Yankees manager Aaron Boone hopes for better things in 2023

Aaron Boone’s first public comments since the night his team was swept out of the American League Championship Series didn’t sound much different from those made in the minutes after the Astros sent the Yankees home for the winter.

“I’ve always said the ending is cruel,” Boone said Thursday afternoon during an appearance on the Michael Kay Show.

The Yankees, who won the AL East crown with a 99-63 record and beat the Guardians in five games in the Division Series, lost four straight to the Astros in the ALCS, a team Boone said Thursday — as he did after Game 4 — is “setting the standard in the American League.”  

Yankees fans who heard Thursday’s nearly 35-minute interview likely didn’t come away from it feeling as if any big philosophical changes will be in the works this offseason.

Although Boone acknowledged that “we’ve got to get better, no question,” he earlier  responded “no, no, no” when asked if the Yankees need to be “remade” in any way.

Boone, who just finished his fifth season as Yankees manager, mentioned several times — as he did after the Game 4 loss — the impact “missing some really key pieces” such as DJ LeMahieu, Andrew Benintendi, Scott Effross and Michael King had on the Astros series.

Boone said the Yankees should “be in the mix to be a championship contender next season,” with much of that depending on the moves that are sure to come in the offseason.

Boone said he can see a scenario in which Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the club’s starting shortstop in 2023, though he quickly named prospects Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe as contenders for the job.

“We have a lot of guys knocking on the door,” Boone said.

Could Boone see Josh Donaldson, a solid defender who struggled at the plate in the regular season and especially in the postseason and who is due $25 million next season, as the starting third baseman in 2023?

“I mean, yeah, as we sit here right now, absolutely,” Boone said.

There is no bigger move to be made in the eyes of Yankees fans than bringing back Aaron Judge, the face of the franchise, who is  due to hit the free-agent market.

“Certainly, it’s hard to think that anyone could replace Aaron Judge and, again, hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” Boone said. “Hopefully we get to the point where he’s back in pinstripes for his entire career, like I believe it should be. But you never know where it’s going to end up, and if that comes, you’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust and find other ways to get things done. We’ll see how it plays out, but hopefully it does work out [with] Aaron because he’s going to win the MVP and you couldn’t have a better person leading your organization from a player standpoint.”