Aaron Boone's future with Yankees: Making the case for and against firing manager after another early playoff exit

Aaron Boone’s future with Yankees: Making the case for and against firing manager after another early playoff exit originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The New York Yankees once again fell in the playoffs, this time in a sweep in the ALDS at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, which means all eyes turn to the status of manager Aaron Boone.

New York’s 17-year World Series drought is rare for such a prestigious franchise, so Boone’s regular season success doesn’t mean much for a fanbase with high expectations. With Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole only getting older, the Yankees will have to assess whether they need someone new in charge.

In years past, the Yankees front office decided that Boone was the right person to lead the team, which has led to pretty consistent results in both the regular season and the playoffs. At some point, though, the lack of World Series titles will be too big of a hole to overcome.

Here’s a look a breakdown of whether the Yankees should keep or fire manager Aaron Boone.

Will Yankees fire Aaron Boone?

Whenever the Yankees lose in the playoffs, the question becomes whether the team will move on from manager Aaron Boone. Following the 2026 season, there are legitimate arguments for the team both firing Boone or bringing him back in 2027.

Making the case for firing Aaron Boone

At some point, the Yankees will need to get a new voice in the locker room as they search for their next World Series championship. The previous two Yankees managers, Joe Torre and Joe Girardi, lasted 12 and 10 years, respectively, and that is despite them both winning championships within their first two seasons at the helm.

When Boone’s teams have struggled in the playoffs, it has been when the Yankees played a higher seed and didn’t have home field advantage. Under Boone, the Yankees have been the worse seed in nine playoff series, and they are just 1-8 in those series, with the lone victory coming in the expanded 2020 playoffs against Cleveland.

It certainly doesn’t help that the Yankees lost several of those series to division rivals. Of those eight series losses, two came to the Boston Red Sox, two to the Tampa Bay Rays, and one to the Toronto Blue Jays. The other two, meanwhile, were either ALCS losses to the Houston Astros or the World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, making them extremely high-profile failures.

Therefore, the Yankees might be open to a new approach in the playoffs that would make them more dangerous as an underdog. By comparison, the Los Angeles Dodgers won three playoff series without home-field advantage in 2025 alone, and they have won five such series in the same span that Boone has managed the Yankees.

MORE: Yankees full playoff history with Aaron Judge

Making the case for keeping Aaron Boone

Since taking over as the Yankees manager, Boone has led the team to consistent success that is tough to reach. Boone’s 790-565 record comes out to a .583 winning percentage, which is tied with Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver for 17th-best all time. Among active managers, only Dave Roberts has a better winning percentage.

The problem with Boone and the Yankees is not based on their regular season production. In eight years under Boone, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Yankees won at least 90 games in seven of those seasons, including a remarkably consistent 93 or 94 wins in each of the last three. Additionally, in MLB history, teams that keep knocking on the playoff door like this eventually break through.

While the Yankees have struggled as a playoff underdog, they’ve excelled as a playoff favorite. Boone is undefeated in the playoffs with home-field advantage, going 7-0 in series where the team had a higher seed vs. an opponent with a worse regular-season record. Roberts, by comparison, has three such series losses since 2018 and four total in his Dodgers’ tenure.

Boone is also coming off perhaps his best managerial season, leading the Yankees to 93 wins despite Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, and Max Fried all missing substantial time. Boone is very well liked within the locker room and has handled the New York media better than many New York coaches who have had more struggles in their tenures.

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