Old-Timers weigh in on Aaron Boone and Yankees’ challenging situation

Old-Timers’ Day on Saturday wasn’t the first time this season Aaron Boone and Joe Torre have spoken to one another.

Boone said he’s talked often with Torre in recent weeks before the Yankees’ 5-4 win over the Astros on Saturday, where No. 6 was in attendance for an Old-Timers’ Day that doubled as a 25th anniversary celebration of the 2000 title.

That brought with it natural comparisons between now and the end of the regular season then, when the Yankees struggled to the finish line, going 13-17 in September before putting it together for a third straight championship.

Going into Saturday, the current Yankees had lost six of seven and looked to be in crisis, just a half-game up on the Guardians for the AL’s third and final wild-card spot.

“He’s kind of hanging on everything with us, so we’ve had a lot of contact back and forth, text messages, things like that,” Boone said of Torre. “[Yankees PR head Jason] Zillo reminded me this morning of that 2000 team, I think ended up losing 15 out of 18 at some point, won [87] games and then caught fire and went on that run. So we’re hoping for that kind of run.”

If the Yankees can’t turn it around, Boone — whose approval rating among fans is at a low — could end up taking the fall.

The last week has been particularly bad for the manager, who has faced questions over his continued use of the struggling Devin Williams.

Torre, for his part, has full faith in Boone, who he said convinced him to don pinstripes again at spring training a couple years ago, leading to his attendance at Old-Timers’ Day, which included a one-inning exhibition for the first time since 2019, where Ron Guidry, Roger Clemens, David Cone and Andy Pettitte all pitched.

Notably, Derek Jeter was not in attendance but joined via video message.

“What we went through in 2000 was nerve-wracking ’cause you were running out of games,” Torre said. “There’s plenty of games left 1754811781. Boonie knows what he has here. He’s gonna get a run out of these guys.”

That was echoed by Jorge Posada, Boone’s teammate with the Yankees in 2003.

“It’s not his fault,” Posada said. “He’s got some guys banged up, not at 100 percent. So it’s not his fault that some guys are not playing at their potential. …

“It’s tough to know what’s going on behind closed doors. Obviously, they went through a stretch, lost a lot of key guys. Health really matters. Just got to get everybody together, get whoever’s playing in the right [mindset] to win a ballgame. They haven’t done that.”