Thoughts after Game 3 of the World Series
Added 2024-10-29 04:46:55 +0000 UTC
Do you think Aaron Boone will show the Yankees the 2004 Red Sox video again? Maybe he can have Dave Roberts come over and give them a motivational speech. Monday night’s 4-2 loss was the first two-run blowout in baseball history, and the Yankees are down 3-0 in the World Series. It’s too bad they can’t play an AL Central team in the World Series, isn’t it? Those are the only teams they can beat in October.
"We're trying to get a game tomorrow," Aaron Boone said after Game 3. "That's where our focus lies. Hopefully we can go be this amazing story and shock the world."
This feels familiar, doesn’t it? The Yankees had a very good regular season because they overcame their obvious flaws with home runs, they beat an AL Central team in October (two!), and now they’re getting outclassed by one of the sport’s true titans. At some point in the next one to four games, the Yankees will lose and get sent home by a team that is everything the Yankees should be, but aren’t.
The Dodgers have certainly performed better on the field these last three games. Their roster is better constructed. They’re much more buttoned-up defensively and on the bases. They develop players better, they identify trade and free agent targets better, they gameplan better. Everything the Dodgers do is better. Yet again, the Yankees are being shown they aren’t in the same weight class as their opponent.
And the thing is, the Dodgers aren’t even at full strength! Freddie Freeman’s hurt, yet he has one fewer extra-base hit through three games than the entire Yankees' offense. Shohei Ohtani can’t swing a bat properly and he still reached base twice in Game 3. The Dodgers have five Major League starters on the injured list. Remember when the Yankees had the rotation advantage? Hilarious, in hindsight.
There are things about Game 3 we could nitpick. Gleyber Torres getting rung up on a pitch above the zone with two outs and two on in the seventh. Giancarlo Stanton being sent home when Teoscar Hernández had the ball before he even reached third base …
… or Boone giving Ohtani and Mookie Betts a free look at Luke Weaver down four runs when the Yankees will have to lean on Weaver A LOT to have any chance at making this series interesting. Alex Verdugo pimping a garbage time home run like he just pulled a Reggie Jackson. I am all for pimping homers, but have a little self-awareness. I can't wait until Verdugo’s gone. A losing player, he is.
Maybe the Yankees win Tuesday and force a Game 5, and maybe they even send the series back to Los Angeles. But I’ve seen this movie before. I know how it ends. And you know what the worst part is? The Yankees are going to take all the wrong lessons from this. They’re going to tout winning the pennant and being thisclose to a World Series title. Boone will be back, Hal Steinbrenner will say it’s a championship-caliber team, etc.
That’s a mistake, obviously, but that’s what will happen. The 2024 Yankees are exactly the same as the 2017-22 Yankees. They just got to play two AL Central teams in October before running into an actual good team. I hope Luis Gil shoves Tuesday and the Yankees at least give themselves a chance, but at this point, why bother? You’ve already been embarrassed on the sport’s biggest stage. Just get this over with already.
Comments
Totally agree Nick & I'd add that the 'brass' is more the source of these long-standing issues rather than some force that will actually observe & correct.
Disco
2024-10-29 18:59:29 +0000 UTCYankees just have to have more power deeper into the lineup. The sad reality is to really address this teams flaws you need to resign Soto and Gleyber AND sign another bat like a Christian Walker (not to mention the pitching-side needs). Hard to see Hal going for that though.
William
2024-10-29 18:05:33 +0000 UTCI'm sure a lot of us follow the NFL. They have an incredibly strict salary cap and salary floor, and the vast majority of revenue is shared equally league-wide -- the exact opposite of MLB in many ways. So why are certain franchises almost perennially contenders -- the Steelers, Packers, Patriots in recent decades, the Niners, etc. And certain franchises are always either moribund or woefully underperforming -- the Jets, Browns, Lions, etc.? It's good management and good ownership. Say what you will about Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick, but they put together great teams for 20 years in a sport with tons of roster turnover and very little salary flexibility. Meanwhile, we have a classic example of lacking an organizational strategy or good personnel right in our backyard with the Jets. The Yankees do not feel like an organization that has figured it out. You have a lot more flexibility in baseball to paper over bad decision making and personnel with big budgets than you do in football. But we've run into an organization that has both deep pockets and brilliant minds in the Dodgers. The Yankees are missing the latter, imo. Lots of money, but no clear strategy on how to spend it wisely.
