The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry just got a fresh twist, and this time it’s not happening on the diamond. Aaron Boone finds himself defending his managerial approach after facing criticism from Yankees legends Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, while a Red Sox veteran decided to pile on with his own pointed observation. Well, you know how these things go in the AL East.

Bruce Bochy found himself staring at another disappointing road loss, watching his Texas Rangers drop a heartbreaking 5-4 decision to Seattle that capped off a brutal seven-game stretch where they managed just two wins. The Rangers manager had every reason to sugarcoat Adolis García’s critical baserunning blunder, but delivered the kind of raw accountability that’s becoming rare in today’s game. “Absolutely no excuse in a game like… Can’t happen,” Bochy declared when fans demanded answers about García’s decision not to slide into second base. He didn’t stop there, adding with visible frustration, “I don’t know what he was thinking.” Well, you know what they say about actions speaking louder than words — and Bochy’s no-nonsense response created a stark contrast that one former Red Sox player couldn’t help but notice.

The contrast between Bochy’s direct accountability and another manager’s approach didn’t go unnoticed. While one manager owned his player’s mistake head-on, the comparison made Aaron Boone’s handling of similar situations look questionable. Red Sox veteran Jeff Frye seized the moment to take a direct shot at Boone’s leadership style. “Notice the @Rangers Manager isn’t making excuses for a @MLB player making a mistake or yelling at a base coach for a player making a mistake like the guy on the @Yankees does every time someone screws up!” Frye posted, making his target crystal clear. Want to take a guess who he’s referring to? Frye’s criticism highlights what many perceive as Boone’s tendency to deflect blame rather than hold players accountable for fundamental errors.

The timing couldn’t be more brutal for Boone and his struggling Yankees. After being swept by the Miami Marlins for the first time in franchise history, the team is now sitting third in the American League East. At one point this season, the Yankees held a seven-game lead in the division and looked like genuine World Series contenders who could challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers. Today, they’re trailing both the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, looking nothing like the powerhouse they appeared to be earlier in the year.

But the outside criticism was just the beginning of Boone’s nightmare. When your own franchise legends start throwing haymakers on national television, you know the situation has reached a whole different level of desperation.

Yankees Legends Call Out Aaron Boone

The criticism from outsiders like Jeff Frye stings, but when your own Hall of Fame legends start twisting the knife, you know the situation has spiraled beyond repair. The New York Yankees have officially become baseball’s favorite target, and now their most revered alumni are throwing the hardest punches.

When Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez start publicly roasting your franchise on national television, you know rock bottom isn’t just visible—you’ve crashed through it. During Saturday’s FOX pregame show, both Yankees icons delivered devastating critiques that cut straight to the heart of the team’s systemic problems. “They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said bluntly. “And you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”

Rodriguez hammered the team’s lack of accountability, creating an obvious parallel to the Bochy-García situation that Frye had highlighted. The duo essentially called out manager Aaron Boone without saying his name, leaving no doubt about where they think the responsibility lies for this organizational mess.

Aaron Boone fired back before Sunday’s crushing third-straight loss to Miami, attempting damage control with reporters. “Look, we’re the Yankees,” Boone said, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “When we lose games, if it’s in and around a mistake, that criticism is fair game. At the end of the day, we have all the pieces to be a really good team. That’s on me and all of us to get the most out of that.”

The numbers expose just how badly this team underperforms—at 60-52, they possess the American League’s best plus-92 run differential yet sit embarrassingly in third place behind Toronto and Boston.