Yankees’ Aaron Boone was outvoted by Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to win Manager of the Year in 2019. Baldelli led his team to a 101-61 record while Boone and the Yankees finished 103-59 in 2019. But did Baldelli deserve it?
Before the season, nobody thought the Twins would be a 100-win team. They seemed to have a lot of chemistry. Minnesota surprised the whole league by outlasting the Indians and taking control of the AL Central. They set the record for most home runs as a team in a single season, beating the Yankees’ previous record. But, they never had to deal with injury problems. For most of the year, Baldelli got to sit back and create lineups with the same players every night.Â
Unlike the Twins, the Yankees were expected to go far into October and fight for a chance at a championship. But, they were hit with a plethora of injuries along the way. Aaron Boone had to deal with 30 Yankees being put on the IL list including 8 players that suffered season-ending injuries. It seemed like every day last season, someone was making their major league debut. Aaron Boone had to preach his next man up mentality every week because of new players in the Bronx. Despite all of that, the Yankees finished with a 103-59 record and won the AL East. With that, Aaron Boone became the first manager in baseball history to have back-to-back 100 win seasons in his first two seasons as a manager.Â
Aaron Boone and the Yankees dealt with adversity throughout the season and still exceeded expectations along the way. Don’t get me wrong, the Twins had a very impressive season. But, Aaron Boone dealt with something that coaches rarely do. To not honor him as the manager of the year after all that, I thought it was unacceptable.Â
All of those new players having the success that they did, was not a mistake. Aaron Boone and the rest of his staff did a great job at saving the season and now have nothing to show for it.