Yankees' Choice To Stick With Aaron Boone Comes Back to Bite Them at Worst Possible Moment

For years, New York Yankees fans have derided manager Aaron Boone, who had repeatedly failed to get a wildly talented roster over the hump and into the World Series.

Instead, the team's front office—helmed by another constant target of Yankees fans' ire, general manager Brian Cashman—has opted to keep Boone every single offseason since his hiring in 2017, much to the dismay of the Bronx faithful.

Finally, here in 2024, seven years into his tenure as manager, Boone managed a loaded roster to the American League pennant, setting up a showdown with the equally potent Los Angeles Dodgers. It was all setting up as a clash for the ages, with a laundry list of MVPs and All-Stars loading the lineups and rotations for both squads.

Boone's Bullpen Management Woes Rear Head in Game 1

Game 1 of the series went according to plan early on, as ace Gerrit Cole put on a masterclass in pitching under the bright lights of L.A., allowing just one run and four baserunners in six innings of work. He gave up a single to Teoscar Hernández to start the bottom of the seventh, but at just 88 pitches and with the bottom of the Dodgers' lineup coming up, it appeared to be noiseless traffic Cole would have to work around.

Boone, apparently, had other ideas. He took Cole out just one batter into the inning and turned to Clay Holmes—the same Clay Holmes who lost his job as the team's closer in the second half of the regular season—who subsequently hit Max Muncy with a pitch and put runners in scoring position. Though the team would escape the jam without allowing a run, the damage was done, as Boone had to burn through Tommy Kahnle to undo the mess he made by subbing in Holmes.

From there, Boone had to continue reaching deeper into his bullpen, eventually bringing in closer Luke Weaver to face Mookie Betts with Shohei Ohtani on third and one out in the bottom of the eight inning. Betts would drive a low-and-away pitch to center field for the sacrifice fly, tying the game and putting the Yankees in a hole. With their three most trusted relievers used up before the ninth inning, who would New York turn to if another tense situation arose?

Unfortunately, Boone had to answer that question in extra innings. After the team took a one-run lead in the top of the tenth, Jake Cousins was tasked with shutting down the bottom of the Dodgers' order, knowing that allowing one baserunner would mean that Ohtani would be due up. Naturally, Cousins walked Gavin Lux and surrendered a hit to Tommy Edman (that, admittedly, could have been fielded by second baseman Oswaldo Cabrerea), setting the stage for Ohtani.

Reaping what he had sown a few innings earlier by giving Cole the quick hook, Boone was left with a decision: should he turn to Tim Hill, the capable lefty reliever who gave the team a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings out the bullpen this year, or starter Nestor Cortes, who hadn't pitched since mid-September and hadn't spent any time as a reliever since 2021?

Now, if you watched the game, you know what Boone did. You know, against all logic and reason and baseball instinct, he went with Cortes to face a trio of Hall of Famers atop the Dodgers lineup. Though he would get Ohtani out on a 92 MPH fastball right down the middle (thanks to a miraculous catch in the stands by Alex Verdugo), Boone elected to walk the right-handed Betts to face Freeman with the bases loaded and the game on the line.

Suffice to say, it did not work out the way Boone was hoping.

It's not just that the result was enitrely predictable. It's not that Boone very clearly just cost his team Game 1 of the World Series. It's not that Cortes threw two pitches, both fastballs right down the middle, to two of the best hitters of all time.

It's that, without a shred of doubt, the Yankees' biggest weakness remains their manager.

It's possible the team comes back to win this series and this game goes into folklore as nothing more than a cautionary tale. Even if that happens, though, the Yankees will win in spite of their manager, not because of him.

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