Aaron Boone Hired as Yankees Manager

The New York Yankees fired a manager who'd won a World Series and hired a guy whose most recent baseball job was talking into a camera on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. That's not a knock -- that's literally what happened on December 4, 2017, when Brian Cashman named Aaron Boone the 33rd manager in franchise history. Boone had never managed a game. He'd never coached a game. He'd been retired from playing for eight years. And somehow it worked out fine (mostly).

How Girardi Lost the Job

Joe Girardi didn't get fired for losing. His Yankees had just taken the Astros to seven games in the 2017 ALCS -- a series we now know was tainted by Houston's sign-stealing scheme, though nobody had proof of that yet -- and Girardi still walked. Cashman fired him on October 26, 2017, and when reporters pushed for a reason, he didn't point to blown games or bad bullpen calls. He pointed to "connectivity." Girardi, in Cashman's telling, wasn't reaching the young clubhouse the way the front office needed him to as Judge, Sanchez, and the rest of the Baby Bombers took over.

(Cashman went out of his way to say Girardi's non-challenge in ALDS Game 2 wasn't the reason. Which, fine, but if you're going to fire a guy with a championship ring and ten years on the job, "connectivity" is a pretty vague thing to hang it on.)

Ten seasons. One title, in 2009. Six playoff trips. Hal Steinbrenner backed the call and said he would've made it even if Girardi had won the whole thing in 2017. The Yankees were moving on, and nobody outside the organization had any idea who was walking in the door next.

Six Candidates, Zero Managers

Cashman ran an actual search -- six candidates over about three weeks, and then he told everyone there'd be no second round. The finalists: Rob Thomson, the Yankees' own bench coach with 28 years in the organization. Chris Woodward, the Dodgers' infield coach. Eric Wedge, who'd already managed in Cleveland and Seattle. Carlos Beltran, freshly retired off a championship season with the very Astros team that'd just eliminated New York. Hensley Meulens, the Giants' bench coach. And Aaron Boone.

Boone wasn't even the only complete outsider in the group -- Beltran had all of about six weeks of retirement between him and his last game, and when asked about his own lack of coaching experience he basically admitted it straight up: "Experience as a manager, I don't have that. But I have the passion for the game." Thomson, Woodward, Wedge, and Meulens all had actual coaching or managing staffs on their resumes. Boone and Beltran were the two guys walking in cold. By every traditional measure baseball had used to hire managers for a century, that's a strange finalist pool.

The Yankees picked the one who'd been doing color commentary the week before.

From the Booth to the Dugout

Here's the thing about that "least qualified" framing -- it assumes managing is still what it was in 1985. Cashman didn't need someone who'd paid his dues running a Double-A bullpen. He needed someone who could relate to 25-year-olds, buy into an analytics department that was about to run the show either way, and not flinch at the New York media. Boone had spent 2010 through 2017 talking about exactly that stuff on national television every single week.

Before Cashman had even settled on him, Boone made his own case. At his November 17, 2017 interview -- reportedly the fourth of the six candidates to sit down -- he told reporters, "I would say in a way I've been preparing for this job for the last 44 years." Forty-four years old, a father and grandfather deep in a baseball family, a guy who'd been talking strategy on a national broadcast for the better part of a decade. It's a good line. It's also the kind of line you say when you know the obvious knock against you and you'd rather get ahead of it.

Not everyone bought it. David Ortiz, of all people, said the hire surprised him: "I guess that's the new thing in baseball. But I don't know, this is not an easy thing to do, managing, especially a team like the Yankees or Red Sox." When the Red Sox legend is publicly side-eyeing your hire, that's a real gut check.

And there's a detail here that's too good to skip. Boone becoming Yankees manager wasn't his first date with this franchise's history books. Fourteen years earlier, he'd stepped into the box as a September pickup nobody was counting on and hit the walk-off homer off Tim Wakefield that sent the 2003 Yankees to the World Series. The guy who authored the most famous swing of that era came back with zero managerial resume and got handed the keys anyway. Baseball's a strange sport that way.

