Yankees need to have Aaron Boones back in pressure-packed playoffs

Let’s begin this positively — that like, say, Bill Walsh in the NFL or Gregg Popovich in the NBA, the Yankees have done a good job with a managerial/coaching tree.That 107 miles away from where the Yankees will begin their playoffs Saturday, two of their former longtime employees — Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and Phillies manager Rob Thomson — will be meeting in a Division Series of their own.Another guy who apprenticed on staffs in The Bronx, Joe Espada, has already come and gone from these playoffs, but just to get here after a 12-24 start made his first season as Houston’s skipper a successful one.Brian Cashman has long accentuated that the Yankees are teeming with quality employees —and this is just another example.But there is another way to look at this.

These are men who have been passed over in some form so Aaron Boone can manage the Yankees — or keep managing the Yankees.And if there weren’t enough pressure on Boone this postseason, there is this:The AL portion of these playoffs have opened up for the Yankees.They have home field and after the elimination of Houston and Baltimore, all that remains are the kind of AL Central opponents that the Yankees have been using as sparring partners for years.They are heavy favorites to reach the World Series for the first time since winning it all in 2009.

So what would falling short bring? Hal Steinbrenner greatly appreciates and likes Boone.So does Cashman.

Heck, everyone likes Boone.That is his grace.But Steinbrenner has a business to run and can he just do the status quo yet again? It is why in this postseason where players like Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge have large legacy issues, they also have long-term job security.“No,” Cashman told me when asked if Boone was managing for his job this October.

He explained that Boone is signed beyond this season.But that is an option.

Are the Yanks really just going to pick up an option and make Boone the lame duckiest of lame ducks?“That [is he mana...