Understanding The Reactions To Aaron Boone...

by Paul Semendinger

July 16, 2025

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From the start of this site, way back in 2017, the hiring (and re-hiring) of Aaron Boone has been a continued source of debate and discussion.

I have shared my position on Boone's tenure many times on these pages. In short, I do not believe that Aaron Boone is a very good manager. I have shared my reasons for feeling this way many many times. The Yankees hired Boone who had no experience as a coach or a manager at any level of baseball. The move made no sense at the time. In the years that have followed, his growth as a leader, strategist, game manager, and more have not seemed to improve. He seems the same now as he was when he began with no experience.

But, the primary purpose of this article isn't, necessarily, to go through all that again. The purpose of this article is to explain to those who support Aaron Boone as manager of the Yankees some of the many reasons why so many fans are dissatisfied with his overall performance. It seems that when people state that Boone has not done a good job, his supporters cannot understand why people feel that way. I hope to explain some of that here.

Most often the supporters of Aaron Boone cite the following as their reasons:

• Boone's teams win a lot of games (Typically 90+ wins each season)

• Boone's teams typically finish in first or second place

As manager of the Yankees, Aaron Boone's record is 656-472 (.582). That is very good. His teams have also finished in first or second place in all but one of his seven seasons as manager. This year, the Yankees are again in second place. That seems to be a strong overall record.

I understand and appreciate this perspective. Boone's teams win a lot of games. That cannot be denied.

What I would like to try to explain below are some perspectives why many fans do not think Aaron Boone is a good manager, in spite of his winning record.

• I think most fans don't feel most of the good results the Yankees have had can be attributed to Aaron Boone because he can never explain why things are going well. He seems completely clueless in this regard. Aaron Boone never gives the reasons for his team's success. The Yanks win or they lose, but the manager never seems to know or articulate why. When they lose, he says they need to grind. When they win, he says they grinded. It is all meaningless drivel. Aaron Boone has been saying the same things for eight years. When the leader of the team cannot articulate why the team wins or loses, that is a problem. This problem is compounded because one of the reasons for the manager's hiring in the first place was his supposed excellent communication skills. It is clear that he is not very good at the one thing that he is supposedly best at.

• Aaron Boone also doesn't seem to have a philosophy, strategy, or game approach that that stays consistent (or that he can explain). He makes a decision one day, then he seems to make the opposite decision the next day. Contradictions abound. Always. The team, as a result, seems to lack any specific approach. Boone's lineups change from day to day. His decisions on resting players changes continually. There doesn't seem to be any rationale for most of the decisions he makes. Each day brings something different. A player might be anointed the leadoff batter one day and then never bat in that position again. Or, Aaron Boone will vehemently claim a player will player a certain position and then, the next day, that player's position is changed. As a club, the Yankees seem never to have a consistent approach. Because of this, the manager seems weak, out of touch, or clueless. It is difficult to have any confidence in a leader's approach when that leader doesn't seem to have a philosophy that he can explain and one that he follows.

  
  

• The performance of the players is a reflection of the way the manager prepares the team. It would be impossible to argue that the Yankees play good sound fundamental baseball. They do not. Throughout Boone's era, the Yankees have played a poor brand of baseball. When they win, they seem to win in spite of this. Over the years, we have seen the Yankees perform poorly in almost every aspect of the game. They play poor defense. The players make poor in-game decisions. The Yankees do not run the bases particularly well. The hitters often prove inept at moving runners. The Yankees do not perform well with runners in scoring position. Concerns along these lines go on and on. And they have been primarily the same concerns throughout Aaron Boone's years as manager. If the team plays a poor brand of baseball, that is a reflection on the manager. It can be no other way.

  
  

• While the Yankees have won a lot of games in this era, Aaron Boone has never brought the Yankees a championship in spite of the fact that he has some of the very best players in the game year-after-year. Boone is the first Yankees manager to ever have a Cy Young Winner and an MVP and never win a World Series Championship. There is an expectation that if one manages the best players (time and again) on the Yankees that the manager should be able to win a championship with those players. Every other Yankees manager has. The Yankees provide Boone with solid (if often somewhat incomplete) teams. Because of the talent, there is a perspective that almost any big league manager could get the Yankees to 90 wins. Aaron Boone seems to lack the ability to get the team to the next level.

• 90+ wins a season looks impressive, except when put into perspective. 90+ wins is nice, but not if there is a legitimate expectation for more. Each year it seems that Aaron Boone does not get the most out of his players or his team. While they do win, the overall performance leaves fans expecting more.

  
  

  As an illustration of this less-than-satisfactory performance, I will compare the Yankees' performance to investing. If a person has an investment that on paper should grow by 8% annually, but it only grows by 5% each year, the results, while pretty good (the investment continues to grow), are, the end, unsatisfactory. The 90 wins Aaron Boone gets to the Yankees to each year are like the investment that promises more, but delivers less. The results are good, but not good enough. Along with this, we see other managers deliver better results with lesser teams.

