SAN ANTONIO — Some of Aaron Boone's postseason decisions backfired, but that's unlikely to prevent the Yankees from picking up his option to return as manager in 2025.
On Tuesday, general manager Brian Cashman defended Boone's team's handling of the postseason, which ended with a loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series.
“A manager's job is so impossible that you can play the second guessing game because you either make a move and it's right, or you make a move and it's wrong and you get away with it. '' Cashman said at the GM meeting. “I think he's a really great coach.
“We're lucky to have him, he's done a great job. It's a very difficult job, and it gets even harder in the postseason, because anything you do can either work or not. It's either, there's no gray area.”
Most notably, Boone called up Nestor Cortez (who hadn't pitched in five weeks) for the 10th inning of Game 1 of the World Series.
The left-hander intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases before Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run.
“Nestor was on that roster and he was there for a reason for that particular matchup,” Cashman said. “And the coaches, whether it's Aaron Boone or somebody else on the other team, they're ultimately going to look at the results and judge, are you smart because it worked or are you smart? Either you’re smart because it didn’t work out.”Live with the rebrand.
“I support Aaron Boone in every decision, every step of the way, and the way he managed the postseason for us was extraordinary.Obviously, the Nestor situation helped us It didn’t go well that day, but that’s just the nature of the beast.”
Cashman said team executives will discuss Boone's future by the end of this week.
Among the possibilities is the Yankees picking up Boone's option and extending his contract.
“I'm a huge Aaron Boone fan,” Cashman said. “Let's actually see the process and have conversations with the people above us that we haven't had before.”
