Growing Everything But The Payroll: The Official 2025 New York Yankees Season Thread

[Grifter]

 

[Michael's Black Son]

Dude had a very solid playoff run and now needs to be read his last rites.

Unbelievable

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Yankees should win the AL East and at worst get to World Series. I’m not even being an irrational fan with that take. Losing to the Royals, Tigers, or Guardians in a playoff series would be

The problem is like @Mantle Drunk has mentioned, this team is painfully short on hitters. A 37 year old coming off his worst season ever at first base. A DH who you know will miss time. No third baseman on the roster. A shortstop who has shown himself to be one of the worst hitters I have ever seen in every sense of the term, a second baseman who misses time with injuries, an outfielder who is an unproven commodity, and another one who has had some major down years and injuries too. This could turn into the second half of 2022 or all of 2023 real fast, and especially since they have no bench.

At this point it’s on Hal for refusing to cover up cashman’s mistakes by spending and still refusing to fire him at the same time. Losing Soto should not have been a backbreaker for them. The nationals lost Bryce Harper and won it all the next year. Boston won a title 2 years after David Ortiz retired and won a title not that long after trading on top of winning one shortly after losing Pedro. Houston won a title after losing Correa and springer. San Francisco won 3 in 5 years just 3 years after Barry bonds was forced out. The cardinals reached the World Series 2 years after Pujols left. Well run franchises have depth, which this team doesn’t have right now.

 

[GunRanger]

Not excited after the Goldschmidt signing. It's the exact kind of move they shouldve avoided, and didnt.

 

[tremonthustler1]

I love the Martian but everyone's gonna do this off Rodon's bum ass this year

 

[tremonthustler1]

Not excited after the Goldschmidt signing. It's the exact kind of move they shouldve avoided, and didnt.

I woulda just started Rice but if he's a stopgap for Murakami, I'm ok with it.

If they don't get Murakami, it'll be years before we get a legit 1B.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Not excited after the Goldschmidt signing. It's the exact kind of move they shouldve avoided, and didnt.

It was a 1 year deal in a weak market for the position. Avoiding an albatross type deal was the best they could’ve hoped for. This is why they needed to be all in on Matt Olson in 2021-22.

 

[Remote]

We’ll see how much Soto was holding this offense together real quick. I just want the philosophy of this team to change, and be geared towards contact and athleticism.

Soto was a big part of the offense.
I think Bellinger does better than he did in Chicago last season, but he can't be expected to post a .900 OPS the way Soto did.

At some point you have to expect some level of decline out of Judge. Maybe it's only a little but being on a 60 HR pace for like 3 years in a row is ridiculous.
The Yankees need other players to exceed expectations.

 

[Walt]

Yall are the most moribund, morbid fanbase, man


I get it - I hate Hal and Boone too. That World Series performance was an all time lowlight. And the team lost a legit GOAT level hitter to the crosstown stepsister.

All that said, they stay in playoff contention, have the reigning MVP, a great 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, a potentially great bullpen, and a potential young phenom in the outfield. The bulk of teams would love to have the Yankees’ problems.

Maybe it’s the fact my prime fanhood coincided with Donnie’s career, but it’s important to understand things can be so much worse. They had prime Donnie, Winfield, and Rickey on the roster and couldn’t even make the playoffs. This team has some really good pieces. I think Wells and Rice can be legit players. I’m excited about The Martian and still hate the way they didn’t use him in the playoffs. I hope it lights a fire under him to show the organization they’re a collective of morons. Maybe the Pinstripes will rejuvenate Goldy. I’m (improbably) intrigued by this team.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Soto was a big part of the offense.
I think Bellinger does better than he did in Chicago last season, but he can't be expected to post a .900 OPS the way Soto did.

At some point you have to expect some level of decline out of Judge. Maybe it's only a little but being on a 60 HR pace for like 3 years in a row is ridiculous.
The Yankees need other players to exceed expectations.

Soto was near a .990 ops last year. We can’t even count on an .800 ops from the rest of the team.



2021: Stanton and Judge are the only players to hit above .270 or post an OBP over .350 on the year.

2022: Judge is the only guy with an average over .261 or an OBP over .338 on the year. From July onward the rest of the team posts a .223/.292/.360 triple slash.

2023: going by I think ops only 2 of the 22 players who got at least 70 plate appearances hit above league average

2024: Judge and Soto are the only guys to hit even .260 or post a .330 obp while multiple guys have a sub .300 obp on the year.



Seriously how the fukk has ham not fired Cashman off of these results and what he’s spending? Over the last 3 seasons, they’ve gotten 2 or 3 total decent hitting seasons out of players not named Aaron Judge and one of those guys is gone now. The infield consists of a 37 year old stopgap, a possible long term option if he can stay healthy, a colossal bust, and someone who doesn’t belong on a major league roster.

