Aaron Boone pushed all the right buttons for the Yankees in the ALDS

They don’t hand out MVP awards for the Division Series like they do for the Championship Series and World Series.

If they did, Yankees candidates after they beat the Royals in four games would be Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole and Luke Weaver.

Here’s another one: Aaron Boone.

The oft-criticized manager didn’t bat 1.000, but he had as near-perfect a series as he has ever had in his seven years at the Yankees’ helm.

Almost every one of Boone’s bullpen moves worked — his relievers threw 15 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Weaver, Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle formed a shutdown triumvirate that harkened back to the days of Mariano Rivera, Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton, with Weaver saving all three ALDS wins in his first postseason action.

Boone’s other decisions were leftfield, where Alex Verdugo started over Jasson Dominguez and provided excellent defense that the rookie probably isn’t capable of at this point; and first base, where Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti each started two games in the absence of Anthony Rizzo, played surprisingly flawless defense and added a little sizzle to the bottom of the order.

The Yankees won with Aaron Judge batting .154 (2-for-13) with five walks. The probable AL MVP seemed to be getting his groove back in the final game, and if he goes on one of his home run barrages, the ALCS against Cleveland or Detroit could be a lot of fun for the folks in the Bronx.

There are numbers that can pinpoint exactly how players performed in a series, but the only measure of a manager is wins and losses. I asked Judge in the aftermath of the Yankees’ champagne celebration at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday night what kind of series he thought Boone had.

“That's our skipper,” Judge said. “He made some great moves. You go back to just the moves with the bullpen, having Clay, Tommy, and then Weave in Game 3 come out there and shut down the Royals. He made the right moves when they needed to be done. Him and [bench coach Brad] Ausmus are always working. He’s getting guys up [in the bullpen] in plenty of time. He’s always prepared. That's why he's our manager. He's going to come through big for us in big moments.

“Another thing is he lets us go out there and play. He lets us go out there, be free, and just do what we need to do.”

This isn’t an Aaron Rodgers/Robert Saleh situation. But if Judge ever soured on Boone, it would be hard to see the manager keeping his job.

What about general manager Brian Cashman? Before Game 3, when the series was tied at 1-1, Cashman was asked if Boone had to win the ALDS to stay in the dugout. The Yankees hold an option on Boone for 2025.

“He’s signed through a contract and I’m certainly happy to have him as our manager,” Cashman added. “I think we have an option on him . . . I think it’s important for all of us to obviously try to advance and keep our season going because our ultimate goal is a world championship. After that, when the winter starts, the winter starts. We’ll deal with the winter when we deal with it.”

At that point in the series, with losing to the plucky 86-win Royals still a possibility, Cashman said he thought Boone this season had done a “great job. Best record in the American League, won the American League East and now we’re trying in the new season — the postseason — to try to find a way all the way to the top.”

Boone has gotten to the ALCS twice before, in 2019 when the Yankees lost to Houston in six games, and two years ago when the Astros swept them away. No Houston in the Yankees' way this time.

“You get to this point, now we'll be down to the final four,” Boone said. "Everyone is feeling pretty good about their teams. That's the case for me.”

The Yankees will be the favorite whether they face Cleveland or Detroit. They probably don’t need to win another series to save Boone now. But it wouldn't hurt for the 51-year-old to get to the World Series to solidify his standing, if not amongst the fickle fan base, at least in the eyes of Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner, who have the only votes that matter.

In the ALCS, the Yankees need Cole and Stanton and Weaver to repeat their ALDS excellence. They need Judge to get it going and Juan Soto to tap into his 2019 World Series-winning mojo. They need Carlos Rodon to not come out white-hot and then fade. They need Anthony Volpe and Gleyber Torres to continue playing their best ball of the season, as they both did in the ALDS.

And they need Aaron Boone to manage at an MVP level. Again.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.