New York Yankees Aaron Boone
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will take a medical leave of absence after undergoing heart surgery to receive a pacemaker.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will take a medical leave of absence from the team as he undergoes heart surgery to receive a pacemaker.

Lindsey Adler of The Athletic was the first to break the story, and the Yankees also released a statement from Boone himself.

Per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com, Boone added he expected to be back with the team “in the next several days.”

This is not the first heart procedure for Boone, who underwent valve replacement surgery in 2009. In his absence, as general manager Brian Cashman said to the press, bench coach Carlos Mendoza will handle managing duties.

JB’s Take

This is never the news you want to hear out of spring training, let alone anywhere. Heart surgery is always a scary prospect, even for someone like Aaron Boone who’s in overall good health.

But heart issues are serious, and Boone is of no use to the Yankees if he’s not 100% healthy. In his media appearance, Cashman added Boone might be back in just a few days.

But in the meantime, the New York Yankees will be just fine without Aaron Boone. Let’s not forget the start of the 1999 season, when manager Joe Torre missed several weeks recovering from prostate cancer surgery.

In that case, bench coach Don Zimmer handled managing duties before Torre returned on May 18. The Yankees went 21-15 in his absence and eventually won a second consecutive World Series.

Hopefully, Boone’s talented Yankees squad can rally behind their beloved skipper and field a similar result in 2021.

ESNY extends wishes for a speedy recovery to Aaron Boone and his family. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.