Reuters
It’s official: the Yankees’ season is over after 162 games for just the second time in the wild card era.
The Bombers were eliminated from contention when the Indians topped the White Sox 7-2 on Wednesday evening. Just a few minutes later, they wrapped up an 8-3 loss to the Rays, leaving them with an 82-76 record.
Regardless of what happens in their final four games, the Yankees will finish with a winning record for the 21st straight year. However, they are going to miss the postseason for the first time since 2008 and the second time since 1994, when the strike eliminated the postseason. The Yankees were in first place when play ended after 113 games that year. They failed to make the postseason at 88-74 the year before in 1993. The last time they finished under .500 was 1992 (76-86).
Even if the Yankees do win out and finish at 86-76 (.531), it will be their worst record since that sub-.500 season. Their next lowest winning percentage was .540 in 2000, but they still finished in first place (and won the World Series) that year.
It’s a disappointing send off for Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, but still an impressive record giving the myriad injuries dealt with by Joe Girardi’s crew. Consider this: Chris Stewart has the sixth most at-bats this year on the Yankees roster. Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki will be the only three to finish with 500. Fourth and fifth on the list are Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells.
As they head into what surely will be a busy and probably controversial offseason, the Yankees have question marks everywhere. Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda and Curtis Granderson are free agents. Alex Rodriguez has a 213-game suspension hanging over his head. Derek Jeter, who has a player option, isn’t likely to be a full-time shortstop going forward. Plus, the Yankees, who are expected to try to get under the $189 million luxury-tax figure, won’t know how much money they have to spend until the A-Rod saga is resolved.
Practically certain to depart in free agency are longtime Yankees Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. David Robertson could replace Rivera in the closer’s role, but then the Yankees would have to sign someone to pitch the eighth. There are only two locks for the rotation in CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova, but there’s some hope that Michael Pineda will return from his shoulder woes to contribute. The lineup will have Gardner, Alfonso Soriano and the rehabbing Mark Teixeira at first base, plus Suzuki and Wells hopefully in lesser roles.
About the only positive thing the Yankees can take from this season as they head into 2014 is Nova’s rebound campaign that has him looking like a legitimate No. 3 starter. Even though he’s been typically working with two pitches (fastball and curve), he’s notched two complete-game shutouts in his last five starts, leaving him with a 3.13 ERA in 19 starts and three relief appearances this season.
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- aceshigh11 - Sep 25, 2013 at 10:49 PM
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- mensad - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:03 PM
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Yankenfreude is one of life’s great guilty pleasures.
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- bigharold - Sep 26, 2013 at 1:01 PM
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“… one of life’s great guilty pleasures.”
Only for those with self esteem issues.
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- sabatimus - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:07 PM
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I remember the old NES Wheel of Fortune game, where if you lost it said “You failed to win this FABULOUS prize!”
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- TheMorningStar - Sep 26, 2013 at 7:27 AM
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- bravojawja - Sep 26, 2013 at 9:27 AM
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Thank you. This brought tears to my eyes.
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- badintent - Sep 25, 2013 at 10:57 PM
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so were the Royals and Os. Night of the long Knifes. Next year. Go A’s, Take the American League title. Money ball. !
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- proudlycanadian - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:07 PM
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If the Royals win tonight, they will still not be officially eliminated.
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- badintent - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:08 PM
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We know it , they know, now you know it. Stick a Barbie Fork in them. No Jason Giambi on that team.
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- proudlycanadian - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:16 PM
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It would be fun to see the Royals finish the season with a better record than the Yankees.
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- badintent - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:21 PM
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No. It would be much more fun to see Arodless get slammed with 200 games and I’m a yankee fan.I think Joe has done a better job managing the NFL injury listed Yankees this year than in years past when he just penciled in a great lineup .Yawn , still no score in KC game.More fun posting with you.
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- badintent - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:32 PM
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My bad. I post, Mariners score 3. Musta heard me diss them
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- proudlycanadian - Sep 25, 2013 at 10:58 PM
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The Evil Empire is dead. I am sure that a kinder and gentler Yankee team will emerge next season.
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- sabatimus - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:08 PM
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That means that the Yanks will have to drop their trademark of that moniker.
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- bigharold - Sep 26, 2013 at 1:03 PM
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“The Evil Empire is dead.”
Isn’t that what they said around this time in 2008?
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- proudlycanadian - Sep 26, 2013 at 1:20 PM
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Hello Harold. I am sure that you will have fun cheering for the Yankees next season. You are a loyal fan and I expect that you will always be a loyal Yankee fan. Cheers!
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- historiophiliac - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:01 PM
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/looks up from eating popcorn
Wait, does this mean the Doom Watch is over? That’s it?
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- happytwinsfan - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:23 PM
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for some reason the twins just interrupted willingham’s day off and pinch hit him in the bottom of the ninth. strange move for this stage of the pre season, anyhow he struck out and the tigers seem to be happy. congratulations.
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- historiophiliac - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:28 PM
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Jump on the bandwagon, son!
