Aaron Boone once again won’t address Yankees elephant in room like an adult

The New York Yankees are on a bit of a slide, giving the Baltimore Orioles a wide-open window to claim the No. 1 seed in the American League. There are several factors behind New York's downturn, but few stand out more than the late-relief crew. Well, in the interest of frankness, we can put a whole lot of blame on one man — Clay Holmes.

New York's closer has been especially poor in recent weeks. On Tuesday, he gave up a walk-off grand slam to the Texas Rangers, marking his 11th blown save of the campaign. He is now three shy of the all-time record for blown saves in a single season. That is the sort of record Holmes shouldn't even get a chance to break.

It is beyond obvious that New York should pull Holmes from his high-leverage role until further notice. There is a matter of precedent — Holmes was an All-Star this season! — but the Yankees should be laser-focused on winning ballgames. Right now, Holmes is operating antithetically to that goal.

We have seen this with other contenders around the league. You don't see Jose Alvarado in the ninth inning for Philadelphia. Craig Kimbrel ain't closing games for Baltimore. And yet, the Yankees have stubbornly persisted with Holmes. Aaron Boone, for whatever reason, appears allergic to ruffling feathers or bruising egos, which is just part of the job. The best managers are able to parse feelings and logic and act on the latter.

After Tuesday's game, however, Boone refused to completely move off of Holmes as New York's ninth-inning weapon of choice.

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Aaron Boone can't fully quit Clay Holmes despite Yankees tailspin

Boone told reporters that the Yankees will get "creative" with the closing role in the short term, but insisted that Holmes is still in the mix.

There is an optimistic read here — that Boone is at least propping the door open for wholesale change without damaging Holmes' feelings — but frankly, Yankees fans are interested in coach speak right now. Holmes has blown multiple saves and left New York vulnerable in the postseason landscape. He just cannot be part of the ninth-inning game plan, in any capacity.

The Yankees should play matchups. There doesn't have to be a single, defined closer. But if Holmes is part of those matchups, New York is simply exposing itself to more ridicule. Boone's decision-making has been a source of frustration all season. Nobody can deny the Yankees' success compared to 2023, but Aaron Judge and Juan Soto naturally paper over a ton of flaws.

Boone has stuck by struggling players to no end. Gleyber Torres is still at second base, where he has been one of the worst defenders in baseball all season. Jazz Chisholm was forced to learn third base on the fly because Torres wouldn't change positions and Boone didn't press him on the subject. That is just not how a competitive ball club should operate.

This will all be water under the bridge if New York takes home the World Series crown in a couple months but it's hard to have faith in Boone's management when the lights are brightest and every choice in put under the microscope. Hopefully, he takes more of a hard-line stance on Holmes in the days and weeks to come.