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New York Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge walks back to the dugout after being called out on strikes to end the fifth inning during a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)
These seven words alone are a rarity for baseball fans: The Yankees are eliminated from postseason contention.
A 7-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium officially sealed the Bronx Bombers’ fate of missing out on the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
It’s just the fifth time since Brian Cashman took over as general manager in 1998 that the Yankees have missed the playoffs — that’s five times in the last 26 seasons. To put it into perspective, from 1998-2022, Cashman’s Yankees had been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention in just 16 of 3,946 games total games, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Add seven more of those games to that dubious ledger, now, as New York simply plays out the remainder of its schedule just to avoid last place in the American League East. They’re currently three games up on the Boston Red Sox for the cellar spot.
“That’s what you work hard towards all year round… for an opportunity to play in October and compete for a championship,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So the reality of that not being in play sucks.”
The Yankees’ issues were exacerbated by the loss of Aaron Judge — the man who singlehandedly willed the Yankees to the ALCS last season and remains one of the most feared hitters in baseball. On June 3, the day he injured his toe running into the wall to make a catch at Dodger Stadium, they were 35-25. In his eight-week absence and his subsequent return, they’re 43-52.
Simply put, Cashman did little to provide the proper support for his team’s central figures.
Judge was the only…
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