Not The SSTN Weekly Mailbag: Post-Mortem

Wow. I have to be honest - I'm still in something of a daze regarding the end of the season. Through the first few innings of Game 5, I really, truly believed that the Yankees were going to make history and be the first team to fall behind 3-0 in the World Series to push the series to Game 6. We had every good story arc working: Giancarlo Stanton continuing his October heroics; Judge redeeming himself with an outstanding offensive performance (along with a fantastic catch up against the wall); Gerrit Cole looking like an ace for the first time in months; and even Jazz Chisholm, the big trade acquisition at the trade deadline, coming up huge in a must-win game. All at once, those good feelings were ripped from Yankee fans.

I'm not the first to say this, but something really strange happened as the season fell apart in the 5th inning of Game 5: I was never in shock. I didn't yell at the TV. I sat in eerie silence for 5 innings as the season crumbled, with the soft glow of the TV punctuating the darkness. I even watched the Dodgers celebrate for a few minutes, much to my wife's chagrin. Somewhere in my brain, I expected the Yankees to fall apart in just such a manner. That is an uncomfortable realization, and more to the point, if the Yankee front office didn't feel the same way, then they are as much to blame as anyone else.

I had fun this season, and I remain the Optimist-In-Chief around here. I am happy the team made the World Series and finally got to play the last game of the season. I'm more upset than I expected to be about the way the season ended, and I think the reason for that is my lack of surprise. Many of us have predicted this team's shortcomings in their biggest moments for years and have provided a variety of prescriptions for those gaps. The most critical of those gaps remain unresolved. This is going to be a long, fascinating offseason. Last offseason was pivotal, and I expect this offseason to bring much of the same.

We had some good questions for this week's SSTN Mailbag, but honestly, I'm pretty worn out from the postseason coverage and World Series end. Today, I am going to share some (mostly) unfiltered thoughts about the World Series and the end of the season. Keep the questions coming to SSTNReadermail@gmail.com, and we'll get back to a normal Mailbag schedule next week (and I'll answer one or two of the questions that came in this week as well). Without any further ado, let's get at it:

• I can't think of a more fitting way for the 2024 Yankees to end their season. All of us here at SSTN have knocked this team's inability to play fundamental, sound baseball like any group of good 14-year-olds could. We have also consistently knocked the coaching staff's inability to show feel for what is happening on the field - visit the mound, communicate well with the players on the field, etc. That we saw all of that on display in one inning with a 5-run lead is clearly the Baseball Gods' idea of ripping good joke. Were I not a Yankee fan, I suppose I'd see it that way.

• The issues noted above are not isolated to this season. Teams that play below their true talent level, lacking fundamentals, smart baserunning, and good coaching are hallmarks of the Aaron Boone era. I would make the argument that the 2017, 2019, and 2024 Yankees were all good enough on paper to make a real run at the World Series. Often times in those series, coaching was the difference.

• That last bullet point is as true for 2024 as I've ever seen. Much has been written about how good the Dodgers are and how much better they were than the Yankees. The Dodgers were the better team in 2024, and the better team won the World Series. However, that's not the same thing as saying that the Dodgers were the better team on paper. With better coaching, the World Series would be tied at 2-apiece right now, with some incredible baseball on tap back in LA. The Yankees had a flawed roster, but so did the Dodgers. I keep hearing that the Dodgers had more lineup depth, but frankly, I don't see it. Compare the bottom of the Dodgers' lineup to the Yankees; if you just look at the numbers from the 6-9 batters, they're not different in a statistically significant way. Yes, Aaron Judge struggled for much of the series at the plate, but Torres, Soto, and Stanton more than made up for the slack. The reality is that the Yankees were in position to win 2 games even without Judge at his best. The reality is that Judge was waking up just as the season should have continued in LA. We'll never know what the true potential of this team was.

• I don't think I could feel worse for Aaron Judge. Unless he gets a World Series, he will always be remembered for a cold bat and an error that came at the worst possible time. In fact, that was Judge's first error of the entire season. Just absolutely stunning, and I have no words. Worse, Judge made maybe the catch of the season for the Yankees just shortly before that fifth inning meltdown. Had the Yankees managed to win Game 5, I really feel certain that Judge was about to go on a tear. That inning will haunt Judge, and he said as much. That can go one of two ways: either Judge will rise above it and find a new gear the next time he's in the playoffs, or the burden will become too great to bear.

• Gerrit Cole was fantastic for most of Game 5, and was very clearly emptying the tank. Aaron Boone was also very clearly covering for Cole in talking about why he pulled Cole in Game 1 - he didn't want to sell Cole out by saying that even Cole thought he was done. Either Cole was pitching hurt, or his arm remained fatigued from whatever was going on at the beginning of the year. In either case, Cole was not at his best, but he did more than enough to get 2 wins...

• ...Until he didn't cover 1B. That was as basic as a standard PFP drill in Spring Training. Cole should have covered, Rizzo should have charged. It's as simple as that.

• Speaking of Rizzo, he seems like a great clubhouse guy, and he was impressive gutting out two broken fingers...but he can't be back. He has been one of the worst everyday first basemen in the sport since his collision with Tatis in 2023. The Yanks need another solution in 2025.

• If Cole opts out...I think I'd let him walk. At 34, he's firmly in the decline phase of his career, and injuries are beginning to materialize. If he opts out, pull out all of the stops to either sign Corbin Burnes, and/or see if the market for Cole is weaker than his current deal.

• I have a post coming on Anthony Volpe's swing next Wednesday morning. Volpe really came around in the playoffs, and it wasn't a coincidence. This will be a fascinating offseason for Volpe. I think he only gets one more shot to prove he's a franchise cornerstone. The Yankees need him to be that, given the opportunity cost of waiting for him to really arrive.

• After watching that display in the World Series, the real difference between the Yankees and the Dodgers is discipline and coaching. The Dodgers and the Yankees build teams similarly, look for the same traits, and are philosophically similar (no, I don't want to hear about the Yankees' over-reliance on analytics anymore - the Dodgers and Astros have functioned in almost identical fashion, and have built successful teams consistently). Dave Roberts had his guys prepared and ready to go at all times. He also consistently pulled the right strings with his limited, but potent, pitching staff. Aaron Boone does not have his guys ready to play ever. The Yankees consistently fall short of performing to their talent level. I never said that under Girardi.

• So of course...the rumor has already surfaced that Boone will be retained. The other rumor I've heard is that Boone will get an extension. That is clinically insane.

• I'll have more to say about Brian Cashman this offseason, but I think that while he built a flawed roster, it was good enough to win it all with good coaching. The Yankees didn't get that in 2024. The greatest indictment of this front office is that they will not only retain the manager and coaching staff, but reward them for what happened this season. I just don't get it.

• I really wonder what we'll learn about the guys that are banged up in the coming days. I don't think Cole is healthy, and the same goes for Nestor, Austin Wells, Anthony Rizzo, and even Aaron Judge.

• I will always say, "What if?" when thinking about the 2024 New York Yankees. That's a tough pill to swallow.

• I really hope Juan Soto returns. I think that the Yankees need to budget for $50 million a year to retain him.

• Thanks for reading everything we write this season. This is the best community of Yankee fans on the internet, and I'm honored to share this space with all of you, writers and readers alike. This is a special place, and we're not going anywhere, so stick around through the offseason, and let's have some fun after the sting goes away.