New York Yankees: Another year, another postseason letdown

It’s become a tradition of discontent for the New York Yankees. A habit of spending big dollars in the offseason ending with postseason disappointment.

Since 2009, New York has been the postseason nine times without making the fall classic. Unfulfilled promises with five consecutive exits have marred the last five years. Two of them, including last Tuesday, were at the hands of the Boston Red Sox.

Yankees spend big money and come up empty

The 6-2 defeat at Fenway concluded the season earlier than expected, but the score and Boston moving on to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS is the least of their concerns, and rightfully so. What took place on the mound is enough to have the late George Steinbrenner wanting so desperately to break out of his grave and march into the office and give his club an earful.

New York gave Gerrit Cole $324 million on a nine-year deal in the offseason with the expectation of being the ace pitcher that could take New York to the top. He didn’t even last three innings in the Wild Card game, giving up three early runs; essentially, the money equated to $108 million per inning.

Cole’s response after an early exit? Short, like his time on the mound.

“I’m sick to my stomach,”

Giancarlo Stanton delivered what looked like a home run in the first inning, only for it to end up a single, and had ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, a die-hard Yankee fan, going on one of his classic rants about how New York once again let him down. Stanton eventually got his home run, but New York was already down 6-1; it was only a pride-based score.

Yankees general manager Aaron Boone made a comment after the loss that is quite laughable when he spoke about teams closing the gap between them and the others in the American League.

“The league has closed the gap on us. We’ve got to get better in every aspect.”

The question to ask after that is what gap Boone is referring to? Throughout this past decade, New York has essentially been trying to match Boston, Tampa Bay, and Houston for being the best team in the American League.

Yes, Houston had trash can banging skills, but they still played good baseball even without their secret weapons. Additionally, Boston won more titles in this generation, and Tampa Bay, albeit a smaller market than the three previous teams, won the division for the second consecutive year.

Also in that stretch, Texas won two pennants, as did Kansas City, with their second ultimately ending in a World Series title. Even Detroit and Cleveland enjoyed the pleasure of donning a pennant while the Yankees watched from afar.

The New York Yankees’ ongoing postseason woes won’t end with heavy spending on big names and underperforming.

Remember when Pedro Martinez once referred to the Yankees as his daddy? Remember when Boone, before he managed the team, hit the shot that sent New York to the Fall Classic in 2003? Remember when Bucky Dent, before attending Tuesday’s game as a special guest of the team, hit the pop fly in 1978?

If you ask Boston fans now, they will reply with “so what?” And they are right; it’s been 18 years since the Yankees beat the Red Sox in October. Three postseason meetings between the two since 2003, and three times, it’s been at the Yankees’ expense, and twice on the hallowed ground of Yankee Stadium.

Finally, can we get to talking about the payroll? Over the past few years, New York has ranked amongst the top teams in team payroll. In 2021, they ranked second in the entire MLB with over $200 million.

The only team ahead of them? The reigning champion Dodgers at just over $260 million, and they too played in the Wild Card round this year, in which they won thanks to a walk-off home run from Chris Turner against the St. Louis Cardinals. However, the Dodgers have repeatedly been in the fall classic throughout the past decade compared to the Yankees and, as mentioned before, won a championship.

In contrast, the Rays, who aren’t necessarily breaking the bank by spending close to $71 million, which is near the bottom of the league, are among the better teams. There is a 96.6% difference in payroll spending between Tampa Bay and New York, and the former had a higher win percentage during the regular season, winning 62% of their games to the latter’s 57%.

All and all, it’s not been good. It doesn’t take much to know that things have been bleak in the Bronx, and their fans have had faces almost as blue as the jackets their team wears. Can this be fixed? Yes, anything can be fixed. But when?