Kansas City Royals v New York Yankees / Jim McIsaac/GettyImages
The New York Yankees’ lineup vs. Jared Jones and the Pittsburgh Pirates after clinching the AL East is a work of fart.
Following Thursday’s much-needed 10-1 drubbing of Corbin Burnes and the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees are locked into a first-round bye. They’ll play their first postseason game on Oct. 5, a few days after the best-of-three Wild Card series are sorted out.
What’s still up for debate, though, is their position in the playoff bracket. Will they stay slightly ahead of Cleveland and face the winner of the 4/5 matchup, or slip into the No. 2 spot? That would potentially task them with dismissing the No. 3 seed — some team called the “Houston Astros” — in a short series.
Right now, the Yankees control their own destiny, up one game on Cleveland and holding the tiebreaker between the two parties. A combination of two Yankees wins and Guardians losses this weekend will cinch up the best record in the American League. And, while Cleveland goes to Houston, the Yankees are benching a wide swath of regulars against one of the NL’s budding flamethrowers.
Friday Night Lights. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/xVw7Pr9c20
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 27, 2024
Yankees lineup vs. Pittsburgh Pirates show that they’ll deal with whatever the MLB Playoff Bracket sends their way
In the Yankees’ defense, this is very funny.
Aaron Judge, who receives a day off here, could certainly use one, and it’s not like the games are about to get less meaningless. Juan Soto with the DH day? Probably a good idea, given his propensity to run full speed into walls. If the Yankees win, fantastic! If not, they’ll have a couple more shots at securing the top spot in the bracket.
It’s fair for fans to wish they’d done this with nothing left up for grabs, but that’s what happens when you lose a home series to the Orioles ahead of the season’s final showdown. They had a chance to lock in the top spot. they didn’t. Now, they care more about self-preservation than maximizing that opportunity.
Maybe … maybe facing Houston in a best-of-five would actually be preferable to letting their depth weigh on you in a best-of-seven? Maybe rooting for Houston to lose to, say, the Kansas City Royals is actually a mistake, given what they could toss at you in a short series (Seth Lugo, Brady Singer, Cole Ragans)? Maybe the Yankees know that the AL is full of challenging-but-flawed teams, and they’ll take them on in whatever order they have to?
All we know is, whether they fall to No. 2 and duck the Orioles or stay at No. 1 and avoid Houston, plenty of people are going to be mad at the outcome and the process. Because people … they are mad all the time.
