October 30, 2025

152 thoughts on “Yankees.com: ‘We didn’t do our job’: Yanks’ season ends shy of title”

  2. Yes.
    And is it so impossible to replace one of Wells or Volpe with somebody who’s genuinely good at consistently getting on base? Not a bopper, not a flashy star… that would be transformative.

  3. But it’s shocking that what lost this series was the starting pitching, including Fried. In the regular season, yes, that rotation dominates. But when the big time comes… makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
    In the meanwhile, get ready for a classic matchup of monsters, with Toronto downing Milwaukee.
    If anyone watches.

  4. Having the #1 seed won’t matter if the offense continues to disappear against good pitching. Sure their own pitching sucked this series. But they scored 1 run in game 1 and 2 in game 4, and didn’t have a hit in game 2 until they were buried.

    1. That’s the thing. To me, it looked like Toronto knew exactly what the Yankees were going to throw and exactly how to get them to chase. There were a ton of uncompetitive at bats up and down the order. They were terrible two-strike hitters in the regular season and even worse in the postseason. I don’t know how this compares to the league overall, but the Yankees in the regular season had 503 PAs with an 0-2 count where they had an .386 OPS and only 124 PAs with a 2-0 count where they had a 1.179 OPS with a .792 SLG.

    2. That’s striking, but of course “how that compares to the league” is exactly what we’d need to know to make anything of it. I mean, you’d expect the pitchers to do better after 0-2 and the batters to do better after 2-0.

    3. I mean, you’d expect the pitchers to do better after 0-2 and the batters to do better after 2-0.
      Yeah, but I’m more interested in the number of counts. The Yankees seem to love getting in 2 strike counts and then – predictably – striking out.

    1. Even that’s just not quite enough. They rely too much on power, and thus on chance. They stack the top with power and have an AWFUL bottom of the line-up, and the more empty spots you have, the less you can muddle through anyone else – do I hear Stanton, Grisham? – slumping.
      They don’t need stars there, but replacing at least one of those gaping holes with someone really good at getting on base is as crucial as the rest of that plan.

  6. Yankee season ends not close to a title, Yankee season ends unable to get out of the division series.
    Yankee season ends thoroughly dominated and outplayed by Toronto just like in the regular season.

  7. I think Toronto would’ve won easily even if we had the bye.
    Rodon will never be a pitcher we can depend on.
    Rowson should be fired. He might. Boone needs to be fired. He won’t. The front office of Levine, Trost, and Cash needs some new, younger blood.
    Maybe don’t build a pen mostly off the waiver wire.
    Accept phenom for what he is, not very good. Maybe they can find a team that still believes the hype.

    1. Yeah, but if the Yankees had gotten the bye, maybe Toronto is eliminated before they even get to the Yankees. Not playing a series is the only way to guarantee not getting eliminated in that series.

    2. That, too, but i just like the bye as a sign that they’re the best team, ya know?

      Be the best team, and you’ll probably be in good shape to win the title. They were clearly better than both KC and Cleveland last year.

      The were NOT clearly better than Toronto (and they weren’t clearly better than the Red Sox in a short series).

  8. Mike A asks “Could Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone’s stability be part of the problem? The Yankees have consistently won in the regular season and against AL Central teams in the playoffs, but too often in the Boone/Cashman era have short against other top high-spending clubs (Blue Jays, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, etc.). Some numbers on New York’s postseason success in Boone’s eight years as manager:

    Postseason record: 25-27 (.481)
    Record vs. AL Central teams: 15-4 (.789)
    Record vs. all others: 10-23 (.303)

    https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/yankees-eliminated-from-mlb-playoffs-could-brian-cashman-aaron-boones-stability-be-part-of-the-problem/

  9. Sure, sign Tucker. Only legit star on the market. Dominguez to CF. Tucker and Judge in your corner outfield spots. Judge can DH more when Jones comes up. (If Judge is willing to learn 1B, that might solve a few problems.)

    Also sign Realmuto. On his off days Rice can move from 1B to C, and Cabrera (remember him?) can play 1B (or Bellinger, if he re-ups, or Judge if he learns the position).

    Trade Volpe and Wells for relievers. Could probably get a couple for each – bullpen arms for chicken parms.

