If an open draft of current major league managers were held today, Aaron Boone might not even be a top-10 overall pick. In fact, he might be the third prospect selected out of the American League East.
That doesn’t mean Boone is a lousy manager. It just means that right now, he isn’t close to being the difference-maker he needs to be to help the Yankees win their first championship since 2009.
That’s a bit of a problem, especially if toothless team owner Hal Steinbrenner re-signs general manager Brian Cashman, and if the GM brings back the man he handpicked to replace Joe Girardi after Girardi lost Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS to Houston.
In the immediate wake of the Yankees’ Game 5 victory against Cleveland, Cashman said he didn’t believe Boone’s job would’ve been in jeopardy had the Guardians won that Division Series. These are among the things Cashman told The Post about his guy:
• “He’s really good at what he does.”
• “He is a strong human being, and you’ve got to be a strong human being to be the manager of the New York Yankees.”
The Astros’ humiliating ALCS sweep wasn’t likely to move Cashman completely off that position, which isn’t music to the fan base’s ears. Trying to find a Yankees fan who wants Boone back would be like trying to find a Giants fan who wants Brian Daboll fired. Good luck with that.
Truth is, Boone isn’t without his positives. He was hired for his ability to connect with people, making him (theoretically) the perfect replacement for Girardi, who was disconnected from all available constituents. Cashman called Boone a “cool, calm and collected guy.” The manager had the perfect personality to pitch around the pressure of leading the highest-profile team in the highest-profile market.
Aaron Boone is making the same mistakes he made in his first playoffs.Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostIn the regular season, anyway.
But October is all that counts in The Bronx, and Boone’s approach didn’t match up with that truth during his first playoff defeat — a four-game loss to Boston in the 2018 Division Series. He stayed too long with Game 3 starter Luis Severino, who surrendered six runs in three innings, and replaced him with Lance Lynn, who gave up three runs while recording only one out, in what would be a 16-1 rout. The following night, the Red Sox took the series after Boone stayed a little too long with CC Sabathia, who allowed three runs in the third inning of a game that saw the Yanks score only twice.
At the time, these were the expected growing pains of a rookie manager, cruel October lessons that surely taught the man that the postseason requires a different form of leadership. But over two weeks this month, in his fifth go-around in the playoffs, Boone didn’t show any greater urgency than he did in 2018.
He didn’t show any growth.
Boone used Clarke Schmidt instead of Clay Holmes in Game 3 against Cleveland, and even got knocked by Severino for the unforced error that stained the franchise’s 167-0 postseason record when entering the ninth inning with a multiple-runs lead. In Game 3 against Houston, Boone turned to Lou Trivino in the noisy sixth when, with the entire season on the brink, he should’ve turned to his best options, Jonathan Loaisiga or Holmes.
In other news, Boone established a troubling tone for his team when he blamed the Game 2 loss to the Astros on Minute Maid Park’s opened lid. He also notarized one of the more absurd motivational tactics in recent big-league memory — using video of the 2004 Red Sox as a way of showing players that overcoming a 3-0 deficit is possible — while fielding FaceTime advice from David Ortiz, of all antagonists.
Earth to Boone: If you are going to use the most devastating defeat in Yankees history to motivate, you know, the Yankees, it would be a really good idea to win the game.
But no, Boone’s team didn’t win that game, or any game in the ALCS, putting brooms in the hands of the Astros as they celebrated their fourth elimination of the Yanks in eight years. Before Boone hit his famous Game 7 homer against the Red Sox in 2003, Derek Jeter told him: “Every now and then in the regular season the ghosts will come out. But they come out in October all the time.”
Not anymore they don’t. Boone is 14-17 in the postseason, with no World Series appearances in five years. Joe Torre won four championships in his first five years in The Bronx, and Girardi won one in his. Different times, different circumstances and different rosters no doubt, but when it comes to the Yankees and their managers, parades are what separate the best from the rest.
So assuming Boone returns for Season 6, he will need to bring with him a new personal definition of an emergency situation, and a commitment to never again toss his shortstops in the air like juggling pins in a clown show.
Right now, Aaron Boone doesn’t give his team any tactical advantage in the postseason dugout. Somehow the manager who wouldn’t go high in the draft needs to develop into a lottery pick ASAP.
