Simply looking at the records of both first-year managers in New York, it would be more logical for Mets manager Mickey Callaway to be on the hot seat instead of Yankees boss Aaron Boone.
The Mets have been relegated to another disappointing year and have been out of playoff contention since June. The Yankees have the second-best record in baseball behind their AL East-rival Boston Red Sox.
Yet there are people out there who are calling for Boone to be fired after this season.
While that would be a hasty decision and a harsh one, it is understandable to see where they’re coming from.
When Boone was hired over the winter, he was basically given the keys to the equivalent of a Ferrari. Giancarlo Stanton was acquired from the Miami Marlins to join Aaron Judge where they were expected to create what was believed to be one of the most dangerous home-run-hitting duos the game has ever seen.
Gary Sanchez was set to continue his ascension as one of the team’s best hitters while the pitching staff of Luis Severino, Sonny Gray and Masahiro Tanaka should have been enough to allow the Yankees to outscore their opponents.
The thing is, it hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
Sanchez became a liability at the plate, batting .188. Coupled with his subpar defense, an extended trip to the disabled list has almost been welcomed by Yankees supporters. Judge, who has 26 home runs, has also been attempting to make his way back from injury after suffering a fracture in his wrist on Jul. 26.
The team recently saw Aroldis Chapman and Didi Gregorius hit the DL as well.
It’s left Stanton to carry the offense and support a pitching staff that was in panic mode last month. After a Cy Young-worthy start, Severino has an ERA over seven in his last eight starts. Gray has been bounced from the rotation after the acquisitions of J.A. Happ and Lance Lynn while Tanaka and C.C. Sabathia have been inconsistent.
Those are the aspects that have been out of Boone’s control.
Why could Aaron Boone possibly be fired?
What can be controlled is his team’s desire and ability to beat lesser opponents.
Minus a 40-13 stretch from Apr. 21 to Jun. 21, the Yankees have been nothing more than a mediocre baseball team as the hot streak was sandwiched between a combined record of 39-34.
And they’ve had their fair share of problems against struggling teams.
Against the worst team in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees are 6-6. They’re 2-2 against the Miami Marlins, 4-3 against the Texas Rangers, 7-8 against the Tampa Bay Rays and 3-3 against the crosstown-rival Mets.
Only the Rays aren’t at least 14 games under .500.
Even with injury problems and a couple underachieving players, there’s no excuse as to why the Yankees have such mediocre records against bad teams and that does fall directly onto Boone’s shoulders.
Whether it’s not taking them as seriously as possible or simply overlooking them, the reason why New York is holding on to the top Wild Card spot in the American League and not challenging for the AL East division is because of that reason exactly.
Who knows what would have happened if George Steinbrenner was still running things in the Bronx, but Boone isn’t going to gain many supporters if this team doesn’t advance deep into the postseason.
