TAMPA, Fla. — As New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge stood before his locker in the visitors clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on the final day of the 2023 season, he made it clear that there was no one he would rather have as his manager than Aaron Boone.
After a disappointing 82-80 season, the Yankees organization faced intense scrutiny. It seemed reasonable to believe that a managerial change could be justified, especially given it was the club’s worst showing in 30 years. But Judge threw his public support toward Boone that day and made it clear that he thought there was no one better for the job of leading the Yankees.
“I’m looking forward to more years with him,” Judge said at the time.
The Yankees chose to back Boone and on Thursday, Judge got his wish. The Yankees announced a two-year contract extension for Boone, keeping the manager in his role through the 2027 season. Part of the reason why Boone has lasted this long as the Yankees’ manager is because of Judge’s support. If Judge did not think Boone was the right manager for the clubhouse, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner would be left with no other option than to find a new person to lead the day-to-day.
Steinbrenner routinely checks in with Judge (and Gerrit Cole) to gauge what the clubhouse is thinking. Those meetings are meant to share insight into what’s going right, what’s going wrong and what needs improvement. There have been ample opportunities for Judge to express his hesitation about Boone’s ability to guide the club, but in every chance he’s been given, he’s done the opposite.
Boone and Judge celebrate after the Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians to win the American League pennant in October 2024. (David Dermer-Imagn Images)
“The number one thing is the care and passion he has for everyone in this room,” Judge said of Boone.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s your first year in big league camp, or a 15-year vet with a chance to come over and play for the Yankees. He is gonna make you feel like the most important person in the room. When you do that, it equals a lot of wins when you feel comfortable.”
The biggest area where Judge says Boone has helped him since taking over for Joe Girardi in 2018 is developing his leadership. Ask any player in the Yankees clubhouse about Judge’s behavior as captain, and they’re likely to have a story on how the reigning American League MVP has made them feel welcome. When Harrison Bader was traded to the Yankees midway through 2022, Judge made sure he sat with him for lunch when he arrived in the Bronx. Shortly after Anthony Volpe was drafted, he visited the Yankees’ player development complex in Tampa, where Judge happened to be rehabbing. Judge catered a lunch from a Brazilian steakhouse for every employee in the building, a gesture that resonates with Volpe years later.
The camaraderie that Judge has fostered in the clubhouse over the years, even before he was officially named captain, has, in part, been influenced by watching Boone lead the Yankees.
“He really helped show me ways to how you lead a clubhouse, how you lead a team, how you be that person that people can look towards,” Judge said. “Baseball stuff, he’s helped me out with, but I think it was more just clubhouse stuff and being a leader.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters last week that the area that impresses him the most when it comes to Boone’s management is his temperament. There’s always criticism that comes with being the manager of the Yankees, and Boone’s ability to handle failures, successes and everything in between is a strength and a benefit to the organization, Cashman said.
Judge echoed the importance of the even keel nature that Boone possesses. When the Yankees go through stretches of poor play during the season, Judge said he hears how passionately Boone defends the players in front of the media. That resonates inside the clubhouse.
Boone has the second-best winning percentage among all active managers (Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is the leader), but the glaring omission is his lack of a championship.
“That bothers me,”Boone said. “But I know what I signed up for when I got into this. I wouldn’t want it any other way. The fact that it matters as much as it does here and that there’s such a high standard and there’s so many expectations, that so much beats the alternative in my view.
“I’m confident in what I’m doing. I feel like I’m pretty good at this.”
Judge agrees. And that belief is a key reason why Boone will manage the Yankees for at least the next three years.
(Top photo of Aaron Judge and Aaron Boone: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
