THE BRONX, NY — That concludes the 2025 New York Yankees season — with the division rival Toronto Blue Jays celebrating on their field, blaring “New York, New York” from the visitors’ clubhouse as Aaron Boone delivered yet another elimination press conference. It marked the eighth time in his eight-year tenure that Boone has faced that moment.

“There were some tough moments, but also, in a lot of ways, very rewarding to go through some of what we went through,” Boone said after the Yankees’ season-ending 5–2 loss to the Blue Jays.

“I believe in so many of the people in that room. It’s hard to win the World Series — I’ve been chasing it all my life,” he added.

Boone has managed the Yankees since 2018, overseeing a roster that has included the best player on the planet in Aaron Judge. Yet in eight seasons, Boone has just one World Series win — in a single appearance — and six ALCS victories across three trips. While Judge has struggled in some of those postseasons, he hit over .600 this October and was outstanding on both sides of the ball.

You know that old saying, “Watch what you say — it could come back to haunt you”? Well, in this case, Aaron Boone can consider himself haunted. Prior to the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, Boone told the media, “This is my seventh postseason. I think at this point, where we are as a club is the best group we’ve gone in with.”

The “best” team Boone’s had went on to give up a franchise-record 50 hits in a four-game series — regular season or postseason — to the Blue Jays.

Now, to be clear, the core reasons why the Yankees lost this series were not entirely Boone’s fault. Your ace can’t give up seven runs in three innings, and it’s hard to win games when your starting pitchers aren’t getting outs in the fourth inning. When your bullpen — which wasn’t great all year — has to take over, things unravel quickly. But there were still some decisions throughout the season that deserve to be questioned, as they have been since 2018.

The relentless positivity Boone pushes down the team’s throat is, at times, insulting to everyone’s intelligence and embarrassing when the team loses. Boone-led squads have been known to get sloppy during the season with little consequence for mistakes, and there’s always an excuse ready for players who have done nothing to warrant one. It might be time to change the voice in the clubhouse heading into next season — because the same mistakes keep sending the Yankees home instead of back to the World Series.

Boone told reporters he expects to return in 2026 since he’s still under contract. As of Oct. 9 at 1:00 a.m., however, nothing official has been released by the team. The expectation is that Boone will be back next season — though it shouldn’t be just because of a contract..

(Image Credit: YES Network)