TAMPA – Aaron Boone is no longer on an expiring deal.
The Yankees announced a two-year extension for the manager on Thursday morning. The deal will keep Boone, 51, in pinstripes through the 2027 season.
The announcement was fully expected, as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently said a deal could get done before spring training ends. Team owner Hal Steinbrenner also said to expect such discussions during an interview with the YES Network in late January.
On Thursday, Boone said he was “thrilled” after putting pen to paper. He is a rare, though not unprecedented, exception, as Steinbrenner typically lets contracts expire before reupping with players and coaches.
“I’m just excited we were able to knock it out and get it out of the way,” Boone said, adding he would have been comfortable as a lame duck this year. “As I’ve said to you guys before, no other place I want to be, no other team, organization, group of people that I want to be doing this with. To get to do it in New York in front of passionate New York Yankee fans, this is the end result that I certainly wanted.”
Boone led the Yankees to the World Series for the first time in his managerial career last season. The Yankees lost that series, their first Fall Classic appearance since 2009, to the Dodgers in five games. Boone then had a team option for the 2025 season picked up a few days later.
The 2025 campaign will be Boone’s eighth as Yankees manager. He is the seventh-winningest manager in franchise history with a 603-429 record.
Boone has spent his entire life in baseball, as his father, Bob, and grandfather, Ray, were also big leaguers. Boone’s dad managed the Royals from 1995-1997 and the Reds from 2001-2003. A former third baseman, Boone played for Cincinnati from 1997-2003.
A summer 2003 trade sent Boone to the Yankees, and he etched his name in franchise lore when he crushed a walk-off homer in Game 7 of that year’s ALCS.
But Boone and the Yankees weren’t able to win it all that season. Such has been the case throughout his managerial tenure as well. While Boone has taken the Yankees to the playoffs in all but one season, 2023, his lack of a ring has earned him ridicule over the years.
“I don’t like that we haven’t won a championship yet, so that bothers me,” he said. “But I know what I signed up for when I got into this. I wouldn’t want it any other way. The fact that it matters as much as it does here and that there’s such a high standard and there’s so many expectations, that beats the alternative so much.
“You understand that those [criticisms] are going to come your way. If you can’t handle that, then it ain’t for you. So I came in eyes wide open.”
Boone has also been panned for his persistently positive demeanor, but that same personality has resulted in high approval ratings from the Yankees’ clubhouse.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge noted Boone’s “even-keel” demeanor and unwavering support for players is greatly appreciated by those on the field, even if fans sometimes grow tired of that approach.
“The No. 1 thing is the care and passion he has for everyone in this room,” Judge said. “We’ve got so many different personalities that come through here and different egos, different guys that have won MVPs, won Cy Youngs, this and that. To bring us all together, he does such a good job at that.”
Cashman, meanwhile, said getting ripped “comes with the job.” The GM also believes Boone would have been a hot commodity had he reached free agency.
“The one thing I’m so impressed with is his temperament. There’s a lot of slings and arrows coming our way,” Cashman said. “He’s handled the ups and downs, the successes, the failures, all the same way. And I think that is a strength. That is a benefit.
“I know that if he wasn’t the Yankee manager, it would be a feeding frenzy for him to be a manager that’s coveted elsewhere.”
Perhaps such a frenzy will happen in a few years, as Boone isn’t quite sure what the future holds.
When asked how much longer he’d like to manage, or if he’d like to do so beyond his new extension, he didn’t tip his hand.
“In a lot of ways, you go into every deal like it might be your last,” Boone said. “So you start making too many plans for where you’re going to be in the future, God has a way of laughing at you. I try and be where your feet are. We all envision certain things, whether it’s with our kids or family related or professionally, where you can see yourself or see certain things. But life changes all the time, and you don’t know exactly what your journey is.
“Not that I don’t plan for anything, but I don’t necessarily look at it like I’m going to be doing this forever or anything like that. I’m excited about this deal, I’m excited about the length of this deal, and I’m just focused on that.”
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