For the third year in a row, the New York Yankees ended their season watching an opponent celebrate on the Yankee Stadium turf in October.
On Wednesday, it was the Tampa Bay Rays’ turn to do the honors after sweeping New York from the playoffs, following the Toronto Blue Jays’ dominant effort in last year’s ALDS and closing out the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the 2025 World Series.
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In Tampa’s ALDS sweep, the Yankees pitching staff generally did its job, as it has all season. But without Aaron Judge, sidelined with a calf strain suffered in late September, the Yankees offense reverted to the worst version of itself — the version that was on display without Judge for much of the regular season. Only Ben Rice seemed locked in at distance, with the rest of the hitters showing minimal resistance to Tampa Bay’s army of weapons, which confounded New York’s bats no matter how manager Aaron Boone organized the lineup. The Yankees struck out 31 times and managed just 12 hits in the three games, the lowest total in a multi-game playoff series in franchise history.
The end of Game 3 was a fitting finale for the “run-it-back” Yankees, a not-so-flattering nickname bestowed after New York spent last offseason going to great lengths to keep its roster largely intact despite an early playoff exit at the hands of Toronto. Last winter saw the retention of outfielder Trent Grisham via qualifying offer, the re-signing of key players Amed Rosario and Paul Goldschmidt, as well as relievers Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough, and a massive new contract for outfielder Cody Bellinger – all while making minimal improvements beyond returnees.
During the regular season, some survivors performed better than others. Blackburn excelled in relief, exemplifying New York’s developmental skill and ingenuity on the mound. The veteran Goldschmidt raked in the first half but faded badly in the final sequence. Bellinger shined all summer, but was a non-factor against Tampa Bay, going 1 for 12. And after a disappointing regular season, it was Grisham who represented the Yankees’ last hope in the ninth inning of Game 3, having been inserted into leadoff in a final roster shuffle by Boone, with the hope that his plate discipline might show up when his team needed him most. Instead, with the tying run on second base, Grisham struck out on four pitches, leaving Rice on deck and punctuating an 0-for-5 run with three strikeouts.
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Fair or not, the optics of the final at-bat of the Yankees’ 2026 season make it hard to believe that going back would ever be a recipe for success. Now, New York once again enters its offseason in early October with an opportunity to enact significant changes. Early reports indicate that neither general manager Brian Cashman nor manager Aaron Boone are in danger of losing their jobs, so that’s the roster that will be the center of attention.
Will they shake things up in a meaningful way? Grisham is one of several key Yankees expected to enter free agency, and he seems the least likely to stay, especially given the emergence of outfielder Spencer Jones. Second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and closer David Bednar will join Grisham on the open market, each of whom could command a significant amount of money in a particularly weak free agent class. Bednar was an excellent choice in the back of Boone’s bullpen this year, but the Yankees have proven capable of covering high-leverage innings without paying a premium. They let Devin Williams and Luke Weaver leave in free agency last year; will they do the same with Bednar?
Chisholm’s relationship with New York is more complicated. The Yankees infield is both completely unstable and terribly crowded. Is George Lombard Jr. an asset to be the Opening Day shortstop? Could Anthony Volpe be the everyday second or third baseman, or should he move into a bench role? Does Ryan McMahon, who is still owed $16 million next season, belong on this list? And what about midseason addition Luis Garcia Jr. — could he return to his native second base, despite his poor defensive reputation?
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And that’s just the infield. Giancarlo Stanton has one year left on his contract, but his durability is tenuous to say the least, and the DH spot will already be occupied by Garcia, Rice and perhaps Judge.
As they look toward 2027, the Yankees can at least take solace in knowing that their pitching staff is in excellent shape, with an excellent (albeit expensive) rotation led by an ascending homegrown ace in Cam Schlittler. Still, there is still a lot to resolve regarding their defensive alignment and roster construction.
Of course, the entire operation still revolves around Judge, whose absence cannot be overlooked when evaluating this Yankees season. But as he approaches his 35th birthday in April, Judge’s injury-ravaged season reminds us that his spectacular peak may already be behind him. At the very least, he needs a stronger supporting cast to achieve his ultimate goal: bringing a World Series to the Bronx.
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When Judge addressed the media a year ago while the Blue Jays were celebrating in the Bronx, he had undoubtedly done his part in October, hitting .500 in seven playoff games, including a stadium-shaking three-run homer in New York’s Game 3 win over Toronto. In 2024, Judge was at the center of collective disappointment, hitting just .184 in New York’s playoff run and contributing one of the crucial errors in the fifth-inning defensive disaster of Game 5 of the World Series.
This year, for the first time, Judge had to talk about a playoff series he didn’t play in. It was also his least successful regular season as a big leaguer; his .871 OPS and 66 games played are both career-low marks over a full season. Injuries were the culprit; a broken rib cost him three months and a calf strain left him unavailable for the first two rounds of the playoffs. It’s unclear whether Judge would have been activated if the Yankees had moved forward, but the Rays have made that assumption moot. Judge, the ultimate main character of this era of Yankees baseball, has been relegated to the background.
This does not, however, diminish the weight of his words.
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“We are the Yankees.”
Among a deluge of predictable post-elimination platitudes, these words uttered by the captain and three-time AL MVP following the Yankees’ latest postseason outing stood out. Judge was asked what he hoped to see from ownership and the front office in response to the franchise once again failing to achieve its annual goal of winning it all.
“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they should go all-in and do what they need to do,” Judge said. “That’s why I signed here to play for the Yankees: to compete for a championship every year. To go all-in. That’s what I do every offseason, preparing to give this team and this city everything we have. I expect them to do the same.”
The desired feeling is clear. It’s not just that the Yankees are dismayed after crashing out of the playoffs in early October. That’s because this latest collection of Bronx Bombers falls well short of this franchise’s singular standard, based on its unmatched history of being the last team standing.
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Of course, the 2026 Yankees delivered their 34th consecutive winning season, the second-longest such streak in major league history, behind a 39-year streak achieved by the Yankees from 1926 to 1964. The front office, led by Brian Cashman since 1998, has built ballclubs each year that are at or near the top of the regular-season standings.
“But it’s not enough here in New York,” Judge added. “We’re the Yankees. You have to go out there and expect championships and go all-in every year.”
It’s the Yankees. They are different. They are supposed to win everything.
But are they really?
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During the first half of Cashman’s nearly three-decade tenure as head of baseball operations in New York, the Yankees won four World Series titles (1998, 1999, 2000, 2009), lost two more times in the Fall Classic (2001, 2003) and missed the playoffs only once (2008). It’s the standard Judge and his disillusioned teammates grew up on. Those who become Yankees tend to adopt the franchise’s World Series-leading identity and aspire to maintain its winning tradition.
But more recently, the Yankees have struggled to recapture the consistent excellence achieved by the previous generation. Over the past 14 seasons, New York has reached a World Series (2025) and missed October four times (2013, 2014, 2016, 2023). Since the Yankees last won the World Series in 2009, 10 different franchises have become champions, including their biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox, twice.
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So yes, it’s the Yankees. They still wear pinstripes and have many great baseball players.
But every time they finally break through and win it all, there’s a good chance they’ll exceed expectations – but not meet them.
Gn sports
