Should the Yankees Bring Back Manager Aaron Boone?

The roller coaster of being a New York Yankees manager has been riding since the Babe Ruth days a century ago. When the final out was recorded on Tuesday night in Boston and the Yankees had lost to the Red Sox 6-2 in the American League Wild Card game, Aaron Boone was no longer under contract to manage any more games for his team.

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That is pretty tough for a guy who, as Buster Olney from ESPN said Thursday on The Drive with Charlie & Dan, averaged 98 wins in the 3 full seasons that he managed New York. 98. Yes, we can all question his use of the bullpen or the team's untimely base running mistakes or fundamentals in general. However, bullpen use is less and less "gut" reactions from the manager. They are often changes made based on detailed analytics on situation. At times, even Aaron Boone admits as much, he will go with his gut.

It is not Aaron Boone's fault that Gleyber Torres was brutal at shortstop this year and it bled over to his offensive numbers. It isn't the skipper's fault that Gerrit Cole was pitching like Cy Young until Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred made a mid-season rule change on allowable substances to be used by pitchers.

Cole eventually found his way but then he got injured and may not have completely healed before he put his team in a 3 run hole early in the most important game. DJ Lemahieu underperformed for most of the year and was hurt for the most important game. Trade deadline acquisition Joey Gallo never really did much in pinstripes, especially in the most important game.

There were others to add to the list, like 3rd base coach Phil Nevin picking the worst time in the world to do his "Pete Towshend windmill" guitar strum as Aaron Judge was rounding 3rd on route to being thrown out by 10 feet in a crucial spot, none of their poor performances be it during the season or in the most important game were Aaron Boone's fault.

The Yankee players seem to like Aaron Boone. I believe he does what a manager is supposed to do these days. I think he needs a more balanced roster and from his comments at the end of the season, he knows it. The Yankees should keep Aaron Boone and give him a shortstop, a centerfielder or a catcher that are contact, on base guys. Boone will win.