NEW YORK — George Steinbrenner would be firing people.
The New York Yankees failed for the 17th straight season to win a World Series title and watched an opponent celebrate on their infield in October for the third consecutive year. Steinbrenner, their tempestuous controlling owner from 1973-2008, raged at far less frequent failure.
“There’s a standard to winning a championship. It’s black and white. There’s no gray area," Yankees captain Aaron Judge said Wednesday night after Tampa Bay completed a three-game AL Division Series sweep of New York. "It’s every day you show up to work, every little thing you do is, are you working towards a championship or you're not?”
New York ranked fourth in the majors in runs, 13th in batting average and second in OPS through May 31, its last game before Judge went on the injured list due to a fractured rib. From June 1 through the end of the season, the Yankees were 24th in runs, 29th in batting average and 27th in OPS. Judge returned for seven games from Sept. 8-16, hitting .174 with three RBIs before a calf strain ended his season.
After batting .382 with 18 runs in a two-game Wild Card Series sweep of Boston, the Yankees hit .130 and were outscored 10-5 by Tampa Bay with a batting order defanged without the three-time AL MVP.
“Look, it’s Aaron Judge, the greatest player in the world,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And that’s a huge, huge person to be missing.”
10 players could go free
Yankees closer David Bednar, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., center fielder Trent Grisham and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt could become free agents this offseason along with infielder Amed Rosario, left-handers Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough, and right-handers Paul Blackburn, John Schreiber and Michael Fulmer.
“This is where I want to be,” Chisholm said. “I love it as a Yankee. I grew up as a Yankee fan, getting from the Bahamas, watching Derek Jeter and those guys every day. It was a great time being a Yankee. I loved my time (with the) Yankees.”
Chisholm learned he was benched for Game 3 against the Rays in favor of Anthony Volpe when he saw the lineup card.
“I always prefer a conversation,” Chisholm said.
Leadership appears stable
Brian Cashman completed his 29th season as general manager, finishing a four-year contract. When Cashman took over in February 1998, it was the 15th change at GM since Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in January 1973.
Boone finished his ninth season as manager and has one season left on a two-year contract extension agreed to in February 2025. He has led New York to a 790-565 regular-season record and three first-place finishes in the AL East but a 27-30 postseason mark.
“Yeah, of course,” he said when asked whether he wanted to return for 2027. “That’s for another day.”
Judge would flash the cash
New York opened the season with MLB's third-highest payroll at $303 million and the Yankees drew just under 3.3 million fans for 80 dates, fourth in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego and Toronto.
Judge hopes Hal Steinbrenner, his father's successor, directs Cashman to be active in pursuit of a top roster.
“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do and find — if we've got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you've got to go out there and get it,” Judge said. “That’s why I signed back here to play with the Yankees — is to fight for a championship every single year and to go all-in. That’s what I do every offseason, is get ready to give this team and this city everything I've got, so I expect them to do the same.”
Schlittler a bright spot
A 25-year-old right-hander, Cam Schlittler is likely to win the AL Cy Young Award after going 14-6 with an AL-best 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings.
“We didn’t meet the expectations of the fans and this organization," he said. “There’s a certain standard of being a Yankee and we didn’t fulfill that.”
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