Why It’s Time for the Yankees To Fire Aaron Boone

It doesn't matter that Boone has guided the Yankees to the playoffs in seven of his eight seasons as manager. Making the playoffs consistently isn't a particularly difficult bar to clear, especially given the hefty payroll and star-studded roster that he's been handed year after year. 

Being the skipper of the Yankees is the Rolls-Royce of managerial posts. In 2018, Boone entered the most pressure-filled gig in all of baseball with zero experience. He's been allowed to learn on the job — but it's difficult to find evidence of a growing managerial acumen.

Yankees Need To Break From Obsession With Analytics

It's time for the Yankees to make a clean break from an organizational overreliance on analytics. That's as much of a criticism of Cashman as it is of Boone.

The Yankees of a previous era won championships with a roster full of "gamers." Nowadays, they're focusing on hard-hit rates and clutching iPads. The current Yankees need to let the players play to their strengths and instincts without needing to overthink.

The 1990s Yankees won by suffocating opponents with lineups that didn't let up and wore down opposition pitchers. These teams played heads-up all season long and were locked-in when the playoff pressure arrived. How many times have we seen Jazz Chisholm Jr. lose focus or botch a double play?

Not to single out Chisholm. The Boone Era Yankees habitually make the wrong throws, run into baserunning mistakes and costly errors. That was on full display during their 2024 World Series defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees need an identity change in their philosophies. They need to install a no-nonsense manager who can think on his feet, drill professionalism into the roster and create an atmosphere of desperation. Boone does not fit that profile.

John Schneider outmanaged Boone because he has a feel for his ballclub. He knows how to manage with his gut, when to trust his players' strengths over what analytics suggest, and he understands how to best utilize role players.

Boone stuck with Trent Grisham as his leadoff man despite a woeful .138 postseason average. When he finally inserted Jasson Dominguez as a pinch-hitter for shortstop Anthony Volpe, the young outfielder delivered a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday.

It was too little, too late. Whether the Yankees stick with Boone or not, he's often slow to react and is too buddy-buddy with his players.

In truth, no one expects the Yankees to suddenly change course by firing Boone and cutting back on the analytics overload.

That's not going to happen because the Yankees are too stuck in their ways.

Cashman isn't going anywhere, and no one is around to challenge him. If Cashman looks to the past, he'll remember the old ways that transformed the early 1990s Bombers from underperforming also-rans into a fearsome dynasty.

It's time for Cashman and the Yankees to drill down on the qualities of being tough to play against rather than pouring over countless spreadsheets. Otherwise, they'll again be an also-ran ballclub in 2026.