There are two things to observe about the debacle we just witnessed. First, the “Aaron Judge can’t perform when it counts narrative” died with every ball smacked into the field of play. Secondly, the New York Yankees were eliminated in a playoff series by an American League East rival for the fourth time in the Aaron Boone era. I don’t want to belabor what we just saw. There will be enough anger over the coming weeks to last us through Spring Training. The goal now is to try to guess what is next for a franchise that is pretty close to matching their longest championship drought.
Let’s make one assumption: both Boone and Brian Cashman will be back. That assumption will not please many fans. But rather than wasting time arguing about it (which might come in a future post), let’s figure out what they should do. This is a quick snapshot of what my thoughts are in this moment.
To me, the first order of business is deciding what to do with Jasson Dominguez. Will he get a full time gig or will he be just another Yankee hyped prospect that does nothing with the team? If we assume they are done with Dominguez, then package him to Cleveland for Steven Kwan. I am sick of the strikeouts. Do you know who doesn’t strike out? The Toronto Blue Jays. You know, the team that just sent the Yanks packing. My preference would be to keep Dominguez but trading him for Kwan is a step in the right direction. Kwan is the type of high average, low strikeout player the Yanks desperately need. If that’s the move, then re-signing Cody Bellinger (if he opts out) makes a lot of sense. Trading Jazz Chisholm Jr. and giving second base to Oswaldo Cabrera is something I would entertain. Jazz is good but in keeping with my (which should be their) philosophy, I won’t miss the 148 strikeouts. As for Trent Grisham, I don’t think we will see another season like that from him again. I believe he will want too much money and therefore, will be playing elsewhere in 2026.
The pitching staff is is 90% complete. The rotation is pretty set. Maybe the bullpen gets another arm. Not much more to do.
And so another early offseason begins. Plenty of time to complain about why Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman still have jobs. Don’t waste your time on things you can’t control. The only way moves are made is if we all made an effort to ignore the Yankees next year. That won’t happen.
Threeunassisted 