New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: We’d all like to forget the ALDS ever happened. However, as is often the case in life, the lowest points contain the best lessons. Phillips opines that the Yankees’ personnel choices and performances in Game 3 should inform their offseason decisions about Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, and Trent Grisham. Letting Jazz and Grisham walk in free agency would be simple enough, but McMahon is still under contract for 2027, and cutting ties with him now would mean
eating $16 million — though DJ LeMahieu’s contract is now at least off the books. Now, it’s not my money, and my opinion is that the Yankees should cut bait with him regardless, but we’ll have to see what happens.
NJ.com | Randy Miller: Speaking of the offseason, Miller has identified four free agents that, in his words, would enable the Yankees to “play like Rays” and “win like Rays”. They are: Luis Arraez, Mauricio Dubón, Carson Kelly, and Tyrone Taylor. The Arraez suggestion is predictable but makes sense, but one has to wonder how well his defensive gains this year will carry over to 2027 without Ron Washington coaching him. Although the righty-hitting, lefty-mashing Kelly could make sense as a platoon partner for Austin Wells, I don’t see him accepting anything less than a starting role. As for Dubón and Taylor, they’re nice role players, but I fail to see how they move the needle. (And Dubón made an errorin the NLDS against the Dodgers that certainly felt Boone Era Yankeelike.)
The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: ($) Finally, Kuty took to the interwebs to gather reactions from Yankees fans about their season ending. Surprise: they aren’t too happy about it. Neither the selected tweets nor Kuty’s “analysis” of them tell you anything you didn’t already know, but if you’re down in the dumps, hopefully this venting session can offer you some vicarious relief.
