The New York Yankees have extended manager Aaron Boone for two years, keeping the skipper at the Pinstripes’ helm through 2027, the team announced Thursday.
Boone led the Yankees to the American League pennant for the first time in his coaching career last season before being nearly swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Boone has been the manager in the Bronx since 2018 and has led the Yankees to the postseason in every year but one, without a World Series victory.
The former Yankees star left his broadcasting career to take New York’s helm in one of the toughest jobs in sports in his managerial debut. Coaching the 27-time World Series champions has come with constant attention and criticism.
Many Yankees fans were not happy with the decision to extend Boone, with calls for his firing beginning after last season’s finale, a late-game collapse to the Dodgers.
‘This dude is literally only the manager because he hit that walk off and then blew his knee so they traded for ARod. lol,’ one fan said on social media.
The New York Yankees have extended manager Aaron Boone for two years through 2027
Boone led the Yankees to the AL pennant for the first time in his coaching career last season
Boone only played for one short season as a Yankee, 2003, after being traded from the Reds in late July.
However, Boone is a cult hero in New York due to his 11th-inning, walk-off home run off Boston’s Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of that year’s American League Championship series.
The Yankees had a turbulent offseason before Boone’s contract extension, failing to retain Juan Soto, who signed a 15-year, $765million deal with the crosstown Mets in the largest deal in sports history.
To replace Soto, New York made a series of moves, including signing pitcher Max Fried and acquiring Cody Bellinger.
The Yankees make their Spring Training debut on Friday against their AL East rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays.
Expectations are still sky high in the Bronx as the Yankees could compete for another American League pennant in 2025.
