Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The New York Yankees have dropped 12 of their last 16 games, falling four games behind in the AL East.
- Front office leaders face a potential decision point on whether to make a managerial change to stop the slide.
- Several candidates emerge, each with distinct ties to the organization and varying levels of risk attached to their names.
It would be unfair to lay everything about the current sorry state of the New York Yankees at Aaron Boone's feet. Key players like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Max Fried, Trent Grisham and others have all missed time due to injury, while even those who have managed to stay healthy are either slumping at the plate (Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger) or committing baffling errors in the field (Anthony Volpe, Jose Caballero, too many others to mention). And yet, at a certain point, who deserves the blame ceases to matter — sometimes things just get so bad that a change is needed.
We may have officially reached that point now, after a loss on Sunday to the Minnesota Twins dropped New York to 49-40 overall and 4-12 over the last 16 games. The Yankees now trail the Tampa Bay Rays by four games in an AL East division that seemed theirs to lose not too long ago, and while they still don't appear to be at much risk of actually missing the playoffs — as always, a big shout-out to the mess that is the AL Wild Card picture — this looks like something very far from a World Series contender.
That's an existential problem considering how much New York has riding on this season. And while Boone can't actually take at-bats himself, it's not like he's covering himself in glory right now, nor has he shown that he's the manager you want to stop a free fall. Brian Cashman and Co. are loath to rock the boat, but they might not have a choice if this keeps up — which means it's time to look at the names who could replace Boone in charge if the Yankees do show him the door.
Rob Thomson
Thomson spent the better part of two decades in the Bronx, the last half of which came as Joe Girardi's bench coach. That run included both the 2009 World Series and the run to Game 7 of the ALCS in 2017. He eventually found his way to the Phillies after Girardi was let go, ultimately taking over for his former boss when the latter was fired midway through the 2022 season.
He took that team all the way to the World Series, and while he never again reached those heights in Philly, he did average more than 93 wins a year in his three full seasons at the helm. Thomson might not be the most inspiring choice given that he was just dumped by the Phillies a couple of months ago, but he knows the Bronx, he knows how to take control of a team midseason and he's won a lot of games.
Brad Ausmus
Ausmus is probably the most realistic choice should the Yankees part ways with Boone, given that he has previous managerial experience and currently serves as Boone's bench coach. Of course, that managerial experience doesn't inspire a ton of confidence; Ausmus reached the postseason once in four years in Detroit, then went 72-90 in his lone season at the helm of the Angels. But making this sort of change in the middle of a playoff push is hard enough, and there's something to be said for a candidate who the team is already comfortable with. We saw it work with the Phillies and Don Mattingly, after all.
Shelley Duncan
This is a bit of an outside-the-box choice, but Duncan has been talked about as a future big-league manager for a while now. He's serves as the manager of New York's Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since 2023, even winning International League manager of the year honors last year.
He's widely regarded as a keen baseball mind, he has previous relationships with plenty of current Yankees players and he speaks the same language as New York's front office. Those plusses are all very real, even if calling up a first-time manager from the Minors in the middle of a season in which you're desperate to make the World Series would be risky at best.
Alex Cora (sorry, we had to)
Okay, let's get this one out of the way. Alex Cora figures to be at or near the top of any managerial shortlist given his considerable resume and the fact that he's newly available after being scapegoated by the Red Sox earlier this season. But the Yankees are the obvious exception, given the bad blood that exists both from his time in Boston and his role in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal — a scandal that New York has still very much not gotten over.
All of which means we can put this to bed before it gets any momentum. Yes, Cora will manage again at some point. No, it will not be in the Bronx, even if the Yankees decide to pull the trigger and fire Boone.
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