Yankees' Aaron Boone to Return as Manager in 2024, Hal Steinbrenner Says

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be returning to the team in 2024 for his seventh MLB season.

Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner told reporters on Tuesday that multiple people encouraged him to bring Boone back as the manager.

The 2023 campaign was arguably the Yankees' most disappointing and underwhelming season since 1992, which was the last time New York had a losing regular-season record (76-86).

The Yankees went 82-80 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They were eliminated from playoff contention with one week remaining in the regular season and finished seven games back of the final American League wild-card spot.

Not much went right for a team that entered the year with great expectations.

For starters, injuries piled up everywhere. Reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge missed close to two months with a torn toe ligament. Starting pitcher Carlos Rodón's season got off to a late start due to a forearm ailment, and he struggled upon his return with a 6.85 ERA over 14 appearances. Pitchers Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino and first baseman Anthony Rizzo also missed time and struggled as they worked back or through ailments.

It's hard to blame Boone for that. Injuries are just an unfortunate part of the game.

The issue may be with how the Yankees have been constructed. While they've had one of the highest payrolls in baseball for years, the Yankees have won only one World Series since 2000.

General manager Brian Cashman has overseen four World Series winners (1998-2000, 2009), but he's guided a front office in recent years that has made costly decisions, including acquiring declining veterans past their prime or failing to construct a deep enough starting rotation.

What's resulted is a top-heavy team that has largely been carried by the performances of two superstars in Judge (when healthy) and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole.

The Yankees notably fired a coach (hitting coach Dillon Lawson) midseason for the first time in Cashman's tenure (1998-present date). The team hired ex-big leaguer Sean Casey in his place.

As for Boone, he played in the majors from 1997-2009. He's best known for his 11th-inning, game-winning home run in Game 7 of the 2003 American League to send the Yankees into the World Series over the Boston Red Sox.

The ex-infielder then served as an ESPN baseball broadcaster and analyst from 2010-2017 before replacing Joe Girardi as the Yankees' manager in 2018.

New York enjoyed successful regular seasons in Boone's first two campaigns, going 100-62 in 2018 and 103-59 in 2019. However, the Yanks fell to the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox in the 2018 AL Division Series before losing to the future AL-winning Houston Astros in the 2019 AL Championship Series.

The Yanks were able to make the second round of the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign but lost to the AL pennant winner for the third straight year in the Tampa Bay Rays. New York was one-and-done in 2021, losing to the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Game.

Hope sprang eternal in 2022 with AL MVP Aaron Judge and his 62 home runs guiding the Yanks to a 99-win season, but New York was outclassed once again by the Astros in the ALCS.

And then there was the 2023 campaign, one that Yankees fans never want to relive.

However, the Yankees are running it back with Boone in 2024 as they try to move past a bitterly disappointing season.