1. Sometimes I think about what kind of record the Yankees would have annually if they were a part of the AL Central. It seems unfair the Central gets an automatic postseason bid. It seems ridiculous the Tigers and Guardians both only have 86 wins at the moment when they play 39 games against the Royals, Twins and White Sox.
2. The White Sox played like the 101-loss team they are this week in the Bronx and the Yankees finished the regular season 6-1 against them. Add in the 6-0 record against the Royals and 4-2 against the Twins and the Yankees went 16-3 against the Central’s three-worst teams.
3. The Yankees’ postseason situation is no more clear today than it was before the White Sox series. If anything, it’s more confusing. The Yankees could finish as the first wild card or they could finish with the best record in the AL. They could host the Red Sox on Tuesday in a best-of-3 or the Guardians or the Tigers or the Astros. They could not play at all on Tuesday and host the winner of the AL Central-third wild-card team next Saturday in Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium. The possibilities are seemingly endless for when the Yankees will play next week and who they will play against. I have given up trying to figure out who to root for this weekend other than to root for the Yankees and against the Blue Jays and Red Sox. But maybe not too hard against the Red Sox, since you want them to not be the Yankees’ wild-card opponent, but you also want to make sure they end up in whichever side of the bracket the Yankees aren’t in.
4. I still don’t feel good about rooting for the Red Sox from Tuesday through Thursday against the Blue Jays, and if the Yankees are unable to pull off the division comeback and end up playing the Red Sox in the wild-card series next week I will feel worse about it. As I have written of late, the Red Sox in a three-game series are the only team I fear in the AL playoffs. The Yankees against any other team in a best-of-3, best-of-5 or best-of-7 would have me confident in the Yankees advancing in every scenario.
The dream scenario for the next week is the following:
The Yankees win the division and finish with the best record in the AL … and … the Blue Jays and Red Sox play in the ALDS and go the full three games with the Blue Jays winning the series … and … the Guardians and Tigers play in the ALDS and go the full three gams with the Guardians winning the series.
5. Those results would set up the two ALDS to be the Yankees against the Guardians and the Mariners against the Blue Jays. The Yankees would draw the best possible opponent in the entire AL field in the ALDS and then either play a Mariners team they went 5-1 against this season (and swept at a point in the season when they couldn’t beat anyone) or a Blue Jays team that has lost seven of nine to give the Yankees division life, is without Bo Bichette, has a weak rotation and a bad bullpen and employs one of the few managers who makes me appreciate Aaron Boone.
6. As of this moment the Yankees are the best team in the AL. They are the healthiest of the field with the deepest rotation and best overall roster. That doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t lose or that they won’t be eliminated in two games if they end up in the wild-card series. Anything can happen in a short series and when you have the baserunning and defensive history of these Yankees coupled with their bullpen trust issues and a manager who has shown no signs of progress in eight years, it’s easy to see how their season could be over a week from now. But it’s just as easy to see them returning to the World Series for the second straight year.
7. The only playoff scenario that worries me is the Yankees facing the Red Sox in the wild-card series. That’s it. Give me the Red Sox in the ALDS or ALCS and I will feel completely confident. If the Yankees aren’t eliminated in the wild-card series by the Red Sox then I don’t think they have a chance at elimination until the World Series.
8. If the Yankees play and lose to the Red Sox in the wild-card series it will hurt as bad as any postseason elimination in my lifetime because it will come at the hands of the Red Sox and because of how weak the AL field is. Having to think about what could have been all offseason had the Yankees managed or played with even a hint of urgency from mid June to mid August will be depressing. If the Yankees lose the division it will be hard not to think about every runner left on third with one out, every leadoff double stranded, every Devin Williams meltdown, every nonsensical Boone decision or the 17 games that were started by Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, Ian Hamilton and Allan Winans. If the Yankees don’t end up as the 2025 AL East champions it will be because they blew it, not because the Blue Jays won it.
9. Even with the same 90-68 record as the Blue Jays, it’s unlikely the Yankees win the division this weekend. They still need to win one more game than the Blue Jays do and facing the Orioles’ best three starters in Trevor Rogers, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Bradish won’t be easy considering Rogers and Bradish thoroughly dominated the Yankees last weekend. With Max Fried and Carlos Rodon done for the regular season, the Yankees will have to win the division against two of the best starters in the league with their 3-4-5 starters. Yankees fans need to hope the Orioles offense spends the last weekend of the season in Manhattan as one would spend a weekend in Manhattan before embarking on a four-plus month vacation. The offseason awaits the Orioles on Sunday around 6 p.m. and they should get the party started by taking advantage of the city’s favorable 4 a.m. bar closures.
10. Give me Yankees wins and Blue Jays losses on Friday and Saturday and the Mariners having one less win than the Yankees at the end of play on Saturday. That would give the Yankees the East and the best record in the AL and it would make Game 163 on Sunday meaningless. Give me one meaningless day from this stressful season before the real season begins. Is that too much to ask?
Last modified: Sep 26, 2025
