The magnitude of the Yankees' lost opportunity
Yesterday at 08:30 AM
A lot had to go right for the Yankees to reach the World Series. Will they be back any time soon?
Wednesday's season-ending loss in Game 5 of the World Series was one of the most frustrating in the Yankees' long history. The three defensive miscues that turned a comfortable 5-0 lead into a historic collapse left a bitter taste in the mouth of anyone who's followed this team all year.
But, in the last couple of days, the most difficult and painful component to processing the past week has actually been everything that went right for the Yankees. Sometimes, even the most talented of teams hit a brick wall, felled by the monthlong playoff gauntlet and going cold at the wrong time. As disappointing as it is to see your team lose under any circumstances, those types of losses can be rationalized away.
Not so with the 2024 Yankees. After a disastrous 2023 and mediocre regular season this year, Giancarlo Stanton was at full health and ability in October, going on a playoff run for the ages with 7 homers in 14 games (taking home ALCS MVP honors). Gerrit Cole returned from what many initially feared would be a season-ending injury to pitch like a true ace in the most important time of the year. Gleyber Torres turned into an on-base machine, reaching safely in all but the last of the Yankees' playoff games. Anthony Volpe unlocked the offensive potential that had lied dormant for two years, playing World Series hero with a Game 4 grand slam.
Luke Weaver, who was nearly out of baseball a year ago, and Clay Holmes, who got demoted out of the closer role after leading MLB in blown saves this year, combined to allow zero runs in the World Series. Even Alex Verdugo, who nearly lost his job to rookie wunderkind Jasson Domínguez at season's end, punched above his weight with a .762 World Series OPS. Most importantly, for one guaranteed season, Juan Soto sat at the center of the action, keying every game with his singular plate discipline and flair for the dramatic.
And, despite all of that breaking their way, the Yankees still lost to the Dodgers in five games. They found many ways to lose: questionable bullpen decisions, starters folding under pressure, baserunning gaffes, uncharacteristic fielding woes ... nearly all of them were, at least to some extent, self-inflicted (though LA deserves full credit for capitalizing). And they wiped out what is likely to be the this Yankees team's best shot at the crown.
It's reasonable to hope that this postseason was a legitimate star turn for Volpe, one that will stick come next year, though that's certainly no guarantee. And Weaver looks like he'll be a legitimate incumber closer when the Yankees assuredly pick up their club-friendly option for his services in 2025. But Soto, Torres, Verdugo, Holmes, and Tommy Kahnle are all free agents. Cole will turn 35 next September. Hoping for a healthy, productive regular season from Stanton at this stage of his career is a pipe dream.
Losing Soto would be a seismic shift to the Yankees' fortunes. But, even if they keep him, given the record-setting contract he's expected to receive, it's unlikely that owner Hal Steinbrenner would be willing to commit much more in free agency to fortify the holes on their roster.
Improvement from Volpe, Domínguez, Austin Wells, and Luis Gil as they continue to develop would certainly be a boon, as would a future postseason run from Aaron Judge that even closely resembles the regular-season beast he's been over the course of his career. But it's difficult to envision a scenario in which the Yankees will field a better team in 2025—at least on paper—than the one they employed this year. Of course, the quality of their team is why they won the AL pennant, a genuine achievement regardless of their World Series unraveling. This group had the opportunity to put themselves in the pantheon of great Yankees teams, cementing legacies crediting GM Brian Cashman with some impressive roster-building. Instead, they'll have to settle for second-best — runners-up, a fate so often rendered to teams like the Braves and Padres in an earlier generation.
Time will tell how long the Yankees have to wait to take another bite at the apple. As the previous 15-year pennant gap can attest, it might very well be longer than you expect, so don't hold your breath.
