The Division was Never in the Yankees Reach
It didn't matter whether the Toronto Blue Jays led the AL East by two games or five or twenty. The New York Yankees were never going to win the division. The fact that they were close at any juncture is a byproduct of an American League that is average at best. The top spots were going to go to the hottest team down the stretch. All the playoff spots are up for grabs, and it's the Blue Jays who now appear to be the team that is grasping the brass ring. The Yankees have run out of time. Mathematically, they still have a chance, but don't be fooled. The Yankees were never going to catch Toronto, and four aspects of a championship contender measure this.
Division winners are consistent in habit, fundamentals, and results. What you are in May will be what you produce in September or October. The Yankees' good habits centered on home runs and Aaron Judge. They led the league in home runs with 254. However, the offense is not a day-to-day threat. They cannot manufacture runs to complement their power attack, and they can't hit quality pitching. Aaron Judge carried the team early on, hitting nearly .400, and looked to be a triple crown threat this year. Since then, he has cooled off from that level, while the rest of the lineup, with the exceptions of Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice, cannot make up the difference. This was highlighted in June when they went thirty straight innings without scoring. They were shut out 10 times this season.
The Yankees still struggle with a lack of fundamentals, including an inability to hold leads, whether small or large, with a bullpen that has been vulnerable all season. The defense leaves a lot to be desired, allowing many unearned runs with Anthony Volpe the poster child of errors, and they make poor decisions on the basepaths regularly. They cannot string together wins because of these deficiencies. Toronto, on the other hand, grinds pitchers into oblivion and can strike at any time. They have a superstar in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has reemerged as a force after he signed to a 14-year, $500 million extension that can be pointed to as a move that convinced the players that Toronto management was serious about competing. The Blue Jays make the plays in the field. They don't beat themselves. Toronto has come back often in the stretch run and stolen victories from the jaws of defeat. They accomplish this because they are fundamentally sound, and at the plate, they understand situational hitting wins close games. In fact, most of the upper-tier teams have proven to be just as sound. They have displayed this consistently. The Yankees have not, and it has cost them a 10-game swing in the standings.
Results decide the division winner. History tells us that if you play even with top teams and dominate the lower ones, you will have the best record. The Yankees, record-wise, have played well against weak teams yet still tend to drop games at the worst of times. The Yankees' problem this year is their record against their division rivals. They stand currently at 39-43 against winning teams in the AL East. The Toronto Blue Jays, in particular, finally backed up their hubris with action in 2025, taking nine of the thirteen games against New York, sweeping all four games in July. The Yankees lost their hold on the division lead on that occasion, and the defending AL Champions have not occupied it since.
The Yankees began 2025 with an improved starting staff that survived major injuries and thrived when a hot Max Fried pitched to a Cy Young level. They felt they improved the defense with the acquisitions of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger. Thirdly, they felt the American League was no stronger than it had been a year before. They started well and took the division lead when the rest of the AL East seemed to snooze. However, the division moved up to the norm, and the Yankees regressed below it. The weak managing skills that Aaron Boone displays, such as not settling on a single lineup, caused foundational issues from the start. His refusal to sit Anthony Volpe at his worst cost the Yankees games. His bullpen choices, which included his stubborn usage of Devin Williams, cost more losses. His game decisions in close games went against baseball instincts and even statistical data, surprisingly enough. His lack of urgency spread to a team that thought the division was theirs whenever they wanted. They were delusional, and time has run out. There is no tomorrow. There is only a short wild-card series now in their future and nothing more.
