The Yankees will be standing pat in the dugout, as the Bergen Record’s Pete Caldera reports that Aaron Boone will be returning for his tenth season as the team’s manager. Boone was already under contract for 2027, which will be the final season of the two-year, $10.5MM extension he signed in February 2025.
There wasn’t too much suspense about Boone’s job security, and it wouldn’t even be a surprise if the Yankees extended him again this offseason so he could avoid “lame-duck status” as a manager in the final year of his contract. Boone’s first contract with the team was a three-year deal with a club option for the 2021 season, and the Yankees let that deal fully run out before a new three-year pact with another club option year (for 2025) was signed in October 2021. New York exercised that 2025 option in the aftermath of the Yankees’ trip to the 2024 World Series, with Boone’s current deal coming soon afterwards.
Boone has a 790-565 record during his managerial tenure, with winning records in all nine seasons. The Bronx Bombers have won three AL East titles and made the playoffs eight times under Boone, with that 2024 pennant marking their deepest postseason run. Boone ranks seventh all-time in both wins and total games amongst Yankees managers.
Of course, the biggest knock against Boone is that the first six managers on that list all won at least one World Series title. The Yankees’ lack of championships since 2009 counts as a major drought by their franchise standards, and New York’s lone pennant under Boone saw the Dodgers summarily dispatch the Yankees in five games. The team is 1-2 in three trips to the ALCS under Boone, and the last two seasons have seen the Yankees eliminate the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series before falling to the AL East champs in the ALDS (a four-game loss to the Blue Jays in 2025, and a three-game sweep to the Rays this October).
Some of those postseason losses have been marked by sloppy defensive play, which Boone’s detractors have used as proof that the manager is lax in teaching basic fundamentals. As good as the Yankees have generally been over the regular season, critics have noted that the team has beaten up on lesser competition, only to struggle against stronger teams.
On the flip side, many teams would love to have a manager with Boone’s track record, and his players have praised Boone’s work in the dugout. In the aftermath of the ALDS loss to the Rays, Cam Schlittler and Aaron Judge were among the Yankees who supported Boone, and Judge has been the most prominent clubhouse voice in Boone’s corner over the years.
As much as New York fans may be clamoring for a change from Boone and longtime GM Brian Cashman, it appears both will be back in 2027 and possibly beyond, as owner Hal Steinbrenner hasn’t given any indication he is unhappy with either man’s work. Cashman’s own contract is up once the 2026 season ends, but he is expected to reach a new pact and return for a 30th season as general manager.
