Aaron Boone taking shot at Red Sox should give them fuel for 2025

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone had some choice words for the Boston Red Sox after the teams' latest tiff.

Days after Gerrit Cole cited Rafael Devers as the hitter who has given him the most trouble in his illustrious pitching career, he plunked the third baseman to open the rivals' Sept. 14 game. Cole intentionally walked Devers later in the game, which told Boston's manager Alex Cora that the first-inning hit on his franchise player was purposeful.

After Cora called Cole and the Yankees out, New York's skipper Boone offered some dismissive comments and shaded the Sox in the process.

"Chances are, we're not going to play them anymore this year," he said.

Aaron Boone shades Red Sox after Alex Cora's comments on Gerrit Cole's intentional walk of Rafael Devers

Boone also mentioned that the Yankees have more "important things" ahead of them — they've already clinched a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed in the American League playoff. Meanwhile, the Red Sox's playoff hopes continue to wither away.

It may benefit the Red Sox to take Boone's jabs personally. New York missed the playoffs last season and did everything in its power to make it this year, including trading for Juan Soto and awarding him the most expensive arbitration contract in MLB history. Boston's players shouldn't be blamed for the front office's apathy, though.

Cora had a fair reason to question Cole's motive after he hit Devers. The face of the Red Sox owns him like no other batter in the league — Cole looked seconds from tears after Devers' latest homer off him. But the pitch that hit Devers in the first inning didn't look nearly intentional enough to hurl allegations from three spots out of the last Wild Card. Plus, Devers seemed mostly unaffected by the whole ordeal.

The Yankees' 2024 success and Cora's shortsighted trash talk should serve as a lesson for the Red Sox. Their bark has not matched their complete lack of bite in the final weeks of the regular season, and there are multiple sources for their latest late-campaign collapse. They were never going to stick it to the Yankees for Cole's cowardice unless they made the postseason, and they couldn't pull it off.

There's always next year — but Sox fans are growing tired of saying it.

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