NEW YORK — The 2025 New York Yankees died as they lived: disappearing for a stretch, then—long after it really mattered—staging a furious comeback attempt that ultimately fell short.
Add Aaron Judge’s thrilling, game-tying, season-saving American League division series Game 3 home run to the Endy Chávez catch file: It would have been one of the greatest of all time if only the team had gone anywhere. Instead, after a listless 5–2 loss in Game 4, the only place the Yankees are going is home.
Over the past five days, they disappointed in all areas of the game. They were out-hit, out-pitched, out-defended. It was the most pitiful effort by a group of New Yorkers since Eric Adams’s re-election campaign.
“They beat us this series,” said manager Aaron Boone. “Simple as that.”
Start with the pitching. The Blue Jays certainly did, scoring first in all four games. Only in Game 2 did it take them more than two outs to plate their first run—and then it took three. The Yankees’ starters, whose 3.61 regular season ERA was fourth in baseball, combined to allow 19 runs in 14 ⅓ innings. Only rookie Cam Schlittler, who threw 6 ⅓ innings of four-run ball in Game 4, got an out in the fourth inning. The beleaguered bullpen mostly kept the score where it was, but converted starter Will Warren allowed six runs in 4 ⅔ innings, and erstwhile closer Luke Weaver, after lowering his October 2025 ERA from infinity to 135.00, acknowledged he felt he was tipping pitches and said, “I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack.”
Still, the Yankees are built to out-slug anyone, and they simply did not. In Game 1, they scored one run; in Game 2, they put up seven, but only after Toronto had scored 12. On Wednesday, facing a bullpen game—against a relief corps that threw 6 ⅓ innings a day before, and that had shown every arm to the Yankees during the series—the lineup that scored the most runs in the majors this season went 1-for-6 with a walk with runners in scoring position. Not until the seventh inning, down 4–1, did a runner stand at second base. The only runs came when glove-first third baseman Ryan McMahon homered in the third and Judge singled in a run in the ninth.
And then there was the defense, an issue that plagued them all season. This year they forgot how many strikes there were (Jasson Domínguez got himself thrown out at third base to end the seventh inning of a two-run game against the Red Sox in June when he thought the hitter faced a 2–2 count), how many outs there were (Austin Wells was doubled off second to end the ninth inning of a tie game against the Rays in July when he thought the frame was already over), even how many feet there were between bases (Jorbit Vívas got thrown out at third base without sliding to end the third inning of a three-run game against Atlanta in July).
Shortstop Anthony Volpe and Domínguez each threw to the wrong base in the ninth inning of a one-run game against the Red Sox in August; a day later, a Volpe throwing error helped open the door to a seven-run ninth. At one point in late April and early May, Volpe made errors in three straight games. Over a two-week stretch in August, he had more errors (two) than hits (one).
They cleaned up elements of their game after trading for McMahon at the deadline, but the flexor strain that cost Judge 10 days this summer continued to dog him as opponents tested his arm every time they hit the ball to right field. And the mental and physical mistakes continued: In Game 3, second baseman Jazz Chisholm failed to look home on a relay and allowed a run to score, and then in Game 4, he misplayed a double-play ball into runners on the corners. Two batters later, they both scored to make it 4–1. “I’m still going to be thinking about this even probably when the season starts next year,” he lamented.
Still, it was the offense that let the Yankees down when it mattered most. Try as fans might, it will be hard to blame Judge for this one: He went 13-for-26 this October. He had only one home run, but it was certainly a memorable one.
“It comes down to the little things,” said Judge. “Making little plays, coming up with the big hit. If you don’t do that, you give teams extra outs, they’re gonna capitalize. … We gotta clean a couple things up.”
The Yankees entered this season the same way they did last season: trying to make the lineup more athletic and less righthanded, and bolstering the pitching staff. When they lost the Juan Soto sweepstakes to Steve Cohen and the Mets, the Yankees pivoted to trading for Cody Bellinger, a lefty hitter who is one of the premier defenders in the sport, and signing stud lefty Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract. They traded for reliever Devin Williams, who had been one of the best in the sport. At the deadline they picked up the lefthanded McMahon, who has been a revelation in the field, and added relievers David Bednar, Jake Bird and Camilo Doval, who—like Williams, like the team itself—were uneven. The Yankees led the division by seven games in late May, played sub-.500 ball for two months, then charged back in August and September. They were 6 ½ games back of the Blue Jays on Aug. 23. They finished the season tied at 94–68—but because Toronto had won the season series 7–5, the Blue Jays took the first seed, home field advantage and the first-round bye.
“It comes down to a lot of games that we lost that we shouldn’t have lost,” said Judge. “Every game matters.”
Still, they felt they were rolling entering October. On more than one occasion Boone called this the most talented team he had managed. It wasn’t enough.
“That’s the thing,” said Bellinger glumly. “It didn’t feel like anything was missing.”
Boone said, “It’s hard to win the World Series. Been chasing it all my life.”
And so begins another offseason of questions. The core remains mostly intact: Only first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Grisham, Weaver and Williams will be free agents, and Bellinger can opt out of his contract and join them. But everyone who remains will be another year older, and ace Gerrit Cole and righty Clarke Schmidt are returning from Tommy John surgery. Righty Luis Gil took a step backward this season, as did Volpe and Wells.
The Yankees will surely add more talent. It might not be enough.
