It appears as though a queue is beginning to congregate for New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Following another disappointing season that fell well short of an American League pennant, the fourth-year skipper’s future with the Yankees remains uncertain.
The team has yet to offer any inclination on what their plan will be with the 48-year-old as his contract expires after the World Series. However, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported on Tuesday that team owner Hal Steinbrenner “seems inclined” to bring Boone back.
The report comes a day after Olney himself disclosed that Boone could very well be in the running for the San Diego Padres’ vacant managerial job should things fall through with the Yankees.
One of the teams that might have been labeled as an even larger disappointment than the Yankees this season is indeed the Padres — a team that loaded up its pitching staff and bolstered its ranks to drum up expectations of contention in a loaded National League West.
But a miserable finish that saw them go 9-21 down the stretch abandoned any hope of the playoffs as they finished at 79-83.
It prompted the firing of manager Jayce Tingler and the promise of the right manager maximizing an impressive-looking roster that is headlined by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and a starting rotation that, when healthy, could look like this:
- Yu Darvish
- Blake Snell
- Mike Clevinger
- Dinelson Lamet
- Joe Musgrove
Despite falling short of a World Series crown, Boone has still shown the ability to steer promising rosters in the right direction. He has averaged 98 wins per season over his four years with the Yankees and owns a 328-218 record.
In terms of a potential timeline on the Yankees’ announcement regarding Boone, Major League Baseball’s commissioner’s office frowns upon teams making major announcements on days of postseason games. So we could hear something should there be a lull in the slate between the Division Series and League Champions Series.
