Young players give team hope
Yankees appear ready to challenge for title next season.
NEWYORK— No more chances for another comeback. That’s it, the Baby Bombers are out.
After winning their first four elimination games this postseason, Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees went down swinging and were knocked out of the playoffs Saturday night with a 4-0 loss to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.
To get that far, the Yankees rallied from a pair of 0-2 deficits against 100-win teams, beating relief ace Andrew Miller and Cy Young Award winners Corey Kluber and Dallas Keuchel along the way. But in the end, a riveting October run fell one win short of New York’s first trip to the World Series since 2009.
It was a heartbreaking finish to an encouraging season for the resurgent Yankees in their first full year of a youth movement. But with the fast rise of Judge and power-hitting partner Gary Sanchez in a dangerous lineup, this certainly looks like a team with potential to challenge for years to come.
There are important questions to be answered, too.
Even after the wild-card Yankees surpassed early expectations for this season, Joe Girardi might have an uncertain future following a decade in charge because his contract is about to expire.
Girardi came under heavy criticism for a couple of key decisions that went wrong in the Division Series against Cleveland and was booed by the New York crowd during introductions before Game 3. But he said he felt “horrible” he “screwed up” and took full responsibility in a talk with his team. During a trying time, the Yankees rallied around their embattled skipper and fought back with three straight wins to dethrone the defending AL champions in a decisive Game 5 on the road.
“I love what I do,” Girardi said. “I’ll sit down, talk to my wife and my kids and see where they’re at and what they’re thinking. And then we’ll see what the Yankees are thinking.”
At 37, left-hander CC Sabathia can become a free agent after going 14-5 with a 3.69 ERA though. Asked whether he wants to stay, he quickly replied: “Of course.”
Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who had a 0.90 ERA in three playoff starts following an inconsistent season, can opt out of his contract with three years and $67 million remaining on the $155 million, seven-year deal he signed when he arrived from Japan before the 2014 campaign.
Regardless of what he decides to do, the Yankees could be in the market for starting pitching this offseason to complement 23-year-old ace Luis Severino and an offense that led the majors with 241 homers, the fourth-highest total in team history. New York ranked second in runs to Houston.
Judge led the way with a rookie-record 52 homers — most in the American League — and 114 RBIs. He and Sanchez combined for 85 home runs, best in big league history by a pair of teammates 25 or younger.
There’s more help on the way in touted minor league arms and infielder Gleyber Torres, rated one of baseball’s top prospects.
“We got a lot of guys in the minor leagues just waiting for their turn to come up here and do their thing,” Judge said.