New York Yankees senior vice president and general manager Brian Cashman understands pockets of fans want the club to move on from manager Aaron Boone following the World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
While speaking with reporters Tuesday at the annual general manager meetings, Cashman delivered a message to those paying customers.
“Fans are passionate,” Cashman said, as shared by Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “They’re going to have their say. But I know managing is not easy. And I know there’s a lot of experts that have to talk about or dissect a specific game, but the manager has personal information every day that the public doesn’t have and why he might have gone one way versus another. It’s a tough job. And I know he’s certainly up to the task. He’s super qualified for it.”
Boone received criticism for going to a rusty Nestor Cortes in Game 1 of the World Series and after New York players committed multiple avoidable mistakes in Game 5. Nevertheless, it was reported last week that “Boone is expected back” as Yankees manager next year. Cashman acknowledged on Tuesday that he is “a big” Boone fan.
Boone guided the Yankees to six playoff appearances across seven seasons but hadn’t claimed a pennant as skipper until this fall. Miller said that “the Yankees probably will be announcing by this weekend or early next week that the club option (for 2025) in Boone’s contract will be picked up.” It’s also expected that the Yankees won’t keep Boone on a one-year “lame duck” deal.
“Aaron Boone is going to make decisions that are either going to work and you’re smart, or it didn’t work and you live with the regret. That’s the position they have,” Cashman added. “…You push every button and you hope all of them work out, but some don’t. But again, full support on him. I think he did everything he possibly could to help us win a World Series, and I look forward to trying to do it again.”
There is at least somewhat of a chance that the Bronx Bombers will lose All-Star outfielder Juan Soto in free agency. The 2024 Yankees may go down as the best squad Boone ever had, but it sounds like neither Cashman nor team owner Hal Steinbrenner is blaming the manager for the club falling short of its ultimate goal.