Joe R
2024-10-29 17:20:01 +0000 UTCI cannot help but think about how L.A. didn't care about its salary structure being "unsustainable" while raking in $1B a year. Obviously, Steinbrenner can do what he wants in putting out a marginally good team that can get into the playoffs. But why we continue to care or to support the Yankees is the larger question. A billionaire crying poor mouth is so typical for New York these days. Freddy Freeman was a free agent and the Yanks could have had him on first base instead of Rizzo in his twilight years and whatever has-been or not-going-to-be they ran out there. Aside from power guys at the corners, they knew they needed contact hitters and guys who could get on base to fill out the lineup. They instead go for the cheap and get very little in return. Obviously, Gene Michael’s “Yankee Way” of high OBP, high clutch is no longer operational and hasn’t been for some time under this front office. This team is not deep. For me, the game that encapsulated the difference between a team that deserves to be in the Series and a marginally mediocre one that backed into a championship among a fairly mediocre American League class was in game one. The Yankees could not execute and were asking to be overtaken by the Dodgers, who played their game and continued to press even when behind. Then Boone made a Boone decision—among many like putting in Luke Weaver in any high leverage situation—and decided to run out a guy who didn’t rehab from injury and who hadn’t pitched in well over a month. The rationale there was essentially—“well he shadow-boxed okay so I thought he was ready to fight.” This year I revisited Ed Barrow’s, Connie Mack’s, and Branch Rickey’s books on baseball. When speaking of the perennial success of the Yankees during their years in managing teams, they all pointed to the front office as the Yankees’ strength: the ownership, scouting, player development, field management, and coaching. Despite all of the changes to baseball, this is what it comes down to. Some organizations figure it out. It’s not just money. It’s not just metrics. You have to have the whole package. These Yanks don’t. My money is 50-50 on whether Soto stays. Let’s see how he feels when Cashman publicly insults him like he did with Jeter, Pettitte, Torre, and others during negotiations. Let’s see if Cashman pulls another move when he refused to try to sign Matsui and Damon, who were key cogs of the 2009 championship, and then in the name of saving money, spends even more money in signing has-beens and retreads.
Nicholas Pisano
2024-10-29 14:58:29 +0000 UTCLack of depth will always, always kill teams in October. The 90s Yankees won because they had incredible depth -- on a level that I don't think can be replicated nowadays, to be fair. I'm not asking to have Tim Raines and Darryl Strawberry coming off the bench, but you absolutely need guys at the bottom of the lineup who can get big hits. And someone who can come off the bench as a pinch hitter and make an impact. And to have good enough fundamentals where you're not making mental mistakes left and right when the pressure is on. The Dodgers have that; Yankees don't. And that's the biggest difference in this series. I don't expect the FO to learn that lesson, though.
Joe R
2024-10-29 14:51:31 +0000 UTCSo incredibly disappointing, just an empty feeling after the thorough emotional investment of not just this season, but the Judge era as a whole starting with the “Baby Bombers” starting in 2017. For me, so many issues and reasons they’re getting embarrassed, but really none of these specifics are things we didn’t know about the team for a while, maybe all season? Top heavy, lack of depth, sloppy, poor fundamentals, etc. End of the day, we’re losing because our Franchise player, pillar of the organization, who got us past those season-long issues into the playoffs, is having truly one of the most historic championship collapses in history, of any sport. Which is sadly fairly consistent with his playoff career as a whole. That’s just tough to swallow, and will always hurt moving forward whenever we think about our team’s chances, no matter how good the season is, if he’s still the one driving it.
