Now the Yankees have no excuse not to win the whole thing

New York Times

16 hours ago

When Juan Soto essentially traded the New York Yankees for the New York Mets and a whole lot of loot, he took a gamble that was lost in all the noise around the historic transaction.
Soto made his path to the World Series more challenging. By moving himself into the Los Angeles Dodgers' side of the postseason bracket, the slugger decided to bet on Steve Cohen's budget to overtake the very franchise that the Mets owner said he wanted to emulate.
Advertisement
The defending champs represent the team most likely to be a superpower in the coming seasons, and Soto will have to confront that reality as he tries to win his second ring. The neighboring team he left behind?
The Yankees have a lot of migraines to manage between now and a potential return to the Fall Classic, but no, trying to beat the Dodgers in a league championship series isn't one of them. Today's American League seems so light on heavyweight contenders, the Yankees have no credible excuse not to make a second straight trip to the World Series … and then no excuse not to win it once there.
Especially after the moves they made at the trade deadline to plug the majority of holes in their game.
Of course, a surgeon general's warning is necessary for all sunny forecasts in the Bronx, and it goes like this:
Everything is based on the assumption that the Yankees aren't underselling the extent of Aaron Judge's injury.
As custodians of the ultimate game of failure, baseball people are wired to fear the worst possible outcomes. It's such a cruel sport.
On Wednesday night, after Ryan McMahon walked off Tampa Bay in the 11th inning, the home team couldn't even enjoy a dramatic victory and the early evidence that its new third baseman might have a little Scott Brosius or Graig Nettles in him (you can look it up).
Ryan McMahon wins a WILD game for the @Yankees! #walkoff pic.twitter.com/UG1aodGfYd
— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2025
Instead, manager Aaron Boone had to answer another round of questions about his fundamentally inept club. Under the mistaken impression that there were three outs in the ninth inning instead of two, Austin Wells wandered off second base and forced the Yankees to win in extras.
Austin Wells gets doubled up because he thought there were three outs pic.twitter.com/Hisfe05Mil
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 31, 2025
'What do you say?' Boone said. 'It can't happen.'
Only it keeps happening under the manager's watch, leaving the fans beyond frustrated. In the wake of the dynastic days of 1996-2000, back when Brian Cashman and other club officials spoke often of a ticker-tape parade as the annual mission statement, the Yankees have seized one championship in 24 seasons.
Advertisement
Boone was around only for the last seven of those seasons, but as the franchise frontman who speaks publicly multiple times every day, he is the one who takes the high heat.
And rightfully so.
However, now Boone has a good chance — maybe his final chance — to win the franchise's first title since 2009, to earn the ring that eluded him as a player in 2003, after he sent the Yankees to the World Series with his Game 7 blast to beat Boston.
Before the trade deadline passed Thursday evening, Cashman, the longstanding general manager, added Pittsburgh's two-time All-Star closer David Bednar to a bullpen that already had a two-time All-Star closer, the struggling Devin Williams. Bednar is a beast, but in case he doesn't work out, Cashman dealt for the San Francisco Giants' Camilo Doval, another closer who made a recent All-Star team. Jake Bird, formerly of the Colorado Rockies, was another reliever who earned the Yankees' trust.
On top of this embarrassment of bullpen riches, Luke Weaver proved last fall that he can handle the best that October can throw at him. Cashman converted something of a weakness into a significant strength, and when he was done with his dizzying array of moves, the GM said he was trying to give Boone as many options as possible 'to give us the best shot we can take.'
'We tried to improve every aspect of the club, and this is what we have to show for those efforts,' Cashman added. '… I know we're better. We are better today than we were yesterday, so mission accomplished there.'
Cashman couldn't land a starting pitcher, and he will hear about that down the road if his team doesn't end up with the trophy. No baseball plan is ever executed to perfection.
However, on the offensive side of the ball, Cashman had already acquired Amed Rosario and Austin Slater to provide a more balanced attack against left-handed pitching. The Yankees already had the best hitter in the game, again, assuming Judge's elbow allows him to resume his chase of a third MVP award in the last four years.
Advertisement
They already had another outfielder, Cody Bellinger, whose manager believes has a place in that MVP conversation. They already had another slugger, Giancarlo Stanton, who launched seven postseason homers last fall and who stands as the October force that Judge is not.
The Yankees lead the majors in homers with 174. They have speed and athleticism in the form of Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe and the Tampa Bay player Cashman just plucked out of the visitors' dugout Thursday, Jose Caballero. They have one of the finest aces around in Max Fried, who won a championship in Atlanta, and a returning Luis Gil.
The Yankees are hardly perfect, but they have guys all over the place who have been voted All-Stars multiple times. Teams need certain things to win a title, and the Yanks have a lot of them.
'I really like our chances,' Bellinger, the only other Yankee besides Fried to have won a championship (with the Dodgers), told The Athletic. 'We added some tremendous weapons. I've faced all three of (the new relievers) plenty of times, and they are all very, very tough at-bats. You add that on top of what we already have in here, and it's very exciting.'
Now on to the competition in the American League. The Houston Astros are a threat, but Carlos Correa's homecoming doesn't make them the pinstripe postseason terminators they used to be. The Toronto Blue Jays have outplayed the Yankees all year, but since the start of the 2017 season — the beginning of the Judge era in the Bronx — the Yanks have won eight playoff series and the Blue Jays haven't won any.
Muscle memory matters in the tournament.
The Seattle Mariners certainly got more dangerous with the addition of Eugenio Suárez, and the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers are all worthy of respect. However, there is no AL opponent strong enough to strike fear into the heart of the Yankees fan base. Cashman has given Boone enough matchup advantages to advance through his side of the draw, whether as a division champ or wild card.
Advertisement
Before the deals went down Thursday, Boone said he was feeling good about the prospects of a championship run.
'It feels like parity reigns right now,' he said. 'I think there are a number of teams that probably feel like they have a chance to make that run. We certainly feel like that. We've got to improve in some areas. I do feel like hopefully some of the people on the horizon coming back (from injury) … are big deals for us.
'And we get to take our shot here in these next couple of months, getting back to (the World Series) and hopefully winning it all.'
Boone was feeling even better after beating the Rays 7-4 on Thursday and ripping through all of Cashman's triumphant texts.
They might have to face the Dodgers again on the biggest stage in the fall, which the Yanks should turn into the mother of all grudge matches. The Dodgers embarrassed them on the field and then hit the podcast circuit to shame them some more, ridiculing their defense, their baserunning, their lack of composure and even their unnecessary visits to the mound. Joe Kelly, a 13-year veteran, called the five-game victory 'a complete mismatch.'
Aaron Boone on the Dodgers' trash talking after winning the World Series:
"Sometimes you're coming off the drunkenness of winning a World Championship and some guys are more inclined to spout off and be a little more colorful than others." pic.twitter.com/pD97Rr40F6
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) February 11, 2025
If the Yankees can't beat the Dodgers after hearing that kind of trash talk, they should take up pickleball.
But before applying emotion in pursuit of vengeance, the Yanks (60-49) need to tighten up their fundamentals, catch the ball, throw it to the right base and count how many outs there are in any given inning, just like they were taught in Little League.
Advertisement
In the end, every major-league roster has its flaws, including the one in the Bronx. However, if Judge is healthy in this season of parity, the Yankees have the weapons to end their championship drought.
They have no legitimate excuse to end this season in failure, which is no guarantee that they won't.
(Photo of Ryan McMahon: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)