Report: Yankees close to decision on future of manager Aaron Boone

The New York Yankees have a decision to make on the future of manager Aaron Boone, but it sounds like they’re leaning strongly in one direction.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is seemingly inclined to keep Boone as manager despite the team’s lack of playoff success. Steinbrenner considers player underperformance a bigger reason behind the Yankees’ struggles than anything Boone did or did not do.

“He likes [Boone], and I don’t think he blames him for what happened,” one source told Olney.

The support for Boone is not unanimous. Some within the organization reportedly question his bullpen management, and feel that he’s too easy on the team in public when it struggles. It’s also possible Boone could accept overtures from other teams, as his contract is set to expire at the end of the World Series. At that point, if the Yankees have not agreed a new deal with him, they won’t be able to stop him from speaking to other organizations.

Boone is 328-318 in his four seasons as manager. His job has never seemed to be in any trouble. Many fans hoped his contract expiring would let the Yankees make a clean break, but that may not be the case after all.