Aaron Boone was seemingly on the hot seat after the New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card game last season, but he instead got a three-year contract extension. Some people believe the Yankees kept Boone around because he’s willing to let the team’s analytics-driven front office call the shots. The manager hears that talk, and it would be an understatement to say he resents it.
During a recent interview with Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Boone unloaded on the narrative that he is some sort of “puppet” in New York. Boone, who played in the majors for more than a decade and comes from a baseball family, said it infuriates him when he is called things like a “data applicator.”
“I have been in this game all my life, bro. I am as baseball through-and-through as anyone,” Boone said. “Just because I have been open-minded and grown in the game doesn’t mean I am any more old-school or new-school than I have ever been. You are an idiot if you are not aware of all of it.”
Boone said he pays plenty of attention to analytics. He realizes the game has evolved and that you need a handle on the numbers side of things. The 48-year-old insists that does not mean he is any less “old school” than his peers or those who came before him.
“Narratives that get started that maybe have some sliver of truth to it, but in the end are kind of bulls—,” Boone told Sherman. “I have a hard time … it bothers me just as a sport, as an industry, as someone who has been in the game forever and loves it, sometimes the old school-new school rub. There is this built-in angst declarative.”
Boone is 328-218 in his four years as manager of the Yankees. The team has reached the playoffs in all four of those seasons, though Boone understands there is a World Series-or-bust mentality in the Bronx. There were reports last year that the Yankees were not thrilled with his bullpen management and felt he was too easy on the team in public during tough times. Though, he clearly has support from the right people.
The only way for Boone to put a stop to the “puppet” narrative is to lead the Yankees to their 28th World Series title. If the criticism motivates him, the Yankees should be better for it.
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