The New York Yankees enter Thursday having won five games in a row. Even so, they remain 6.5 games out of a playoff berth, and 1.5 games out of fourth place in the American League East. If the season ended on Thursday night, the Yankees would finish last in their division for the first time since 1990.
Naturally, the Yankees' position in the standings has led to speculation about manager Aaron Boone's job security. On Thursday, reigning AL Most Valuable Player Award winner Aaron Judge expressed his support for both Boone and recently installed hitting coach Sean Casey to SNY's Andy Martino.
"I've been with Boonie all the way since 2018. He's the guy."
Why?
"He has been there for us in good times and bad times," Judge said. "The guy shows up and supports his players. You can probably tell by the amount of times he's been thrown out of games that he always has our back."
Martino adds that he had not asked Judge about Casey, who replaced Dillon Lawson back in early July, yet Judge praised him anyway and called him "one of the best baseball guys around."
Of course, Judge is ultimately not the one who gets to make the decisions. That onus falls on top executive Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner. Still, the slugger expressing his confidence in both Boone and Casey can't hurt their chances of returning for another season.
That's a decision for another time though. The Yankees will attempt to extend their winning streak on Thursday night against the Detroit Tigers. While their playoff chances remain remote (SportsLine has their odds at 1%), strange things and low-probability events happen all the time, in baseball and in life.
