Oct 23, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after strike out in the sixth inning during game four of the ALCS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
After a sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros in the 2022 ALCS, did the New York Yankees do enough this offseason to get past their rivals and back to the World Series?
Flash back to last October and the angst that surrounded the New York Yankees as they succumbed to the Houston Astros once again in the postseason, and did it while striking out 30 times (in 65 at-bats) in the first two ALCS losses in Houston. When the series returned to the Bronx for Game 3, New York mustered just three hits in a 5-0 defeat, sending Yankees fans into frustration-filled tirades.
While Aaron Judge may have powered the offense with his American League-record 62 homers, New York’s bats went silent when they were needed the most.
But that was then. The question becomes, with the Astros very much primed to make a strong run at a repeat as World Series champions, did New York do enough this offseason to not only contend with Houston (and the rest of the American League) but also get back to the Fall Classic and win it for the first time since 2009?
Did the offseason make the New York Yankees better?
In asking that question, let’s look at the biggest moves made by the Bronx Bombers this winter (so far, as there have been teases about another trade for pitching potentially coming).
New York checked one of the biggest boxes of the offseason by bringing Judge back on a nine-year, $360 million deal. The Yankees also kept Anthony Rizzo in the fold with a two-year, $40 million signing. On the pitching side, New York grabbed a pair of pitchers from the National League West, boosting its rotation with former San Francisco Giants hurler Carlos Rodon (six year, $162 million) and bullpen with former Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Tommy Kahnle (returning to New York on a two-year, $11.5 million contract).
The Yankees didn’t add anyone new on the offensive side of the equation, but is also counting on DJ LeMahieu returning from an injury-plagued end of the season that saw him miss most of September and the entire postseason. Higher-ups in the Bronx (as well as members of the national media such as ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel) also believes that prospects like Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe will make an impact on the team as the season goes along, injecting some new life into the offense.
But is it enough? With the moves made this offseason and the hope of new and returning faces being difference-makers, are the Yankees just setting themselves for another AL East title and exit in the postseason before reaching the Fall Classic?