Yankees manager Aaron Boone appears to be — as largely expected — safe.
From The Associated Press in Tampa:
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner plans to keep Aaron Boone as his manager.
“As far as Boone’s concerned, we just signed him and for all the same reasons I listed a year ago, I believe he is a very good manager,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday as he left the Yankees player development complex. “I don’t see a change there.”
Also of note: Steinbrenner declined comment on Aaron Judge’s free agency. And he did not really address general manager Brian Cashman’s future, either way. But it seems likely he will be back as well. Cashman’s contract is about to expire.
“We haven’t talked about anything yet,” Steinbrenner told the AP. “Cash and I had some preliminary conversions.”
Bringing Boone back is not a surprise, although it will infuriate the majority of the Yankees’ fanbase. He just finished the first season of a three-year deal and he has taken the team to the postseason in all five of his seasons, albeit without a trip to the World Series. And if Cashman is coming back, Boone was always coming back.
Plus the Yankees believe Boone is key to making the Yankee experience more “enjoyable” for their players. From SNY:
If Boone’s relentless positivity when talking about players rankles many fans, the organization considers him an important firewall between those players and the relentless negativity emanating from just about everywhere else.
In fact, the front office wants to find a way to make the experience of being a Yankee more enjoyable, which it wasn’t for many this year. Most see Boone as part of that solution.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