  
  

  If one was getting that 5% each year while expecting more, and seeing others' with lesser portfolios out performing them, they would demand to know why. If the financial advisor couldn't explain why the investment wasn't growing at the rate it could, and probably should, that person would find someone else to handle their investment. This, to many fans, is Aaron Boone. Sure he has nice enough results, but he can never explain why his team's overall growth is lacking. He has no answers.

  
  

• The Yankees, for the last many years, under Aaron Boone's leadership, have also gone through long periods, at least a month, of very poor play. No other top team goes through periods like this year after year. And, again, when this happens, the manager cannot explain why. All he offers are meaningless platitudes. It is a concern when a good team cannot win for long periods of time and the manager cannot figure out why that happens or how to change that.

  
  

• Supporters of Aaron Boone often cite the fact that the Yankees, most often, make the post season. And that is true. But, once they are there, the Yankees do not perform well. Aaron Boone's record in the post season is 22-23. Other managers seem to always be out thinking the Yankees' manager.

  
  

• The Yankees under Aaron Boone have been good. They have not been great. Aaron Boone represents this idea that the fans should be satisfied with good enough. Boone gets good results. What he doesn't get are great results. Aaron Boone doesn't deliver excellence. It seems, also, that he doesn't demand that of his players. When players do not perform, it is rare that he ever seems critical of them. Instead, he often makes excuses for under-performing players.

  
  

• The Yankees aren't supposed to just be good. They Yankees are supposed to be great. Under Aaron Boone, they have never been great.

Good enough never is, but the Yankees (and the Boone supporters) argue that good

enough is good enough. It is not.

• The Yankees market their team, continually, as being the best. They charge top dollar. They speak at the beginning of every season of this expectation for greatness. And yet, they have not delivered on that promise. When an organization does not deliver, year-after-year, one has to look at the leadership. Aaron Boone is the field leader. As such, when the team fails to deliver a championship, he is going to correctly receive some of the blame. This is not to say that Brian Cashman doesn't deserve some of the blame for the lack of championships. He does. Hal Steinbrenner, as the owner of the team does as well. But the failings of others does not absolve Aaron Boone from also playing a role in all of this.

• Many supporters of Aaron Boone give him a pass and find excuses for each and every criticism:

  
  

  • The injuries - "He didn't know. How could he?"

  • The poor communication - "The players like him"

  • The bad line ups - "He can only do what he can with what he has."

  • The lack of preparation - "The players are supposed to be professionals"

  • The crazy lineup decisions - "He is told what to do"

  • The slow or inconsistent development of young players - "Most prospects don't pan out."

  • On and on...

    
    

  At some point, the manager is the leader. He has to take responsibility for what happens with the team. Everything can't always be someone else's fault. When one is a leader, a true leader, he takes responsibility. Aaron Boone doesn't seem to ever take that responsibility. In addition, his supporters never seem to assign him any fault for any of the team's issues as well. When the Yankees fail, there are always a host of excuses. But, what some do not fully understand is that excuses are just that - excuses. People only make excuses, they only seek to find scapegoats or reasons when they don't get the job done. One doesn't need excuses when holding a World Series trophy.

  
  

• As part of this, there also seems with the Yankees to be a continuing moving of the goal posts. The fans are told that the only goal is to win the World Series. But then, when they don't, the fans are told to appreciate how close they came. These mixed messages

  come from all of the leaders including Aaron Boone. It seems insincere, at best.

  
  

  I will try to illustrate this changing goals approach with an imaginary scenario - A person goes to a high quality steakhouse. He enters expecting the finest of everything. He pays top dollar and is assured that he will receive only the best. But, when the food is served, while he paid for and expected a filet mignon, he receives only a hamburger. Sure, it was a good burger, made from quality meats, but it wasn't what he paid for nor what was advertised or promised. Rather than apologizing for the mistake, though, the manager tells the customer that he should be pleased with the burger. That's the Yankees under Aaron Boone. They promise the highest quality filet, and deliver only a good hamburger.

• The Aaron Boone Era, is old and tired. It never delivered on its promises. Aaron Boone has had a longer period of time to deliver a championship than any other manager in the history of the Yankees... going back to 1903. Yankees fans, rightfully expect better.

  
  

  Some of Aaron Boone's supporters argue that the Yankees shouldn't replace Boone unless they can prove the next manager will be better. But, no one can prove that. The future is undefined. What we do know is that Aaron Boone has had many seasons to bring the Yankees to the top of the baseball world and he has not delivered that result.

It is for all of the above, and more, that so many fans, including myself, believe that Aaron Boone is not the best manager for this ballclub.