shouldn't have a commanding grip on a roster spot. And worst of all, nobody of importance is ever disciplined (Gleyber Torres and JC Escarra remain the only two recent examples). They get embarrassed by their chief rivals (Astros and Red Sox) and have faltered more and more against the crosstown Mets.

Important decisions are almost never made with urgency. Outside of the decision to remove Devin Williams from the closer role earlier this year, we've watched this team let Clay Holmes blow save after save before the team finally decided to make a change in September of last year. We've seen Anthony Volpe completely unravel every time he's given a premier spot in the lineup. We've seen veterans like Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Josh Donaldson, Joey Gallo, Alex Verdugo, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Harrison Bader, Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, Aaron Hicks and Rougned Odor absolutely kill this team before a decision to move on from them was too late (and we're still witnessing LeMahieu's downfall). Top prospects and young players essentially perish under his watch (though that's also an organizational issue).

There's also the argument that Boone is powerless, since he's just following Cashman's marching orders. If that's the case, then how is this at all enjoyable for him? What's the point of "running" a team that you have no control over? That's the only potential saving grace for his job, but then again, there's no other place to appoint blame for all these other cosmic factors — in addition to poor player management — plaguing the Yankees.

Boone hasn't sniffed the hot seat. Meanwhile, no other contender of this caliber has experienced the high-profile embarrassing moments or hot button issues the Yankees have. This operation is not run tightly or efficiently, and Boone, whether he's doing a good job or not behind the scenes, should be the first to go if the Yankees want a chance to realize their potential.

How many more chances can he possibly get, especially after he was the main culprit for ruining the team's chances in the 2024 World Series?