Aaron Boone, another option for the Padres managerial job?
(Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
The San Diego Padres are searching for a new manager, and Aaron Boone could be an option.
Four seasons, four playoff appearances, two seasons with 100 wins, and a division title is not the kind of managerial resume that typically gets a manager fired. Still, the lack of a World Series title has put Yankees manager Aaron Boone on the hot seat.
Boone’s contract expires once the World Series ends, and there is speculation that Boone may not be brought back to the Bronx.
Could the San Diego Padres have interest?
Boone has more than 60% of the games managed, something that would make him a hot commodity. The manager has experience dealing with young superstars, such as Aaron Judge and Gleybor Torres, which could help him deal with Fernando Tatis Jr. He is very popular among both the Yankees players and general manager Brian Cashman. Still, if he’s available, the Padres certainly should interview Boone.
Boone spent 12 seasons with six different teams in his major league career, worked with ESPN as a broadcaster after his career finished in 2009. He replaced Joe Girardi after the 2017 season and immediately succeeded. Aaron Boone won 100 games and led the Yankees to a win in the wild card game over the Athletics. However, the Red Sox defeated the Yankees in four games in the American League Division Series (ALDS), as Boston won a pair of one-run games that doomed the Yankees.
More success followed in 2019 for the Yankees, as they won 103 games, making Boone the first manager to win 100 games in each of his first two seasons. The 103 wins gave New York first place in the AL East, and they swept the Twins in the ALDS to move on to the ALCS. They next faced the Houston Astros, but they lost a close six-game series.
In 2020, the Yankees moved past Cleveland in the wild card before losing in game five of the ALDS against the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays. Then, after the Yankees won 91 games in 2021, they lost the one-game playoff against the Boston Red Sox, and the rumors began to spread about Boone’s job security.
After the Yankees season ended in the AL Wild Card game, star right fielder Aaron Judge voiced his approval of Boone, saying, “I could spend all night giving you reasons why he should still be the manager.” General manager Brian Cashman is said to have a great relationship with Boone, but Hal Steinbrenner will likely have a say in Boone’s future. The Yankees fired their previous manager Joe Girardi after he pushed the ALCS to seven games in 2017, so it isn’t unheard of for the Yankees to push managers out even after recent playoff success.
Boone is relatively young. At age 48, he’s almost 20 years younger than fellow Padres managerial frontrunners Buck Showalter, Bruce Bochy, and Ron Washington. Teams such as the Giants, Rays, Yankees, Astros, and Nationals have all had success after moving to managers in their forties. Boone’s managerial experience is a plus, as the Padres have said that experience, while not required, is a positive.
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The Padres may find that Boone fits the perfect combination of dealing with the personality of a young superstar, having a proving winning formula, while also having the youthful energy that someone like Showalter, Bochy, or Washington will not bring. Aaron Boone would undoubtedly have multiple suitors if he were to be let go from his position in New York, and the Padres should be at the top of that list.
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.
