Aaron Judge reflected on another disappointing postseason for the New York Yankees, as the team was eliminated by the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series. The defeat marked a continuation of recent playoff exits at Yankee Stadium, with other teams celebrating their victories on the field.
“When I signed back with the Yankees in ’23, I wanted to finish a job here and bring back a World Series,” Judge said. “We’re still on that mission.”
Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner stated that fans should expect their team to be competitive in Spring Training. Manager Aaron Boone also believed that the 2025 roster was his strongest so far, but acknowledged that they did not reach their full potential this season.
The challenge for the Yankees has grown more difficult after Toronto added pitcher Dylan Cease with a six-year contract. Both teams finished with 94 wins during the regular season, but Toronto won eight out of thirteen matchups against New York and continued its dominance in the playoffs. Steinbrenner noted that “the Blue Jays scored 34 runs in a 34-inning ALDS.”
“You’re not going to beat the Blue Jays, as good a team as they are, doing that,” Steinbrenner said. “They definitely played better than us. They slugged better than us, they hit the ball and put it in play better than us, and they pitched better than us. That’s why they won.”
Despite these results, Steinbrenner believes that spending does not guarantee success. He pointed out that while the Los Angeles Dodgers had a reported payroll of $415 million and won consecutive championships, both the Mets and Yankees—who had among the highest payrolls—fell short.
“Hats off to them. It’s not easy to do twice, and they did it in dramatic fashion this time,” Steinbrenner said. “We’ll see what they do next year and how it pans out. But there was nothing low about my payroll and the Mets’ payroll, and look where we ended up.”
Steinbrenner emphasized wise spending over total expenditures; significant contracts include Marcus Stroman ($18.5 million), DJ LeMahieu ($15 million), and Aaron Hicks ($10.785 million). LeMahieu is under contract for one more season.
The Yankees plan to build around Judge, who has now won three American League MVP awards. Trent Grisham accepted a $22.025 million qualifying offer to remain as center fielder, while general manager Brian Cashman confirmed ongoing talks with representatives for free agent outfielders Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker.
“There’s certain salary levels we’ll tag out at,” Cashman said. “That’s yet to be determined. At times, we’ve driven hard and still not gotten things done because the markets take it — whether it was [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto or [Juan] Soto, they go on and on to places you never expected.”
Infield plans may remain unchanged from last season; Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe (recovering from surgery), Ryan McMahon, José Caballero, and Oswaldo Cabrera are all expected to compete for starting roles.
The bullpen is identified as an area needing improvement following departures of Devin Williams and Luke Weaver into free agency.
Although confident in their starting rotation overall, early-season injuries will sideline Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón due to surgeries; Clarke Schmidt could return later in the year.
“Hopefully health is blessed in the early portion of February, March and April,” Cashman said. “But you can’t count on that. We’ll be exploring how to protect ourselves so we’re not taking on water early.”
With Winter Meetings approaching soon, questions remain about potential moves regarding payroll management or new player acquisitions.
