Omar Rawlings/Getty Images
The New York Yankees’ season came to a close Tuesday night in painful fashion, losing 6-2 to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Wild Card Game while adding another memorable chapter to one of the most heated rivalries in sports.
Well, memorable for the Red Sox and their fans, at least.
“Guys are crushed,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the loss. “Tonight was another tough one to take. We have been through a lot of wars with guys in that room, and we have a lot of scars. … When it ends so abruptly, the ending is really cruel.”
Marly Rivera @MarlyRiveraESPN
The Yankees have now gone 12 straight seasons without reaching the World Series, their third-longest drought in franchise history (17 straight seasons from 1903-20, 13 straight from 1982-95), per <a href=”https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ESPNStatsInfo</a>
One of the major questions for the Yankees heading into their offseason will be whether Boone is the right man for the job going forward.
“Obviously, my contract is up,” he told reporters. “I haven’t had any conversations about that with anyone, so we’ll see. I love being here. I love going to work with this group of players.”
If the prevailing sentiment on Twitter is shared by the Yankees management and front office, Boone isn’t long for the job:
John Jastremski @john_jastremski
Was this game on Boone? Not really. Lineup sucked, Cole sucked. But the team has gotten worse not better, they were Vegas favorites to win pennant and finished in third place & have gotten punked by the Red Sox twice in four years. If you want him extended, you’re insane.
Boone, 48, has gone 328-218 in his four years with the Yankees, leading them to the postseason in each of those seasons. Only the 2019 Yankees made it as far as the ALCS, however.
It isn’t for a lack of resources. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers ($267.2 million) have a larger payroll than the Yankees ($203.3 million) this year, per Spotrac. The team with the best record in baseball this season, the San Francisco Giants, has a payroll of $152.2 million. The best team in both the AL East and American League, the Tampa Bay Rays, had the No. 26 payroll ($70.8 million).
That the Yankees spent nearly triple the Rays but still finished eight games behind them and failed to advance past the Wild Card Round does not reflect well on the players, Boone or general manager Brian Cashman’s roster construction. It’s hard to see the 2021 season as anything other than an abject failure.
Who bears the brunt of that failure remains to be seen. But it wouldn’t be shocking if Boone took the fall.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.