    Keep Caballero at shortstop, of course.

    2. Is it that hard to imagine getting an actually worthwhile hitter back for a package including some combination of Volpe, Wells, Warren, and/or even Schmidt? They can AFFORD to do that, and those are players some team will value, I think.

  10. given equal odds of each team winning the postseason, and that boone has played 8 seasons of playoff baseball… the odds of at least one world series championship is 52%.

    some years they were favored and some they were not, but that sounds fair to me as a premise.

    boone sucks
    volpe sucks
    wells sucks (no obvious replacement)
    see ya jazz (gleyber exit when fa)
    devin
    belli

    and unfortunately stanton was former stanton when the knives were out. when he sucks, he just sucks and kills the team too.

    1. I can accept not winning a World Series but with his payroll after 52 playoff games he should not be under 500.

    1. Of course not. I’ll take the under. He’ll have other suitors. Maybe he doesn’t want to play in NY. Maybe Hal would rather keep Grisham at less than half the cost of Tucker.

    2. They tried to deal for him, so there’s obvious interest there. I think Cash will definitely do his best to sign him, and since they have the money, I think they’ll get him. Remember, Cash was willing to spend a ton of money for Soto, and Tucker is as close as you can get to Soto out there.

  12. it’s not so much the bye as much as it is just being the best team out there.

    They were in 2024. in 2019 and 2022, despite being really good teams, they were not as good as the Astros. In 2018, they were really good, but not as good as the Astros or the Red Sox. With Tucker, Cole, and an improved bullpen, they can definitely be the best team in the AL in 2026.

    1. they sure can be the best and the bats can go silent again then too unless they radically change their approach / entitlement

  13. Looks like I can add a new criteria to “when will I start watching Yankee games again”. Previously it was ‘fire Boone’. Now it is ‘fire Boone, jettison Volpe’. I can’t stomach him being a regular.

    1. Right there with you. Any team that can allow 1500+ at bats for a guy with this kind of on base pct and never sit him or pinch hit for him is not worth watching.

  14. Judge didn’t disappear this post-season, which is progress, but he wasn’t great either.
    Stanton wasn’t his usual post-season self though. I’d say they swapped but Judge wasn’t as impactful as typical Stanton post seasons…

    Everyone gets another year older…

    They should have a great staff next year, but who knows how things will play out. Cole coming off surgery at 35 and 2 years older from when we saw him last, 3 years since his last Cy Young, and 5 years from when he last put up great back to back “seasons” (and 1 of them was COVID shortened)
    Fried being another year older, Rodon… being Rodon, Gil and Schlittler and 2 good depth starters, but how often does everything go well for everyone?

    It feels like last year with Soto was the golden opportunity, but they weren’t nearly as good as even a Dodgers team ravaged with injury. Can they be as good as the top NL teams next year? And it seems more AL teams are poised to get better next year as well. Hell, their own division will likely be much better next year.

    1. I don’t know how much you can ask of Judge. He had two crucial moments, and he homered in one and struck out in the other (for a .500 average). His OPS was colossal. He batted .500 for the entire postseason despite being walked and not pitched to a lot. I’d like him to have hit lots of home runs, but those numbers are pretty fantastic.

    2. Judge had a great game 3. No question. Outside of that? He had 3 RBI in 6 games. His 1 RBI in the Red Sox series was meaningful. He took the lead in the 5th. The other two was 1 RBI to make the game 12-3 and 1 RBI to make the game 5-2… in the bottom of the 9th. Neither changed the Yankees chances of winning. Literally.

      I’m not saying he was bad. He had a good post-season but it wasn’t really impactful. Not like Vlad Jr. Or some of Stanton’s post seasons. Or even A-Rod in 2009. It was a good post-season but not that memorable.

    3. That’s all true, but RBIs are hardly a “true outcome” stat. When nobody else is getting on base (and they don’t want to pitch to you), it’s pretty hard to build up RBIs, unless you just pile up solo HRs, right?
      Vladdy, depressingly enough, had a ton of folks on the bases to drive in.

    4. I don’t disagree, but is it any different than in past years when he wasnt hitting and Stanton did? Stanton would leave his mark by hitting HEs like 5 games in a row .

      it was a good postseason, just not memorable. Like Harrison Baders postseason. or Jeters post season in in 2002 vs the Angels. No one remembers that or points to that as great.

