NEW YORK – The New York Yankees started off the 2025 season torpedoing the team that ended up with the best record in baseball.
In that opening three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Bronx Bombers hit anything that was near the strike zone, smacking 15 homers, tying the major-league record for most team home runs in the first three games of the season, while scoring 36 and having the baseball establishment at large wondering if they were using illegal bats.
It turns out that perceived cheating was much ado about nothing, and they got right back to the business of trying to capture the franchise’s 28th world championship.
Their 2025 season ended Wednesday with the pitching staff being torpedoed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays, culminating in a 5-2 loss and a four-game thumping in the American League Division Series, leaving the same old questions about why a talented, highly-paid team hasn’t hoisted the World Series trophy since 2009.
It was the Yankees’ starting pitching that struggled in the ALDS, ultimately leading to an early October exit. Luis Gil allowed two runs in just 2⅔ innings in a 10-1 rout in Game 1, Max Fried got shelled for seven runs in three innings in Game 2, and Carlos Rodón gave up six earned runs in only 2⅓ innings in Game 3, combining for a 16.88 ERA in eight innings pitched.
The offseason questions began immediately after the game for manager Aaron Boone, who has won 90 or more games in six of his eight seasons but still has just one AL pennant to show for it – despite a 2025 opening day payroll of nearly $285 million, the third highest in MLB behind the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers.
‘The awful part of this is the journey that you go on that – and this has been a tough year for me personally. But all you go through to kind of become this kind of team you think can really do something special, and for it to abruptly end is always difficult,’ Boone said.
‘You pour so much in to go on this long journey to have a chance to chase a dream and win a championship. And when it ends this way, it’s always terrible. It hurts.
‘But I know for me personally, I know for a lot of those guys, it also continues to ignite your fire to want to get back and play in these meaningful games and have a chance at glory.’
Gerrit Cole is expected to return to full health after missing the season following Tommy John surgery, re-joining the pitching rotation alongside Fried, who won 19 games in his first season of an eight-year, $218 million contract with New York.
Rodón, the starting pitcher in Game 3, won 18 games, and then there’s 24-year-old Cam Schlittler, whose performance in Game 3 of the wild card series against the Boston Red Sox drew the league’s attention. Schlittler was the losing pitcher in Game 4 of the Division Series, but was solid in 6⅓ innings. Boone said he has supreme confidence that Schlittler can be a stalwart in the rotation that figures to be one of the AL’s best.
‘He gave us a really good chance to win a baseball game,’ Boone said of Schlittler. ‘I think we all understand how excited we are about Cam and his future and what he could become in our rotation moving forward. He had a phenomenal season and finished strong tonight.’
Despite the struggles in the regular season, the Yankees were never more than 6.5 games out of the AL East lead at any point and a late-season surge – including an eight-game winning streak – got New York to 94-68, the same record as the Blue Jays. But the Yankees lost the tiebreaker after Toronto beat them in eight of the 13 games played head-to-head.
And of course, the focus will be on reigning AL Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge, who had another outstanding season with 54 home runs and 114 RBIs, while leading the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS, despite missing time with a right elbow flexor strain that limited his time in the field upon returning.
But the Yankees’ captain and two-time MVP will be 34 and fellow slugger Giancarlo Stanton will be 36 at the start of next season. The team has only so many more chances to enjoy the benefits and production of the best hitter in baseball.
Judge was spectacular in the postseason, hitting .500 with a 1.273 OPS, including a majestic game-tying home run in Game 3 that will be talked about for years. But still, it was not enough.
‘I liked our chances all year,’ Judge said. ‘Just sucks for the guys that might be their last time wearing pinstripes and not being able to have a long run with them. Disappointed we let all those guys down.
‘We didn’t do our job, didn’t finish the goal. I want to get back out there right now, wish spring training was in a couple weeks.’
There are also questions about whether 30-year-old Cody Bellinger (.272, 29 HR, 98 RBIs), acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, will be back, as he has a $25 million player option for 2026 and could opt out and become a free agent. And third base will be a focal point over the winter, as trade deadline acquisition Ryan McMahon struggled at times, and opening day starter Oswaldo Cabrera is recovering from a broken left ankle suffered in May.
It will be up to owner Hal Steinbrenner, who will ultimately decide the fates of Boone and longtime general manager Brian Cashman, whose contract runs through 2026. Boone said he fully expects to be back in the fold next year.
‘I believe in so many of the people in that room. It’s hard to win the World Series, been chasing it all my life,’ Boone said. ‘I’m under contract, so I don’t expect anything.’