It is now certain that the New York Yankees will not make it to the postseason this year.
New York’s chances of making the playoffs are 0.5% following the Boston Red Sox’s three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, according per Fangraphs. The team “got to be unbelievable the rest of the way” to have any shot, according to manager Aaron Boone, who also acknowledged that winning one game is the first step toward winning many.
Boone can’t claim it’s over, but it’s a mathematical and practical fact that he has six teams to overcome and a nine-game wild-card gap to close. And there are only gloomy questions left.
How awful have these Yankees been historically? How did it get so unsightly? In 2024, will things worsen before they get better?
The Yankees’ collapse is broken down by important statistics by USA TODAY Sports.
Everything Yankees related: the most recent information on the New York Yankees’ roster, schedule, injuries, and more.
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It’s true that the Yankees have only won one World Series since their run of four victories in six years came to an end in 2000, but those other years weren’t exactly poor performances.
Since a rookie manager named Buck Showalter led the Yankees to a five-win improvement (to 76-86) in 1992, the team has not finished below.500.
Since then, New York has never ended upside down—thanks to Showalter, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, and now the increasingly troubled Boone. After a work stoppage in 1994 ended the World Series with the Yankees down 70-43, they went on to make the playoffs in 24 of the next 28 seasons.
During the 2016 trade deadline, general manager Brian Cashman acquired future All-Star infielder Gleyber Torres in exchange for relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, resulting in a mini-rebuild.
Even though it only resulted in the 2009 World Series championship, that drumbeat of consistency will probably serve as the foundation for owner Hal Steinbrenner’s assessment of Cashman.
Boone, who is nearing the end of his sixth season as the Yankees’ manager, may not be as lucky.
The Yankees are at 60-64 heading into this week, and Boston’s weekend sweep has put them six games behind the Red Sox in fourth place, potentially sealing New York’s first last-place result since 1991. After that campaign concluded, manager Stump Merrill was let go a few days later.
The Yankees’ opening-day payroll was $277 million.
Following Steinbrenner’s $360 million salary retention of Aaron Judge and $162 million for southpaw Carlos Rodon, only the crosstown Mets ($354 million) will spend more on salaries (and earn less for their money) than the Yankees.
That gamble, in large part, has failed due to injuries.
Judge’s MVP season was ruined when he missed more than two months of play due to a toe injury. Due to many injuries, Rodon has only started six games and his season debut was postponed until July 7.
Although it was a noble move, Steinbrenner’s decision to forgo the caution that had structured recent offseasons and embrace a payroll that soared beyond the luxury tax ceiling left the Yankees team with several voids and amounted to an extremely costly half-measure.
