Yankees legend says Aaron Boone faces World Series 'necessity'

Joe Torre famously guided the New York Yankees to four World Series championships during his tenure as manager from 1996 to 2007, so he knows plenty about what current New York skipper Aaron Boone is facing ahead of the upcoming Fall Classic between the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Torre also understands, as does just about anybody, that the culture established by former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hovers over the storied franchise to this day. 

"It’s the necessity to win," Torre said during a Monday phone conversation about Boone's task, as shared by Dan Martin of the New York Post. "It’s not about doing a good job to get there. You’re supposed to win no matter what. When you work there, the expectations and pressure is high. But you know that going in, as I did with George, the challenge. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing." 

Boone undoubtedly realized as soon as the Yankees acquired All-Star slugger Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres last December that he'd spend this season managing to keep his job. Boone's current deal includes a club option for 2025, and Bob Klapisch of NJ Advance Media insisted on Tuesday that the 51-year-old "will be rewarded with another contract this offseason" even if the Yankees lose to a Dodgers team that finished the regular season with the best record in all of MLB. 

Of course, that doesn't mean Yankees fans who have wanted Boone gone for years aren't already planning to blame him if he doesn't end the organization's title drought that began after New York last appeared in a World Series in 2009. Meanwhile, this will be Boone's only opportunity to win a championship while managing a squad featuring Soto and soon-to-be two-time American League Most Valuable Player Award winner Aaron Judge before the former reaches free agency next month. 

There's no guarantee Soto will re-sign with the Yankees. 

"I remind managers who they are and how to use their experience in the game," Torre said of advice he's offered his former player about serving as a first-time World Series skipper. "I know we get into all the analytics and information — especially this time of year — but I tell them not to give up on their instincts. That’s what got them here. You never want to not use that." 

As of late Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Yankees as +105 betting underdogs to defeat the Dodgers in the best-of-seven set. Torre thinks Boone has the goods to handle the understandable stress associated with managing what may, on paper, be the weaker of the two sides that will take the Dodger Stadium field this coming Friday night. 

"You have to manage the game and not be overwhelmed by everything that’s going on," Torre added. "If you let that happen, it becomes stressful."