Despite protests from fans who call into local sports talk radio programs, the New York Yankees confirmed on Thursday that they had signed manager Aaron Boone to a two-year contract extension through the 2027 season.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge suggested Boone’s optimism makes him the right skipper to help the club bounce back from its World Series loss and All-Star outfielder Juan Soto’s departure.
“That’s what you need,” Judge said about Boone’s managerial style, Newsday’s David Lennon shared. “He’’ll get out there and show his temper a little bit when he needs to have our back. But through the long winning streaks to the little stretches during the season where he’s got to answer a lot of questions from you guys, he’s kind of the pillar for us that we go to.”
Judge has long been a backer of Boone, who guided the Yankees to the postseason each year from 2018 through 2022. However, some wondered if Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner would make a change if his team fell short of playing in the Fall Classic for the first time since it won the 2009 World Series.
Bob Klapisch of NJ Advance Media pointed out that Boone received criticism for the Yankees’ failure to play “a clean World Series” against the Dodgers. Judge indicated that he, Boone and others in the clubhouse have already put what happened this past October behind them.
“We see his interviews,” Judge added. “We see what he says. We see him after the games, talking with us, ‘Hey, it’s another day, let’s keep it moving, boys.’ When you have a guy like that that you can kind of lean on and he stays even keel no matter the situation — if we’re up or down — that helps us go out there and just play our best.”
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Yankees third among the betting favorites at +800 odds to win this year’s World Series. While the previously mentioned extension gives Boone some job security, that deal could mean little regarding his long-term future if the Yankees are viewed as disappointments this summer.
