The New York Yankees season ended with a sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays, and thus begins another offseason of discussing what went wrong with the Yankees.
The answer to why the Yankees did not get to the World Series this year could be as simple as the fact that Aaron Judge missed most of the season and did not play in the postseason. However, to use that as an excuse would insinuate that when he is healthy, the Yankees are a lock for the World Series, which they have not been. In fact, they have only gone to the World Series once with Judge.
The Yankees carry lofty expectations every season, and the players know that. After the Yankees lost to the Rays, Aaron Judge made a point to note that it's basically World Series or bust for the Yankees every year. Former Yankees Anthony Rizzo thinks it's time for those expectations to change.
"There's a standard to winning a championship."
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 8, 2026
Aaron Judge evaluates the 2026 Yankees and what it will take to get over the hump as a team. pic.twitter.com/57XEJ5nBpJ
"It's not (World Series or bust)," Rizzo said on "Ross and Rizzo Unfiltered" on Thursday. "That's the thing. That's the thing there. Like, they don't earn that right anymore. You can't just walk into every spring and say, 'It's World Series or bust.' For the (Los Angeles) Dodgers, it's World Series or bust."
Rizzo has been in the Yankees clubhouse, and he has actually been to the World Series with the Yankees. In fact, he was part of one of the most disastrous Yankees innings in recent memory. During the Dodgers' infamous five-run fifth inning in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, Rizzo fielded the single by Mookie Betts that got the Dodgers on the board. That play was obviously the play where Gerrit Cole did not cover first base.
Rizzo has a point. The Yankees have not proven that they can win a World Series, let alone get there consistently. To say it's World Series or bust every year is foolish. The Yankees need to start focusing on the little things and playing clean baseball in big games if they want to win a World Series.