The Introduction

Boone was introduced at Yankee Stadium at noon on December 6, 2017, and he leaned all the way into the moment: "Words cannot express how humbled I am to wear the pinstripes again as the manager of the Yankees." He also set expectations for himself in a way that read as either refreshingly honest or a little too rehearsed, depending on your mood that week: "I'm going to be judged on wins and losses... I want to get lost into the process." Whatever you think of the phrasing, the man understood the assignment from day one.

How It's Gone Since

Boone won 100 games in his rookie year -- 100-62 in 2018, one of only six rookie managers in MLB history to reach triple digits (Ralph Houk did it for the Yankees back in 1961, for what it's worth -- and, less fun to admit, so did Alex Cora for Boston that same 2018 season) -- then followed it with 103 wins in 2019, becoming the first manager ever to top 100 in each of his first two seasons. Neither trip ended well. Boston beat him in the 2018 ALDS, Houston beat him in six games in the 2019 ALCS, Tampa Bay beat him in a five-game 2020 ALDS, Boston ended his season again in the 2021 Wild Card Game, and Houston came back around and swept him in four in the 2022 ALCS. Then 2024 happened: 94-68, the AL East, a five-game ALCS win over Cleveland, the franchise's first pennant since 2009 -- and a five-game World Series loss to the Dodgers that included a fifth-inning defensive meltdown (a dropped Judge fly ball, a wild Volpe throw, Cole not covering first) that Yankees fans will be replaying in their nightmares well into the next freakin' decade.

The Yankees exercised his option for 2025, then signed him to a two-year extension through 2027 that February. That fall brought more of the same push-and-pull: a Wild Card round win over Boston, then an ALDS loss to Toronto one day after Judge's foul-pole homer had the Bronx believing again. He's picked up 25 career postseason wins along the way -- fifth-most by any Yankees manager, behind only Torre, Stengel, McCarthy, and Girardi. As of this writing, he's still in the dugout, still catching heat every time the team slumps, and still the answer to a trivia question nobody could've guessed correctly on December 3, 2017.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Aaron Boone hired as Yankees manager?

The Yankees named Aaron Boone their 33rd manager on December 4, 2017, succeeding Joe Girardi, who'd been fired on October 26, 2017. Boone signed a three-year contract with a team option for 2021. His introductory press conference was held two days later, on December 6, 2017, at Yankee Stadium.

Did Aaron Boone have any managing or coaching experience before the Yankees hired him?

No. Boone had zero professional coaching or managing experience at any level. He'd been an ESPN broadcaster on Sunday Night Baseball and Baseball Tonight from 2010 through 2017, following a 12-year playing career. He was one of two finalists for the job with no coaching background -- the other was Carlos Beltran, freshly retired as a player -- while Rob Thomson, Chris Woodward, Eric Wedge, and Hensley Meulens all had actual coaching or managing experience on their resumes.

Why did the Yankees fire Joe Girardi before hiring Boone?

GM Brian Cashman cited a "connectivity" gap between Girardi and the Yankees' increasingly young clubhouse, not any specific in-game decision. Girardi had just taken Houston to seven games in the 2017 ALCS and left with a decade of service, a 2009 World Series title, and six playoff appearances on his resume -- the firing was about fit with the roster's next phase, not results.

Who else was considered for the Yankees managing job in 2017?

Cashman interviewed six finalists over about three weeks: Aaron Boone, Rob Thomson (then the Yankees' bench coach), Chris Woodward (then the Dodgers' infield coach), Eric Wedge (former Indians and Mariners manager), Carlos Beltran (freshly retired after winning the 2017 World Series with Houston), and Hensley Meulens (then the Giants' bench coach). Cashman announced there wouldn't be a second round before making his recommendation to ownership.

How has Aaron Boone's tenure as Yankees manager gone?

He won 100 games in each of his first two seasons (100-62 in 2018, 103-59 in 2019), a first in MLB history, though both teams lost before the World Series. He's reached the postseason most years since, including a pennant in 2024 that ended in a five-game World Series loss to the Dodgers. He signed a two-year extension through 2027 in February 2025 and remains the manager as of this writing.