Ryan Price
2024-10-29 14:46:07 +0000 UTCOther than Judge not hitting (which is a big "other than," of course), everything happening here was part of a systemic issue rather than bad luck. 1B and LF have been black holes for most of the year and they were never patched up. Cashman never built a bench or any sort of depth, and we wound up with Trevino getting one of the most important PAs of the year. The Yankees have shoddy defense and poor fundamentals that keep costing them runs. If you told me those things would be the Yankees' undoing in October, I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised. There was a deal in place for Flaherty that the Yankees pulled out of, and now he went toe-to-toe with our ace in Game 1 of the World Series. Reminds me of the non-deal for Cliff Lee in 2010, with him then handing the Yankees their lunch in the ALCS. This is a different series if Cashman pulled the trigger on that deal. The FO was too conservative and risk-averse and it came back to bite them. And Aaron Boone being a horrible in-game manager in the postseason yet again. We've seen the lack of urgency and the poor decision making so many time now. At this point, he might have the same middle name here in New York that he has up in Boston. Lack of depth, poor fundamentals, and bad in-game managing undo the Yankees once again in October. Nothing new under the sun.
Joe R
2024-10-29 14:44:53 +0000 UTCI'm contrasting how Mike analyzed and wrote about two underperforming players.
Will H.
2024-10-29 14:41:56 +0000 UTCi know he hit the homer, but it felt like Verdugo’s ninth inning homer was the time to pinch hit Dominguez.
mike mousalis
2024-10-29 14:33:18 +0000 UTCGary Sanchez has nothing to do with Verdugo being one of the worst outfielders in the game.
Big Davey88
2024-10-29 14:13:19 +0000 UTCCaptain, my captain
Big Davey88
2024-10-29 14:11:57 +0000 UTCMy fear is that the front office will look at this series - which so far has been lost by a lack of depth, a manager that's been inept since day 1, bad coaching, and bad fundamentals against a team that had none of those issues - and just say "Well if Judge was Judge we'd have won" and continue business as usual. Judge being awake would have been a gamechanger, but there are plenty of WS wins where the slack was picked up by roleplayers and the bottom of the lineup. The Dodgers are winning despite Ohtani and Betts being largely non-factors. Freeman's been good, but guys like Lux and Hernandez are successfully executing in ways the Yankees' bottom of the order isn't. They also aren't making moronic moves. They're mostly letting the Yankees hang themselves with their own rope. I hope the brass has noticed.
Nick Fugitt
2024-10-29 13:49:48 +0000 UTCThe thing is that theyll resign Soto and then trot out Dj LeMahieu and Peraza at 1B and 2B and say they are championship caliber team.
The Original Drew
2024-10-29 13:46:24 +0000 UTCI know you want the series to be over Mike, but it was Game 3 of the World Series, not Game 4. The Yankees offense rolling over has been the most disappointing part of the series. Listen they aren't going to win the series, but have some fucking self respect and send it back to LA and don't let them clinch it on your home field.
The Original Drew
2024-10-29 13:39:22 +0000 UTCOorah!
The Original Drew
2024-10-29 13:38:12 +0000 UTCHow do you really feel Mike?
ScottF
2024-10-29 13:35:45 +0000 UTCWatching the White Sox be such a joke that Reinsdorf sells is genuinely a better org outcome for their fans than what the Yankees are doing for theirs right now. New year. Same crap. This group will never win. Never. They have limitations and an ownership group that doesn’t care.
Zack
2024-10-29 12:17:44 +0000 UTCThis team became the 17-23 Yankees the minute the World Series said go. Brutal, you can feel the lack of energy from anyone not named G.
Dan Heltke
2024-10-29 11:27:34 +0000 UTCIt was a pretty big bat flip and a mighty slow trot.
Mike F.
2024-10-29 11:20:04 +0000 UTCTruly embarrassing. Losing game one completely knocked this team. Awful manager decisions, judge has been abysmal. If we get swept there’s less than a 50% chance Soto comes back. George is turning over in his grave.
Christian Pellot
2024-10-29 10:49:57 +0000 UTCctrl+f "judge" Alright this is the most unintentionally hilarious post in the history of RAB. Unless it is intentional and in that case it is true poetry wow.
Kyle
2024-10-29 10:38:29 +0000 UTCLet’s hope he opts out and the Yankees are smart enough to let him go.