  15. End the switch hitting of Jasson. He’s worse than Volpe when he bats against LHP, career OPS .530 against them, and .390(!) against left-handed starters.

  17. How fire Boone didn’t make this list is beyond me.

    I’d like Judge to learn first as an option at some point, both down the line as he ages and because what do you do if Jones forces himself on the team next season? Or if, more likely, whatever RH bat they pick up to platoon with Rice isn’t good?

    Outfield plus Tucker is fine? Judge/Jasson/Tucker and go get another OF who can hit for some power and give everyone off days I guess, but Judge having to play some center isn’t ideal. Unless Jones of course.
    Volpe really has to go, but what exactly do you do? Caballero and him do SS and IF backup I guess.
    Jazz? Can you really resign him? He hit .242 for heaven’s sake, and it’s not like he’s great defensively. Or plays with any sort of IQ.
    McMahon is a nothing (.217!!, .208 with the Yankees) but at least he can field.

    Season ends up swinging on Jasson and Rice hitting wise, because with them 2 improving, the lineup doesn’t look too bad. Wells being okay would also help.
    Rotation is great on paper. Fried/Rodon/Schlittler/Gil/Warren is fine, with Cole and Shmidt coming back.

  18. I still don’t get the universal agreement here to Judge in CF. Judge is a really good CFer, and it maximizes his value. He’s NOT as good when he’s being super-cautious, which he clearly was for a long while after the injury – and that’s the only time the numbers will suggest he wasn’t really good. If he can make the kinds of plays he made in their one win of this series, he’s a very good center fielder.
    He’s good in right, too, which is valuable, if not AS valuable.
    Moving him to 1st base… if you’re worried about Jones – and I’d love to be certain that Jones is a threat to even make the ML roster, but I don’t see any basis for that yet – train HIM to play first. I doubt he’s as good a Judge in the outfield.

    2. Keep Judge in right, let The Martian or Cody or whoever play center. Spencer Jones is not a realistic possibility, after a hot July he OPSed 556 in August and rebounded to a decent 825 in September striking out more than half the time. He seems to have a huge split 1002/662. Maybe he’s a very late bloomer and is just beginning to figure it out. Judge didn’t excel until age 24.

    3. Okay, looking into that. I see zero analyses that agree with that claim. A bunch of them say he’s a hair below average, all because he’s not as good coming in on liners, although he takes good routes and has great range.
      A *bad* centerfielder? So far I can’t find anyone to agree with that.
      And add to that that it’s much harder to get great production out of center than right, let alone first base, the added value is very significant.

    4. The main reason not to make Judge the starting CF this year is that Dominguez may suck less in CF than LF. He was a hazard this year, and it seemed like he wasn’t used to how the ball comes at a LF’er. But he came up as a CF’er, and would probably get better reads and have better routes there. His bat is good enough for CF (at least, his left handed bat).

      The long term reason not to play Judge in CF is the wear and tear. As you note, Judge is a fine center fielder, limited only by effort after injury. (Really, he’s really really ridiculously good at pretty much everything.) But regular CF with full effort may incur extra wear and tear on him, and could limit his availability this year and his longevity overall. It’s been 50 years since there was a guy who sustained all-star level play in CF into his mid-late 30s (Willie Mays). Go back another half century and you can add two more (Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb). Judge might be one of those; he’s a physical outlier, he pays attention to conditioning, and he started his MLB career later; but I think it’s reasonable to suspect that his availability this year and his longevity will both benefit from sticking at corner OF or moving to 1B. It may be a way to keep the window open a bit longer.

      The other reason to put Judge at 1B is that, while it’s traditionally easier in MLB to get offense out of 1B than CF, that hasn’t been the case in the Bronx for about a decade. First base has been an overwhelming black hole of suckitude for 7.5 of the last 10 years (excepting Luke Voit and pre-concussion Rizzo). If you want Ben Rice to stick at catcher then you need a 1B and the free agent options aren’t great. (They’re even worse at C – the only one I’d consider would be Realmuto, but he’s getting older too.)

