BRADENTON, Fla. — Aaron Boone doesn’t have a contract beyond the 2025 season. That could change soon, though.
Brian Cashman, speaking at the Pirates’ complex in Bradenton for Grapefruit League Media Day, said the Yankees and Boone are actively discussing a new deal.
“Our intent is to find an extension, so certainly I’ve been working through that and Hal Steinbrenner has been working through that with Aaron Boone,” the general manager said Friday. “Hopeful at some point, sooner than later, that we’ll be able to cement something. But obviously haven’t gotten there yet.”
Asked if such a pact could be signed before spring training ends next month, Cashman added, “I think so, yeah.”
Earlier this week, Boone also noted that the topic of an extension has been discussed. Meanwhile, Steinbrenner said to expect such discussions during an interview with the YES Network in late January.
“Nothing’s happened yet,” the 51-year-old Boone said. “I know there have been some talks around that. That’ll handle itself and work itself out. The reality is I’m so fired up to be here today and to get to work for this organization and for Hal that hopefully something does work out. There’s no other place I’d rather be, and no other team I’d rather be doing it with. So we’ll see how that stuff plays out. But we at least have had some talks.”
Boone took the Yankees to the World Series for the first time in his managerial career last season. He then had a team option for the 2025 season picked up a few days later.
This coming campaign will mark Boone’s eighth as Yankees manager. He is the seventh-winningest skipper in franchise history with a 603-429 record.
While the former third baseman has strong support in his clubhouse, he’s been ridiculed by fans throughout his time with the Bombers despite taking the team to the playoffs in all but one season, 2023.
Asked about criticism of Boone, Cashman said it simply “comes with the job.”
“The one thing I’m so impressed with is his temperament. There’s a lot of slings and arrows coming our way,” Cashman continued. “He’s handled the ups and downs, the successes, the failures, all the same way. And I think that is a strength. That is a benefit.
“I know that if he wasn’t the Yankee manager, it would be a feeding frenzy for him to be a manager that’s coveted elsewhere.”