The New York Yankees franchise remains the standard of greatness in the MLB. Throughout its history, the Yankees franchise have won the most championships, with 27. While that in itself is a great accomplishment, the Yankees, thanks to their unlimited resources and penchant for acquiring and developing quality contributors, have not finished with a record below .500 since 1992, missing the playoffs just four times over that span.
However, the Yankees may be approaching dangerously unfamiliar territory after their loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night knocked their record down to 17-16, good for dead last in the extremely competitive AL East.
As Bryan Hoch of MLB.com pointed out, the Yankees are now 10 games behind the blazing-hot Rays, boasting a 27-6 record, in the standings. This is the earliest the Yankees have faced a double-digit deficit in the division since 1984, when they went 10 games behind the Detroit Tigers just 19 games into the campaign.
The quality in the AL East is simply preposterous. Playing 13 games each per season against the Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox is already a thankless enough endeavor on its own. And now, the Baltimore Orioles have become one of the most dangerous teams in the league, ratcheting up the difficulty of the Yankees’ season even further.
To make matters worse for the Yankees, their best player, 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge, is currently on the mend due to a hip injury. Judge may not be having as torrid of a season as he had in 2022, but his mere presence on the lineup instills fear into opposing pitchers.
Nevertheless, these Yankees know that the MLB season is not a sprint. They have only played 33 games, barely a fifth of the way into the season, so they know that they will have plenty of time to turn things around. The AL East is no stranger to overcoming insane divisional deficits in the past anyway. Just ask the 2011 Rays and Red Sox.
But certainly this deficit isn’t anything to celebrate, but rather, the Yankees must use this to fuel some sense of urgency onto them so they can avoid falling off the pace even further.
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