      Agreed that Jones isn’t ready yet – his strikeout rate is still too high – but account for Pandemic-era learning loss and he’s on a very similar timeline to Judge’s. I’m sure he’ll work this winter to reduce his strikeout rate – in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends some time with Judge and Schenck. He could be knocking on the door by July.

    8. I was debating whether to include Bird in that. Would have read “excepting Luke Voit, pre-concussion Rizzo, and pre-everything Bird.”

      I was so hopeful in spring training 2017, when Bird and Judge and Sanchez all seemed like 40 HR guys. And in spring training 2018, when it seemed like Bird was back after his homer off Miller, Sanchez hadn’t fallen off yet, Judge was a proven 50 HR guy, and they’d gotten Stanton off a 59 HR season…

    1. It is a very unserious organization. All the matters is the cash flow. That is the only way to Hal’s heart. Hal is 180º from George.

  20. I don’t have anything much to add but I watched some of the game last night with the husband of a friend. He’s a 5th avenue WASP, impeccably mannered, easygoing, likes sports more for the athleticism than the competition has always been my impression. The guy was ranting and raving about Boone and I thought he was gonna stroke out when Jazz booted that grounder.

  27. There’s no point discussing Boone being fired when it’s never going to happen. They could legit sign Tucker, and add more bullpen guys (Cashman used to be so into the bullpen, then went away from it, and it was so bad that I bet he’ll reverse course).

    1. 100 years from now and Boone will be the trivia answer to “who managed the most games without winning a WS?” And our great grandkids will wonder what granddaddy Big Fan and BC were thinking.
      Cashman of course will still be the GM.

    2. Twenty years from now Hal will have AI that looks back on every in game decision Boone made since day one and computes how many games Boone gained or cost the Yankees compared to a replacement level competent manager. When Hal gets the readout he will be heard screaming FUCK!!!!!

  28. I hear they have Cashman training their own in house AI so Cashman can be GM for the rest of time. The main feature of this AI model is how slowly it adapts and learns.

  29. boone doesn’t look so bad against toronto because outside of putting some wrong names on the lineup card they never had a lead for him to ruin.

    the horrible pitching may have saved his job.

  31. Kuty: The Yankees sell their fans on glory and championships, on Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter and Joe Torre.
    But these days the concept of Yankees exceptionalism can be found more in the team store and in marketing than on the field.
    They will be sold on the premise that the Yankees are in a class of their own, even though the years since their last title in 2009 have largely been marked by overpromising and underdelivering.
    https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6705463/2025/10/10/yankees-results-tradition-marketing-fans/

    1. No WS win since 2009, and just one WS appearance since 2009, last year. The Dodgers didn’t win a WS from 1988 until 2020. Maybe that is the Yankees goal, to match that.

  33. Has he signed with the Dodgers yet?
    Munetaka Murakami is a Japanese infielder and home run champion for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball. Fans call him “Murakami-sama”, which means “god” in Japanese, because of his on-field abilities. In 2022, “Murakami-sama” was named Japan’s Word of the Year.

    1. He’s basically a 1st baseman and his defense is suspect from what I’ve read. His K-rate is slightly above 1 per game, but a career OBP of .394.

  62. Woo (pectoral) is throwing a bullpen session ahead of Game 5 of the ALDS versus the Tigers on Friday, the results of which should dictate whether he’ll be included on the Mariners’ roster for the ALCS, should they advance, Shannon Drayer of SeattleSports.com reports.

    If he’s healthy Seattle could be tough.

  63. Pinstripe Alley “ The Ringer | Ben Glicksman: Was an early and unsatisfying end to the Yankees’ season inevitable? Glicksman thinks so. And Glicksman has a clear culprit. Aaron Boone.

    “Eight seasons in, this is the defining experience of Boone’s tenure. His lineups go cold in October. His defense is burned by simple mistakes. And his decision-making falters in the biggest moments.”
    If you want to torture yourself, read on, as The Ringer takes you on a tour of October Failures Past. Welcome to the offseason.”

  64. The Yankees had better go all-in next year, with Cole coming back, if Cashman and Boone have any hope of saving their legacies.
    They can believe in their “process” all they want, but they’re going to need a roster of players so good that it overcomes not only the opposition, but the “process” itself – the lack of training to avoid either the miscues in the field or the miscues on the bases, the destructively poor use of the roster they have, etc., etc., etc.

