SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Hal Steinbrenner began a critical offseason by figuring out whether Aaron Boone should return as the Yankees’ manager next season.
The Yankees managing general partner said he believes that Boone is a good manager, and the consensus of the group of people he sought out to for their take agreed, leading to the decision that Boone will indeed be back in the dugout for a seventh season.
Steinbrenner said he asked players, former players (he mentioned Andy Pettitte and Nick Swisher, who spent some time around the team this year) and two of Brian Cashman’s special advisers, Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya, for their opinions on Boone.
“Without giving them my opinion on the call, they all came to the same conclusion, which is Aaron is a good manager and he should be our manager in 2024,” Steinbrenner said Tuesday on a Zoom call.
Boone is entering the final year of his contract — the Yankees also have a club option for 2025 — with a record of 509-361 in the regular season and 14-17 in the postseason.
Despite a rough season in 2023, he still had the support of the clubhouse, including the Yankees’ top leaders in Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole.
“He’s extremely intelligent,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s hard working. The players respect him as a manager, they want to play for him and win for him. These are, to me, very important things. And he’s a balanced guy … in that he’s able to take all the information we throw his way from both sides, and he’s able to log it all in and work with his coaches. He’s great with his coaching staff.
“One of the most important things to me — the most important thing, yes, is winning championships. But if a manager doesn’t have the respect of his players, and the players don’t want to play and win for him, that would always be a problem with me. But in talking to current players, as I told you I did, that’s absolutely not the case. And that’s a big deal to me in the clubhouse.”
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