Aaron Boone Deserves AL Manager Of The Year For What New York Yankees Have Already Accomplished

No matter what the New York Yankees might do during the remainder of the postseason, Aaron Boone is the Manager of the Year in the American League.

He took a team decimated by injuries, and using disparate parts provided by general manager Brian Cashman, and turned it into a 103-game winner that's still battling the tough Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series.

Whether the Yankees win their 28th World Series hardly matters as far as this award is concerned. They trail the Astros 2-1 in the best-of seven series that continues Wednesday night, weather permitting, with Game 4 at Yankee Stadium.

The awards given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America are for regular season performance only. Like all the awards, for the top manager, two voters in each AL city have to file their ballots electronically by Sunday's end-of-the-season finale.

Postseason accomplishments are just icing on the proverbial cake for a job already well done.

Despite the roster chaos, the Yanks won the AL East by seven games over the Tampa Bay Rays, the first time they've won their own division since 2012.

Boone was a huge reason for that success.

"I mean, that's flattering and all, but that's more a product of what the team has done and what our organization has done," Boone said Tuesday prior to his club's 4-1 loss in Game 3. "But we're entrenched in the Astros and the ALCS right now. I'm consumed with this right now."

To illustrate how dire Boone's plight was, at one point, the Yankees were trying to compete with $81.9 million worth of players on the injured list. Their overall payroll for luxury tax purposes this season was a third in the Major League Baseball $234 million.

Boone never had Jacoby Ellsbury ($21.1 million). He had Giancarlo Stanton ($26 million) for only 18 games, CC Sabathia ($8 million) for 22 starts, and Aaron Hicks ($6.3 million) for 59 games. Didi Gregorius ($11.75) million and Aaron Judge ($684,300) missed the first few months of the season.

Troy Tulowitzki, making the $555,000 minimum this season from the Yanks and $20 million from the Toronto Blue Jays, played 34 games before a right ankle injury not only ended his season, but his career.

Luis Severino ($4.5 million) missed the entire season with a right shoulder injury, returning to make only five starts - two in the playoffs - including Tuesday's loss in which he could only work into the fifth inning.

Even during this current series, Stanton is out again with a calf injury after hitting a homer in his club's 7-0, Game 1 win. He's missed the last two games, both Yankee losses, but hasn't been taken off the roster. If the Yanks do that, Stanton won't be eligible for the World Series. Of course, the Yanks still have to get there.

Hicks returned in time for the ALCS despite missing every regular season game after Aug. 2 with a sore right elbow. He didn't start his season until May 15 because of a bad back.

Dellin Betances came back in September from a right shoulder injury only to tear his left Achilles tendon jumping off the mound in excitement at Toronto after striking out two batters.

Domingo German, their best pitcher at 18-4, was placed on the inactive list while MLB is investigating an accusation of domestic violence abuse. He's gone for the postseason.

And that's just a partial list.

"One of the things you learn in this job is the appreciation of what all of us go through," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "There's only 30 of us. I know Boonie personally. I'm in touch with him and there's banter back and forth throughout the year. And I think he's done a tremendous job of keeping his balance.

"It's one thing to perform in this job, be good in this job, and win as many games as he has. But he's been able to maintain the balance that's needed to go through the peaks and valleys."

Not only did Boone keep his balance, but out of necessity he discovered Gio Urshela and Mike Tauchman. He got the most out of Luke Voit, Clint Frazier, Cameron Maybin, Mike Ford and Tyler Wade, to name a few.

It's tempting here to even support Cashman as Executive of the Year for the way he built the team, obtaining guys like Urshela and Maybin for cash, plus Voit and Tauchman in minor trades. Even the signing of multi-faceted infielder D.J. LeMahieu to a two-year, $24 million contract has to be one of the best free-agent deals of the offseason.

But Cashman also left Boone with the shambles of a starting rotation, and a deep bullpen that he's had to strain to the max getting where the Yanks are right now.

Thus far, Boone has used 19 pitchers in the first three ALCS games with a bullpen game on tap if Game 4 is played Wednesday night.

The Astros are doing the same, although no one can complain because Hinch is following Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole with his.

It's unprecedented that Boone and Hinch left their respective press conferences late Tuesday without even announcing a Wednesday opener for such an important postseason game.

If the gods of weather intervene and the game is pushed back a day, it'll be Greinke vs. Masahiro Tanaka in Game 4, and we all will be spared.

Hinch said that bullpen games are "scary and dangerous" for a manager.

"There's a lot of pressure. You're asking guys to be really good that day," he said. "And when the game changes or the game gets long or something unforeseen happens, it gets a little more difficult to manage perfectly in that game."

Hinch has had each of his starters go long in the first three games to the tune of 19 2/3 innings.

"That's old school," Hinch said.

Boone has already managed three bullpen games as his starters have totaled 12 2/3 innings, six of those in Game 1 from Tanaka, who threw just 68 pitches and was followed by three relievers.

It's a must victory for the Yanks in Game 4, whenever it's played. If Boone executes that win, it'll further burnish his Manager of the Year credentials.