When the Yankees named Aaron Boone to replace Joe Girardi early last December, it was a gamble on a new manager who never held that title at any level of baseball.
Nor had he coached, as he was coming out of the television booth and hadn’t been part of a big-league clubhouse in eight years.
Now, 5 ½ months into a six-month regular season, the Yankees have lost contact with the Red Sox who will win the AL East and are in a very real fight to hold onto the top AL wild-card spot and the right to play that game — likely against the A’s — in The Bronx instead of Oakland, Calif.
The Yankees were one game ahead of Oakland before the A’s took on the pitiful Orioles in Baltimore on Thursday night.
Gary Sanchez has been on the disabled list twice, Didi Gregorius once and All-Stars Aaron Judge and Aroldis Chapman still reside on the shelf.
And through it all, Hal Steinbrenner has been impressed with Boone’s performance.
“Aaron Boone has done a good job dealing with all these moving parts and certainly has the respect of the players,’’ Steinbrenner told The Post via email Thursday, when the Yankees were off ahead of a nine-game homestand that starts with the downtrodden Blue Jays on Friday night. “Overall we have been happy with the choice.’’
This week in Minneapolis, where Boone’s club dropped two of three to the terrible Twins, he implored the Yankees to play better. Getting Chapman — possibly next week — and Judge back at a later date could improve things if they produce.
With 16 games remaining, the Yankees — who have lost nine of 16 — will be hard-pressed to keep the A’s, who were 26-11 since Aug. 1, from passing them and Steinbrenner understands what awaits his club.
“The last two weeks will be challenging for sure, all AL East teams from here on out. They always play us tough,’’ Steinbrenner wrote.
Even though the Yankees held a 5 ¹/₂–game lead over the A’s on Sept. 2 and appeared to be in very good shape to host the AL wild-card game for a second consecutive year, Steinbrenner wrote he wouldn’t be disappointed if the Yankees face the A’s in Oakland in order to get to the ALDS against the Red Sox.
“I’m not sure disappointed would be the word I would choose regarding [playing in] Oakland. I would certainly prefer to play in NY of course. Having said that, if it is to be the wild-card game then the focus of our players will be to beat whatever team is in front of them,’’ Steinbrenner wrote. “[Regardless] of what city we are in. That much I know for certain.’’
Every team gets hit with injuries and Steinbrenner recognized missing the marquee names has extracted a toll, but is looking forward to getting the roster healthy.
“The injuries we have had the last few months have been of significant duration, and have affected some of our key players,’’ Steinbrenner wrote. “The team has done well persevering but losing players like Sanchez, Judge, Chapman, etc. does have an impact. The good news is that we appear to be getting healthy again. Slowly, but surely.’’
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