It's Time For The New York Yankees To Fire Aaron Boone
For the last couple of weeks, the New York Yankees have been a dumpster fire of a team. They've only won seven of the previous 23 games this past month, and are struggling to find ways to get out of their slump. Time and time again, the Yankees have been having rough stretches of bad baseball. It is easy to blame the players, as they are the ones playing the game of baseball. This losing slump has been a repeating pattern for the past few seasons, and manager Aaron Boone could be one of the contributing factors to this Yankees slump.
Aaron Boone has only led the team to the postseason three times since his tenure. The Yankees were eliminated by the Boston Red Sox in 2018. In 2019, they got eliminated in game six of the ALCS by the Houston Astros. In 2022, they limped their way into the ALCS, where they got swept by the Houston Astros. With these consistent losing streaks in the regular season and failure to lead the New York Yankees to the World Series, these types of results should call for the firing of Aaron Boone.
Slumps On Slumps On Slumps
Yankees fans are sick of the consistent pattern of slumps that have shown over the past three seasons. The Yankees slumped in the summer of 2022 after Giancarlo Stanton suffered an injury. Another slump occurred in the summer of 2023 that lasted most of the season, after Aaron Judge had his infamous foot injury in Dodger Stadium. Now the Bronx Bombers are having another summer slump where it’s unknown when it’ll end. Each roster from these past three seasons has been different, but the only consistent figure within all these seasons is Aaron Boone.
Statistically, the New York Yankees have had a 5-15 losing stretch in each of the last three seasons, which has only been done three times between 1996 and 2021. Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone could be the answer as to why the Bronx Bombers have had three straight seasons with long losing streaks.
Aaron Boone’s Attitude And Comments Leave Fans Frustrated
Boone’s criticism is that he is “too soft” on his players and lacks the intensity that past Yankees’ managers have had. There’s no question he is passionate and intense when he complains to the umpires. He, unfortunately, doesn’t show that same passion toward his players, at least not out in the dugout. The media has criticized him for odd comments, such as his players having "good at-bats" when they actually had horrible outings.
Recently, Boone claimed that the Yankees had “invested a lot” in trying to get Rafael Devers out, but Devers hit two home runs to give the Red Sox a 3-0 win over New York that night. Devers has consistently had successful nights over the New York Yankees. Over his last 16 games against New York, Devers has had a .451 batting average, seven home runs, 17 runs, and 15 RBIs. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of investing into Rafael Devers if the Yankees allowed seven home runs by the Boston slugger.
Lineup Confusion
Another criticism of Boone has also been on how he would place his players in a batting lineup. Many fans would question why the lineup would always be different every game, or why a player like Anthony Rizzo was still in the lineup despite having a rough 2023 season statistically. Inconsistent lineups would then lead to losses and confusion among fans.
This season, there was no change in the Yankees’ batting lineup for the last month. It was not until a few days ago that Anthony Volpe was the leadoff hitter with a batting average of .220 and an on-base percentage of .228 in the last month. Boone has since replaced Volpe with first baseman Ben Rice as the leadoff hitter.
No Stealing Allowed?
It was not until yesterday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays that the Yankees broke their streak of 21 games without a stolen base after Juan Soto stole second base in the eighth inning. Stealing bases is a baseball strategy that helps win games, and guys like Anthony Volpe, Soto, and Oswaldo Cabrera have the athleticism to do so. Boone may disagree with the strategy, which is evidenced by this 2-game streak (the longest streak of games without a stolen base since 1962.
Who Should The New York Yankees Replace Boone With?
With all the talk of removing Aaron Boone as the Yankees’ manager, the question is, who should be his replacement? Fans on social media favor former Yankees Skipper Joe Girardi. Girardi was the manager during the 2009 championship run and the 2017 postseason run. There's a belief that his grit and demeanor would help shape the team back into its championship ways.
WFAN producer Tommy Lugauer suggests that Buck Showalter would be the perfect Aaron Boone replacement. Showalter started his managerial career with the New York Yankees for his first four years before moving on to other teams such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, and Baltimore Orioles. Lugauer believes that Showalter finishing his career with the New York Yankees would be a perfect storybook ending.