 

[Remote]

Yall are the most moribund, morbid fanbase, man


I get it - I hate Hal and Boone too. That World Series performance was an all time lowlight. And the team lost a legit GOAT level hitter to the crosstown stepsister.

All that said, they stay in playoff contention, have the reigning MVP, a great 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, a potentially great bullpen, and a potential young phenom in the outfield. The bulk of teams would love to have the Yankees’ problems.

Maybe it’s the fact my prime fanhood coincided with Donnie’s career, but it’s important to understand things can be so much worse. They had prime Donnie, Winfield, and Rickey on the roster and couldn’t even make the playoffs. This team has some really good pieces. I think Wells and Rice can be legit players. I’m excited about The Martian and still hate the way they didn’t use him in the playoffs. I hope it lights a fire under him to show the organization they’re a collective of morons. Maybe the Pinstripes will rejuvenate Goldy. I’m (improbably) intrigued by this team.

That 1985 team won 97 games though and only missed the playoffs because the Blue Jays won 99 and there was no Wild Card.



These 2025 Yankees may very well reach the playoffs and might even win the division. They're not winning 97 games though.

 

[g-ice]

Yall are the most moribund, morbid fanbase, man


I get it - I hate Hal and Boone too. That World Series performance was an all time lowlight. And the team lost a legit GOAT level hitter to the crosstown stepsister.

All that said, they stay in playoff contention, have the reigning MVP, a great 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, a potentially great bullpen, and a potential young phenom in the outfield. The bulk of teams would love to have the Yankees’ problems.

Maybe it’s the fact my prime fanhood coincided with Donnie’s career, but it’s important to understand things can be so much worse. They had prime Donnie, Winfield, and Rickey on the roster and couldn’t even make the playoffs. This team has some really good pieces. I think Wells and Rice can be legit players. I’m excited about The Martian and still hate the way they didn’t use him in the playoffs. I hope it lights a fire under him to show the organization they’re a collective of morons. Maybe the Pinstripes will rejuvenate Goldy. I’m (improbably) intrigued by this team.

You ain’t lying!

I grew up with them winning in the late ‘90’s. It could be a lot worse.

I’m just grateful to see a winning product consistently at this point.

Them winning a title is a bonus for me.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

That 1985 team won 97 games though and only missed the playoffs because the Blue Jays won 99 and there was no Wild Card.



These 2025 Yankees may very well reach the playoffs and might even win the division. They're not winning 97 games though.

That was an era where the orioles and giants both missed the playoffs with 100+ wins. These guys have only reached 97 wins once in the last 5 years and it came in a season where they went just 50-46 over the final 96 games of the season because Cashman went after a bunch of shytty and injured players at the deadline which threw half the team into a funk they never recovered from.

 

[K-Deini]

Yall are the most moribund, morbid fanbase, man


I get it - I hate Hal and Boone too. That World Series performance was an all time lowlight. And the team lost a legit GOAT level hitter to the crosstown stepsister.

All that said, they stay in playoff contention, have the reigning MVP, a great 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, a potentially great bullpen, and a potential young phenom in the outfield. The bulk of teams would love to have the Yankees’ problems.

Maybe it’s the fact my prime fanhood coincided with Donnie’s career, but it’s important to understand things can be so much worse. They had prime Donnie, Winfield, and Rickey on the roster and couldn’t even make the playoffs. This team has some really good pieces. I think Wells and Rice can be legit players. I’m excited about The Martian and still hate the way they didn’t use him in the playoffs. I hope it lights a fire under him to show the organization they’re a collective of morons. Maybe the Pinstripes will rejuvenate Goldy. I’m (improbably) intrigued by this team.

Youre not wrong. Unfortunately at this point the yankees are just something I watch to kill time in the summer. When it feels like the fan base cares more than the front office its just hard to have the same passion anymore. I don't blame Hal for soto though. He was never gonna sign. Cashman is just so condescending.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Youre not wrong. Unfortunately at this point the yankees are just something I watch to kill time in the summer. When it feels like the fan base cares more than the front office its just hard to have the same passion anymore. I don't blame Hal for soto though. He was never gonna sign. Cashman is just so condescending.

The problem is a competent and interested organization wouldn’t have even been in position to go after Soto to begin with because Harper, Machado, Turner/Seager/Correa, and Olson all should’ve been here which would’ve left no opening for Soto to begin with. Instead Hal is content to let his GM set money on fire by giving it to Happ, Ottavino, Britton, Donaldson, Hicks, IKF, Gallo, DJ, Rizzo, and Stroman which then prompts him to whine about the tax.