Perspectives: GO RAYS!

by Paul Semendinger

July 4, 2026

***

Yesterday in the comments a reader suggested that Aaron Boone would be fired if the Rays sweep the Yankees next week.

My response to that specific scenario is, "Go Rays! Beat the Yankees!"

I understand that many fans find my thinking backwards, but my suggestion is 100% on the money. In fact, it is the only logical response to that scenario.

***

Aaron Boone is not a good manager. We know this. This fact in undeniable.

We're getting very close to the point where the only two Yankees centric people in the entire world who want Boone managing the Yankees are Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner.

Aaron Boone has been a huge reason why the Yankees have not won a World Series.

In the one World Series he did get the Yankees to, they lost games because of this managing.

Anyone who states that Boone has no impact on the games is flat out wrong. We have seen him negatively impact games countless times.

In fact, he contributed to the loss in the final game against the Tigers just a few days ago by keeping Paul Goldschmidt pinned to the bench and having Oswaldo Cabrera batting in a big spot.

We have seen countless examples of games the Yankees have lost because of Boone's poor managing. To state that Boone doesn't impact games is absurd and flat out incorrect.  To deny this fact is to deny reality.

***

The only other people (other than Cashman and Steinbrenner) that want to see Boone remaining as the manager of the Yankees are the owners, executives, managers, players, and fans for the other 29 teams in baseball. As long as Boone manages the Yankees, the Yankees are less of a threat to their own teams' success.

I have asked, for years, and no one has ever produced even one example, of a legitimate baseball person who states that Boone is a quality manager.

No one in baseball says that.

No one says that because everyone knows it isn't true.

Aaron Boone is not a good manager.

***

Remember what the Dodgers noted during the 2024 World Series. They knew that if they played hard, the Yankees would beat themselves. And they did.

We saw great players lose focus in that World Series including Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, and Gerrit Cole. The Yankees were unprepared and over-matched. They weren't ready - for the World Series!

We have seen scouts, players, commentators, experts, and others, all state that the Yankees under Aaron Boone are a very bad fundamental baseball team. We have shared countless examples of this on these pages for years and years. We see this with our own eyes almost daily.

Aaron Judge just stated that the Yankees have lost focus. This isn't the first time this has been said about the Yankees under Aaron Boone.

All of those problems tie directly to the manager.

***

If Aaron Judge is stating that the Yankees are not focused, then what he is also stating is that the players are not playing hard for their manager.

In other words, Boone has lost the clubhouse - his only supposed strength.

***

If there was a path to rid the Yankees of this managerial problem, the problem standing directly in the path to success, the smart (and only) answer to that situation would be to follow that path. If that path means the Rays would sweep the Yankees, then it is only logical to want the Rays to sweep the Yankees.

I would trade three losses to the Rays next week to have a much better chance to win the World Series both this year and in the future. Absolutely. 100%. And always.

Any other thinking is short-sighted and destructive to the long-term goals of the team.

***

Often times medical procedures that result in better health involve initial pain. People follow those procedures because they know the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term pain.

This is the exact same logic with wanting the Yankees to lose right now if the result would be that they could finally change managers and be in better "health" going forward.

***

Then there is this notion (one I don't believe, at all) that if the Yankees fired Aaron Boone that another team would grab him.

First, I would need to see this to believe it. I do not believe that Boone is in demand. The idea is preposterous. I am sure this is a talking point put out by the Yankees themselves. It makes no sense. What team or teams see the Yankees and think, "Yes, I want that kind of dysfunction?" (None.)

Second, based on Boone's track record, if another team made him their manager, that would only hurt that team and, by definition, help the Yankees.

Why wouldn't the Yankees want Boone in the opposing dugout?

We have seen, clearly, now for the ninth season, that Aaron Boone isn't a good manager. As a Yankees fan, I would be thrilled if the team Yankees were playing against had an ineffective manager. That only helps the Yankees.

***

Sometimes one needs to take a step or two backwards in order to move forward.

Lose the battle to win the war...

Sticking with a failed plan is the definition of insanity. This has been the approach of the Yankees since 2018. They have stuck with a bad plan. They have been stubbornly following the same failed pattern of behavior.

Wanting the Yankees to win a July series, even if it hurts them in the long term, is short-sighted thinking.

If a few more losses means the Yankees will bring in a manger who is respected by the players and the league, then by all means the smart thing for all Yankees fans isn't to root for some short-term hollow victories that will only lead to another disappointing October, but to root for some fast (and ugly) losses today that will put the Yankees finally on the path to success.

If some losses this week means the Yankees will be in a better position to win the World Series this year, and in the future, than I am rooting for the Yankees to lose.

Go Rays! Go Go Go!

And for that matter, Go Twins as well.