New York Yankees: Time to turn up the heat on Aaron Boone

To say that the New York Yankees have been a disappointment this season would be an understatement. They enter Monday with a 31-29 record, fourth in the AL East and 2.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot. The lineup has underperformed all season, as the Yankees rank 25th in the majors with 223 runs scored over their 60 games; every team ranked lower has played fewer games on the year.

At some point, changes will need to be made. A fire needs to be lit under the team and the coaching staff, a sign that this degree of mediocrity is not good enough. And that begins by turning up the heat on manager Aaron Boone.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone needs to be on hot seat

The Yankees’ issues are not entirely Boone’s fault. He has a flawed roster with little depth on the roster. Aside from Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, the lineup has disappointed. That cannot be pinned on Boone.

But the problem is that the Yankees appear rudderless and lost. Boone simply is not pressing the right buttons and is far too passive in the dugout. Considering that the Yankees are not responding to him at all, and the direction of the team, it is fair to wonder if he has lost the clubhouse.

Those flaws were evident on Sunday night. With two out in the bottom of the tenth inning and a run having scored due to an error, Red Sox manager Alex Cora came to the mound to speak with Phillips Valdez. He fired Valdez up, get him mentally past that miscue, allowing him to refocus and get that grounder to end the game.

Meanwhile, the game went to extra innings, in part, because of a horrendous strike three call against Rougned Odor, who took a pitch six inches off the plate. While arguing the call would not change anything, getting ejected and showing some fire may have gotten the Yankees to rise up and put up more of a fight.

At the same time, two of Boone’s assistant coaches were ejected from the game. The Yankees’ manager, meanwhile, sat back, putting up a token argument, but nothing more. Maybe Boone is just mentally checked out.

Very simply, Boone does not have that aspect to his personality. If he were to attempt to be that type of manager, it would seem forced and be even more laughable. Sometimes another voice is needed in the clubhouse to shake a team out of its malaise, and at this point, such a move needs to be considered.

The New York Yankees are sleepwalking through the 2021 season. It is time to start to turn up the heat, beginning with manager Aaron Boone.