As the Yankees world awaits word on Aaron Boone, who still has a year left on his contract, almost as consequential is the fate of a pending free agent on his staff.

Matt Blake is much less divisive than his boss, but arguably just as important, especially coming off a year in which he and the Yankees’ pitching group got the most out of a staff that was missing its highest-paid arms for considerable amounts of time and had a largely no-name bullpen — and still managed to lead the majors in ERA (3.23).

“I think he’s pretty damn good at his job,” Will Warren said as the regular season was winding down.

The expectation is that Blake will be back for a third contract, barring a surprise such as the Yankees firing Boone and a new manager wanting to bring in his own staff. Because for as many issues as the Yankees have had in recent years that have led to repeated October disappointments, their pitching mostly has been the exception.