  65. I know we are are looking to find someone to hold accountable for the Yankees recent disappointments, but I want to shift gears for a minute and stroll down memory lane…

    Remember in 2017 the Baby Bombers came on the scene a little earlier (and better) than expected and the Yankees fired Girardi, and had a lot of cap space to work with and build around this great young core, and Brian Cashman commissioned a book to announce he now has all the power in the organization, and basically pre-taking credit for all the good things that were about to happen…

    Good times.

    1. The Stanton trade may in hindsight be the defining moment of post-2017. Big unneeded move that didn’t work, seemingly prevented then from
      Making other moves that might have (Harper)….

    2. Maybe that’s why Boone is here, to shield Cashman from criticism. What about Randy Levine? WTF does Levine.

    3. I forgot he took a shot at Jeter in the book and laughed at him for getting the better of him on the Stanton trade. Oh man, that book ages better and better every year.

    4. At the time of the Stanton deal, I said it worked only if it didn’t prevent them from signing Harper or Machado. It did, so fuck that deal so much. What an awful decision.

    7. I think I still make the Stanton trade every time. It’s exactly the kind of trade a team like the Yankees should be making, take on a big contract in return for very little in prospect cost. Unfortunately, instead of being flexible and smart like the Dodgers, the Yankees panicked as Stanton struggled a bit to pick up LF and just abandoned their plans. And let’s be honest, the Yankees make tons of money, they absolutely didn’t have to let Stanton’s contract prevent them from making additional moves.

      The Yankees are built to not miss the playoffs, not to win.

    8. And let’s be honest, the Yankees make tons of money, they absolutely didn’t have to let Stanton’s contract prevent them from making additional moves.

      Of course not, but we knew it likely WOULD, and since we knew it likely WOULD, I would have preferred them to just not make the deal.

  66. How can you take any organization seriously which allows Jasson to continue to flail away at LHP? I posted over two years ago that they needed to stop the switch-hitting because the splits were so bad. Now, his ML numbers are dreadful, a .530 OPS vs. LHP, but a .390(!) OPS vs. LH starters.

    1. I think abandoning switch hitting has to be on the table, but Dominguez is still just 23. I’m more concerned about how poor he looks in the field, especially since at the moment, he’s the best non-Judge option for CF on the roster.

    2. Didn’t he look just fine in CF, even pretty good, before they shifted him to left? It’s been more than long enough for him to adjust to LF, of course, if you leave aside screwing with his confidence.
      For now, I’m most worried about his sudden and complete lack of power, after his initial brief stint where they couldn’t keep him in the ballpark.

    3. Judges poor post season reputation didn’t really go away because he was still pretty bad in a lot of post seasons. Sure this one helps, and I don’t think anyone was seriously clamoring to get rid of Judge because he wasn’t capable of hitting in the post season… but that doesn’t change all those years he didn’t hit in the post season. He didn’t even have an A-Rod like 2009 post-season. Hell, he hasn’t even been the best player in THIS post-season.

      It sucks we are going to have to keep hearing it, but trying to pretend it never happened isn’t going to make things better.

  74. A line drive 3-2, 2 out hit. Boone and Rowson should practice that in the playoffs. And against the Jays unhittable pen. It’s good when guys don’t try to put everything in the seats Jazz..

  77. Toronto 51 hits in 4 games vs the Yankees. Two hits tonight. Reason #943 to fire Boone his game planning sucks. Reason #942 Yankee hitters with few exceptions have no approach.

  80. It’s incredible to read that box score right after our series.
    They were RIGHT ON every pitcher. The announcers, analysts: that great approach, put the ball in play.
    Here, they faced four pitchers and hit no one.
    Vladdy, Clement, Varsho and Kirk, who were so unstoppable combined for.. for nothing. 0 for 18.
    How is it POSSIBLE that every last Yankee pitcher, including their best, was simply pummelled mercilessly? We can now dispense with the idea that they were unstoppably hot, or that they’re just that good and can’t be pitched to – apparently at least every single pitcher the Ms put in can shut them down.
    Their approach… pfffaugh.

    1. I did mention that I thought they were stealing signs when Fried pitched. It was uncanny how they seemed to know what to expect in that game.

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