Mike
2024-10-29 10:33:32 +0000 UTCThere are absolutely moves and non moves they've made to be critical of, managerial decisions etc. But the bottom line is, as amazing as regular season Judge has been, he's clearly stuck in his own head in the postseason, and there was no way they were going to overcome his lack of performance against the Dodgers. I don't recall complaints about the zips projections that had this as a coin flip series. The pre-mortems though are the same as all the criticisms in years prior, while missing the elephant in the room. Judge has to be JUDGE for them to win it all, and he hasn't, so other shortcomings become more glaring. While it's certainly fair to be critical of Boone bringing in Nestor instead of Hill, he had a mostly good postseason prior to that. A 3-2 lead was going to be hard to preserve once they didn't execute against the #8-9 hitters (Lux walk and Ozzie misplay). Had Judge capitalized on one of his opportunities in the game with a big hit or home run, they probably win in regulation. If the projection systems could have baked in Judge being a zero in this series, it would have been like 75-25% in favor of the Dodgers. There are things the organization can and should be better at, but getting to a World Series is a fun run, and something a lot of fans don't get. Being in it every year and not having a losing record since 1992 is better than many alternatives. Living in Chicago as I have since 2010, it could obviously be a hell of a lot worse. They obviously need to go all in to retain Soto, and hopefully if this ends within the next game or two as is likely, they get back to the same spot next year and Judge can finally overcome the pressure he puts on himself in the postseason.
Richard Castro
2024-10-29 10:25:31 +0000 UTCYou are correct.
Kyle
2024-10-29 10:15:26 +0000 UTCThink its fair to acknowledge each of the other 4 AL Central teams benefited from basically being gifted 13 free wins courtesy of the worst MLB team in over 120 years.
Alex G
2024-10-29 10:14:00 +0000 UTCIts not unless you are complacent with beating up on the AL Central then getting embarrassed by any other team in the playoffs every year.
Alex G
2024-10-29 10:06:41 +0000 UTCWhat a depressing disaster of a World Series. But I'm trying to keep an even keel. Yeah, they turned into pumpkins. But I don't feel like the Yankees *weren't* the best team in the AL. I think they were and they earned their way to the World Series. It's not like there's something magically bad about the AL Central, they did manage to send three teams to the playoffs after all. The Dodgers are clearly a much better team in every way. On the other hand, we're one frigidly cold streak from Judge away from talking about the series we were all imagining in our heads despite how poorly the rest of the team has played. Yeah, Aaron Boone is a horrible tactician, and it's unbelievable that this team continues to make sloppy mistakes game after game after game, year after year, and he's still in charge of it. On the other hand, I think these playoffs have shown, to me anyway (as if my opinion of them matters to them even a little), that Boone brings something to the table that has kept this team competing despite taking gut-punch after gut-punch. All season felt like it was a hard climb and that the Yankees had weakness upon weakness...but they're in the World Series, and it didn't seem like a fluke. That's good. I'm really disappointed and it sucks hard that it looks like the season is going to end with the Yankees getting embarrassed and taking yet more gut-punches. There are a lot of things about this team I don't like, but that's because I'm a fan. It's been a good season though, and it's hard for me to be truly angry at a team that won the pennant or the people who put it together. Plenty of offseason to lose my head over that kinda stuff. These listless, groanworthy losses are so hard to watch, but on the other hand, I hope they come out tomorrow, manage to get up off the mat yet again, and keep the season going a little longer anyway. If for no other reason than so Giancarlo can have more chances for the curtain call at Yankee Stadium that he deserves during the World Series.
Geoffrey W.
2024-10-29 09:55:19 +0000 UTCA poorly coached, poorly built, unlikable team. But hey, maybe they can beat up on another AL Central team with a quarter of the total payroll in the Twins in next year's ALDS.
Alex G
2024-10-29 09:55:06 +0000 UTCWhat does one thing have to do with the other? Verdugo has been the worst outfielder in baseball this year. Boone has given him an unlimited leash and it has caught up with them.
shift75
2024-10-29 09:30:24 +0000 UTCLosing tough games while playing good baseball is one thing, but this team just makes one mistake after another. That includes both poor tactical decisions and poor on-field decisions. It's just so frustrating!
