Some would say that 2026 was a tumultuous season for the Yankees’ skipper, and there is a lot to be said about what went right in Aaron Boone’s decision-making and what eventually backfired to catalyze disaster.
There are many occasions when Boone stepped in at the right time to pull a pitcher and allowed the players to control their own destiny from the plate. He is most confident when he’s defending his guys from the dugout and isn’t afraid to get in an umpire’s face after a bad call. This has always
been Boone’s style, and he continued his fiery streak this season with five ejections during regular season games. However, as manager, he is mandated to take accountability for some of the questionable decisions that may have put the Yankees in tougher situations.
MLB insiders Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman recently invited Joe Girardi to assess Boone’s decisions, and the former Yankees manager had a lot of positive takeaways despite a disappointing end to this season. Girardi even went on to claim that this was Boone’s best year of managing in his nine years on the job.
To give him credit, Boone had to navigate through several injuries this season and consistently found ways to keep the Yankees fighting for a playoff spot when all seemed lost, especially without Aaron Judge. Along with the Yankees captain, several star players had lengthy stints on the injured list, including Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Ryan Weathers, and Giancarlo Stanton. Expected 2026 contributors Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells, Trent Grisham, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all missed a few weeks, too. Despite all the setbacks, Boone still found a way to propel the Yankees to their third conseuctive season of at least 93 wins, and he could’ve matched the 94 from both 2024 and 2025 had a rainout not nixed Game 162.
Contrast this to 2023, when Judge also missed a bunch of time and the Yankees struggled to 82 wins, their worst year in over two decades. Although the personnel may have just been better this time around, Boone did help keep the season from falling apart and rendering September irrelevant (let alone October). Credit Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake for helping the bullpen beat preseason expectations as well; others might not have had the confidence in unheralded names like Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn, but they had strong seasons setting up for closer David Bednar.
The Yankees skipper also deserves some praise for refusing to put Judge in a spot where he could put his future career at risk. After being sidelined for the final stretch of the regular season with a moderate grade right calf strain, Judge was eager to get back into the lineup as the Yankees prepared for the postseason. Boone and general manager Brian Cashman ultimately decided to leave him off the roster for the Wild Card Series against Boston, which didn’t end up being an issue as the Yankees scored a combined 18 runs in the two-game dusting.
The Division Series was an entirely different scenario. On the advice of the Yankees’ medical staff, Judge was again absent from the series, in which the first two games were played on the turf at Tropicana Field. Judge, much like the rest of the Yankees’ offense, struggled to put up big numbers in Tampa Bay and went a combined 2-for-10 with a home run, four RBIs, and four strikeouts this season. He appeared disgruntled at Boone’s decision to keep him off the field for the series, but it may have been the best choice to allow him more time to recover from the calf injury and not put his career at risk — after all, severe Achilles injuries have been linked to the soleus muscle, which is where his calf was strained.
On the other hand, one of Boone’s most glaringly disappointing choices was putting Grisham in a leadoff spot in an elimination game when the Yankees were at risk of getting swept by the Rays on their own turf. Grisham, who barely saw any action in September, was the last of the batters left to keep the fight alive down 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. With the hottest hitter of the postseason on deck in Ben Rice—who had been batting leadoff—Grisham ended up striking out in four pitches from Bryan Baker, allowing Tampa Bay to celebrate advancing to the ALCS from the Bronx clubhouse once again. With Grisham putting the cherry on top of an embarrassing postseason performance, the Yankees also continued their postseason losing streak and remain winless on the road since the 2024 ALCS against the Guardians.
It looks like Boone is here to stay for at least another year, as his contract runs through the end of 2027. Hopefully the Yankees can make enough clever moves during this expectedly elongated offseason to put them in a better spot for next season.
