Aaron Boone to return to Yankees for 2027; was there ever any doubt he'd be back?

Aaron Boone returning for a 10th season in 2027, the final guaranteed year of his contract -- confirmed Monday by a source -- wouldn’t raise many eyebrows in numerous other major-league markets, especially coming off 93 wins and his eighth playoff appearance at the helm.

In the Bronx, however, success is measured in championships. And the fact that Boone’s tenure is defined by early October exits and zero World Series titles definitely put his job status in the crosshairs after the Yankees were swept out of the Division Series, in humiliating fashion, by the Rays earlier this month.

Was Boone truly vulnerable this time around? Not really. Despite the hopes of a furious fan base, there was little doubt that Boone would be back, with both owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman firmly in his corner.

Firing managers, or even coaches for that matter, is no longer a Steinbrenner family tradition. Joe Girardi, Joe Torre and Buck Showalter all were dismissed at the end of their contracts. That leaves Stump Merrill as the last manager to be officially axed by the Yankees, back in 1991.

In Boone’s case, he ranks seventh on the all-time list of Yankees managers with 1,355 games on his resume, ahead of Billy Martin, who has only 941 -- but piloted the ’77 club to a World Series crown. Boone finally got to the Fall Classic in 2024, but that trip resulted in a five-game loss to the Dodgers, and is forever stained by the Game 5 collapse that has become a hallmark of his teams.

And Boone’s Yankees have gone backward since, winning only one game against the Blue Jays in last year’s ALDS followed by this October’s embarrassing display against the Rays. Also, the way these playoffs have unfolded, with three small-market teams left standing, was further evidence against Boone, considering that Steinbrenner carried MLB’s third-highest payroll ($340 million) this year, behind only the Dodgers ($433M) and Mets ($360M).

The Yankees did have a built-in excuse. Losing Aaron Judge (fractured rib) for 3 1/2 months certainly hurt their chances of catching the Rays for the AL East title, and not having the three-time MVP for October does help deflect some of the blame away from Boone. At least for those trying to rationalize him staying.

“He’s our manager, he runs this ship, he puts us in the right position to succeed,” Judge said after the Rays’ sweep. “For him to manage it the way he did, and put us in the best position to get into the postseason and get an opportunity to win a World Series, he’s definitely had our back and is the guy.”

Boone managed one of his better regular seasons -- if not the best -- with Judge on the shelf and a rotation dinged up by injuries. But with a weak American League, the Yankees still figured to be a virtual lock for the World Series, and yet they failed to even win their own division for the sixth time in nine years under Boone.

Cashman, whose own new contract extension is likely to be announced in the coming days, defended Boone in the hours before Game 3 of the ALDS, despite the Yankees’ sloppy, reckless play putting them on the brink of elimination.

“I think Boone’s a really good manager,” Cashman said back then. “We’re here for a reason. There’s a lot of reasons behind that, and certainly he’s part of that.”

Later that same night, Boone’s call to bat Trent Grisham leadoff came back to bite the Yankees, as he went 0-for-5 and struck out to end the game with the tying run on first base -- as Ben Rice waited on deck -- in the 4-3 loss to the Rays. It was a bad look for Boone, who has to publicly wear the team’s failures despite his close collaboration with the front office in the decision-making process. But that relationship has been crucial to keeping Boone in his role for the past decade, along with his reputation as a players’ manager, which increasingly has come under fire lately as the roster has repeatedly come up small on the biggest stages.

“He’s someone that’s going to put his players first and I think that’s very important,” Cam Schlittler said. “He’s been great to this team, to the guys in here, and we trust him. There’s not a single day where I haven’t trusted him or a decision he’s made. I hope that I’m playing here for a long time and he’s still the manager.”

Boone will be for next season anyway, which shouldn’t come as a surprise for these Yankees.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.