Could The Yankees Replace Boone with Mattingly?

 

Last night, the New York Yankees were eliminated from post-season play after being swept in the ALDS by AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays. 

The Yankees did appear to have tied the game with a HR by Anthony Volpe but a fan in fact reached over the outfield railing to catch the ball. Alas, this is not 1996 and Jeffrey Maier wasn't there to save the Yankees. Volpe did get an RBI double, but it is as close as the Yankees would get.

Since taking over the managerial reins in 2018, Aaron Boone has led the Yankees to 8 post-season appearances in 9 years. His 790 managerial wins is 7th best in franchise history. But there have been no World Series titles to show for it. The Bronx Bombers last won it all in 2009 under Boone's predecessor, Joe Girardi.

Of Boone's 8 playoff appearances as Yankees skipper, the team has exited the post-season via the ALDS 4 times including the past two seasons after winning the AL pennant in 2024. 

Boone is under contract to manage the Yankees next season, but his seat is hot. A month ago, Zachary D. Rymer wrote in The Bleacher Report, "Nothing less than a title will make Boone's seat cool again."

While there is blood in the water, there are those who expect nothing to happen because Hal Steinbrenner is nothing like George Steinbrenner. In the first two decades, the elder Steinbrenner owned the Yankees he made 20 managerial changes including hiring and firing Billy Martin five times. However, since 1992, the Yankees have had only four managers - Buck Showalter, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi and Boone.

There is only one scenario under which I see the Yankees parting ways with Boone (and for that matter longtime Yankees GM Brian Cashman) and that is if they were to hire Don Mattingly as their next skipper.

After all, Mattingly played his entire 14-year MLB career in Yankee pinstripes. He is an experienced big-league manager stewarding the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins while being thrust into becoming the interim manager of the Philadelphia Phillies this season following a 9-19 start. Mattingly promptly turning the team back into a winner and clinching a playoff berth on the last day of the regular season before being shown the door in the NL Wild Card Round by the Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies, however, don't seem eager to bring back Mattingly despite his success and his popularity with the players. With that said, no one seems eager to manage the Phillies. Just ask Alex Cora. Although current Yankees bench coach (and former Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels manager) Brad Ausmus is reportedly being considered.

If this is the case, then the door is open for the Yankees to bring back Mattingly to the Bronx. Imagine if the Yankees traded Boone and Cashman to the Phillies for Mattingly and his son, Preston, who is the team's GM?

Or perhaps, Steinbrenner will continue to bide his time and leave Boone to manage this season and then replace him with Mattingly if they don't win in 2027. The only problem with that plan is that some other team might decide to make Mattingly their next manager.