THE MOST AVOIDABLE YANKEE MISTAKE THAT HAL CAN FIX RIGHT NOW

It’s time to revisit something fundamental—not just in baseball, but in all of professional sports: why managers get fired.

Typically, it’s for one very clear reason: poor team performance. Especially when a team is underachieving or failing to meet expectations. You can’t replace the entire roster midseason—contracts, injuries, egos, and logistics make that impossible. So the quickest, most practical fix? Fire the manager.

It’s not just strategic—it’s symbolic. Firing the manager sends a message to the fans and players: we’re not settling. It’s the organization’s way of signaling a shakeup, and often, that kind of jolt is exactly what a stagnant team needs.

For fans like me—and like those of us here at Bleeding Yankee Blue—a shakeup right now isn’t just necessary. It’s long overdue.

So here’s the question: Why hasn’t Aaron Boone been fired yet?

 

The Yankees are flat. Lifeless. Playing like a team that either doesn’t believe in itself or doesn’t believe in the guy leading them. Boone has lost control of this team, and you don’t need a front office credential to see it. You just need eyes.

We’ve been talking about this for years, not just this season. We believed in fan pressure before it was trendy. And while the rest of Yankees fandom is just now calling for Boone’s job, we've been banging this drum since day one—because Boone has never looked the part. The fact that he's still in the dugout, still chewing seeds, still clapping politely after soul-crushing losses? It's not just baffling—it's insulting.

And don’t tell us about his “winning record.” You can have a winning record and still be a bad leader. Look around the league:

Joe Altobelli led the Orioles to a World Series title in year one. Two years later—fired.

 
Bob Brenly brought the Diamondbacks their first championship. The very next season? Fired after a rough start.

Joe Maddon, who broke a 108-year drought in Chicago, wasn’t even given a contract extension after 2019.

Why? Because in the real world, especially in big markets with big expectations, winning is everything. So is meeting expectations, developing talent and commanding respect.

Boone does none of the above.

 
He hasn’t won a pennant. He hasn’t developed the youth. He’s mismanaged bullpens and lineups. And worst of all, he’s failed to inspire. There is no fire. No edge. No sense that this guy knows how to lead a team through a storm—only that he’s along for the ride, hoping the ship doesn’t sink while he’s on duty.

Spoiler alert: it’s sinking.

Now let’s talk about expectations, because that’s where this really becomes embarrassing.

This is the New York Yankees. Not the A’s. Not the Marlins. Not some mid-market team with modest dreams of contending. This is the most successful, iconic franchise in sports. Here, a "winning record" without a World Series appearance means exactly nothing. Boone hasn’t delivered one. Not even close.

 
And if Hal Steinbrenner is content with keeping the money machine running while the trophy case gathers dust—fine. Keep Boone. Keep the status quo. Keep watching this team fall apart in the postseason, or worse, miss it altogether. 

But don’t expect the fans to go quietly. Don’t expect the bleacher creatures to stay patient. Because we’re not built for mediocrity. This franchise isn’t supposed to accept it. And frankly, neither are its fans.

The sad truth? Boone’s still here because the Yankees have lost the one thing that used to define them: STANDARDS.

This team has talent. They have stars. They have payroll. What they don’t have is a real leader at the helm. Aaron Boone is not that. He never has been. And if Hal has even an ounce of his father’s backbone, he’ll stop protecting him and start fixing what’s broken.

Because until Aaron Boone is fired, the Yankees are going nowhere.

--Alvin Izzo

BYB Yankee History Contributor