DZB
2024-10-29 09:27:54 +0000 UTCSure go after the best Yankee player of the game. Because he ruined your narrative and CBS headline that said shutout? I'm all for criticising bad players, but like you said yourself, have a little awareness.
chuangeUp
2024-10-29 09:26:08 +0000 UTCI have watched plenty of Dodger baseball over the years and been to Dodger Stadium many more times than Yankee Stadium. They are a likeable team and playing the game so professionally. As you say Mike, in regards to the game of baseball, compared to the present-day Yanks, "everything [they do] is better." And here we are, in a historically significant series, the biggest World Series in years - it's Yankees vs. Dodgers! - the Dodgers have turned up. The Yankees? What a flop. It's the Yanks killing this series and all the excitement it could have been. Embarrassing. Disappointing.
Brian
2024-10-29 08:09:42 +0000 UTCWell said
Jingling Baby
2024-10-29 06:00:27 +0000 UTCThis is an overreaction
John G
2024-10-29 05:59:55 +0000 UTCNice season that exceeded my expectations (especially when Cole got hurt) but once again they aren't good enough.
John G
2024-10-29 05:58:57 +0000 UTCHold the line one more day. There'll be plenty of time for finger pointing and hair pulling over the winter. Beat their bullpen tomorrow and we have our ace going Wednesday. Get it back to LA and see what happens. If you want a team that will fight to the last out, you should root the same way, hard as it may be.
pkmuldy
2024-10-29 05:50:18 +0000 UTCThis team is incapable of developing anyone so there's technically no such thing as "home grown" here. Gary Sanchez is an immensely talented player who was on pace to be a Hall of Fame catcher 2 years into his career then completely fell off a cliff after Boone and his staff were brought in.
Alex G
2024-10-29 05:37:53 +0000 UTCHe had an exceptional start (216-2017), but for the majority of his time (2018 - 2021) , he was not one of the better hitting catchers in the game or catchers overall. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?startdate=&enddate=&month=0&season1=2018&season=2021&pos=c&sortcol=17&sortdir=default&pagenum=1
Will H.
2024-10-29 05:34:50 +0000 UTCHe’s also a rape-y douche.
Jingling Baby
2024-10-29 05:31:14 +0000 UTCGary was home grown at a premium position, where he didn’t exactly suck….. he was one of the better hitting catchers in the game for the better of his time here. Verdugo is a one year rental and was one of.. if not the worst hitter in all of Baseball this season… 🤷🏻♂️
Jeffrey James
2024-10-29 05:08:27 +0000 UTCI was typing my comment in your last post while you were basically writing the same thing here. Spot on, Mike. Yankees are a mess, but appreciate you and all your work. 👍
Mottpott
2024-10-29 05:07:20 +0000 UTCI don't get the hard on you have for Verdugo. You defended Gary Sanchez to the ends of the earth
Will H.
2024-10-29 04:57:09 +0000 UTCWhen Cole opts out- are we SURE the Yankees should pick up the option? 100%? With his age etc?
Zack
2024-10-29 04:56:39 +0000 UTCI might have to watch it again (although I have no reason to), but I didn’t think Verdugo pimped that HR at all. Kinda feels like the dude is damned for anything he does.
MikeM
2024-10-29 04:52:35 +0000 UTCSigh...brutal...
Gregory B
2024-10-29 04:50:37 +0000 UTCGenuinely hate this team. Fire Cashman who is a disgrace and nuke this entire coaching staff starting with the incompetent checked out manager and including the overrated pitching coach. There is absolutely zero pride and fight. Judge is soft, not captain material, and the worst postseason player in any sport I've ever seen. Honestly keep Soto, Stanton, Cole, Weaver, and Kahnle and I do not care what happens with anyone else.
Alex G
2024-10-29 04:49:43 +0000 UTCNot a single word wrong Mike. But I wish you’d tell us how you really feel about this shitshow.
Zack
2024-10-29 04:49:00 +0000 UTCLet's win four straight!
MikeD
2024-10-29 04:48:20 +0000 UTC