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- happytwinsfan - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:48 PM
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back in 2001 (i think) there was talk of the twins franchise being euthanized by mlb. then they made the playoffs with the lowest payroll in baseball. i thought that might be proof that baseball is god’s favorite sport.
i once won tickets to a tigers game in a radio station contest by happening to know (way pre google) that willie horton’s numbers were 273 / 29 hr / 104 rbi in his rookie year. if the tigers can win it all in the same year that detroit was forced into bankruptcy. i would consider that as further proof.
still, i must hold back until the injuns are out of it before i jump on the bandwagon and seeing the canuck assisted buckoos in the ws would further conflict me.
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- historiophiliac - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:50 PM
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You and Jim Leyland both.
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- happytwinsfan - Sep 26, 2013 at 12:00 AM
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no shit
love jim leyland. the manager of the team that was probably the best team in 92. thank god the twins didn’t have to play them in the ws. does he still sneak cigs at the back of the dugout?
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- nbjays - Sep 26, 2013 at 8:12 AM
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Yep, Historio, we are back to DoomCon 5. You can stop stockpiling food and water.
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- proudlycanadian - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:02 PM
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With the Rays, Indians and Rangers all winning, there is still an exciting 3 way battle for the 2 Wild Card positions.
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- thebadguyswon - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:07 PM
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So those of us that believed the DOOM were right afterall, huh?
Told ya so.
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- 18thstreet - Sep 26, 2013 at 9:14 AM
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Well, this doomsayer thought they were going to fully collapse, not limp to a .500 record. I’m not quite sure how they did it. It seems as though the conventional wisdom is: they were better than they should have been; therefore, the manager must have done a great job. I don’t buy that, either. I’m guessing that something hard-to-measure made the difference — perhaps their defense was better than any of us noticed. Either way, I’m impressed that a team this flawed is going to win more games than it lost. And I also think they’re going to have huge problems next year whether they win the bidding for Cano or not.
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- churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged - Sep 26, 2013 at 11:38 AM
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Dont’ forget that they were performing well over expectations in the first month of the season, when guys like Wells and Hafner were SLG .600+. Those wins helped, and decent pitching performances as well.
But I agree, no idea how this team is over .500.
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- thebadguyswon - Sep 26, 2013 at 1:30 PM
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So do I. I dont hate the Yankees at all. I’m just calling it like I see. Brian Cashman has gutted that farm and they are too old. If I were Hal and Hank the first thing I’d do would be to fire Cashman’s insubordinate ass.
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- churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged - Sep 26, 2013 at 2:52 PM
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Brian Cashman has gutted that farm and they are too old. If I were Hal and Hank the first thing I’d do would be to fire Cashman’s insubordinate ass.
I completely disagree. The one thing Cashman’s tried to do is develop a farm system. The system took a step back this year, mainly because of injuries if you can imagine that (Banuelos, Austin, Williams), but they have some exciting prospects. Unfortunately they were all a year+ away. They had almost no help coming into 2013, but if some people rebound and/or take a step forward, they have some interesting prospects for ’14 and beyond.
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- kraa0901 - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:20 PM
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Alright this makes no sense to me. I’ve never been one to like a Yankee player- but why the hell did they not put Mo in there for his final game in Yankee Stadium?!
He is a standup guy and will be one of the few players to wear those damn pinstripes. I feel they owe their fans and, more importantly, him that right. At a loss of words on this one….
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- thevauntedchris - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:23 PM
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Because they play there tomorrow night. Pretty easy
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- thevauntedchris - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:22 PM
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Darker days are ahead and I can’t wait for these nut-ridin’ Yankee fans to hop off when they aren’t winning almost 95 games every year. Maybe then the management will worry about rebuilding another sustainable winner, and not catering to the idiot fans by acquiring only players people are familiar with..like Wells and Ichiro. Blow it up, B-Ri. Actually, you should run far far away.
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- kraa0901 - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:30 PM
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Hahaha- didn’t see that (thought they had an off day). Carry on….
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- kraa0901 - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:37 PM
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Happytwinsfan- Let’s hope for better days. We have the two hottest prospects in Sano and Byron Buxton….we might be able to have them through a few nice playoff runs and then trade them for peanuts once the rest of the league realizes their skill level.
Better days are ahead!
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- schniz61 - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:39 PM
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Boo Fucking Hoo Yankee fans! Now can the media cattle shut the fuck up about them for a couple months???!!! Next up, need someone to knock out the Doghairs!
Pirates – A’s WS!!!! That would be awesome!
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- thevauntedchris - Sep 25, 2013 at 11:43 PM
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Hooray for low ratings! you are so anti-establishment, you cool kid.
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- schniz61 - Sep 26, 2013 at 2:25 AM
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Salary Cap, baby!
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- 18thstreet - Sep 26, 2013 at 9:17 AM
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I never understand why ordinary fans care about ratings. Do you work for a network? Or are you under the impression that the playoffs won’t be televised if the ratings get low enough?
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- vlock1 - Sep 26, 2013 at 3:23 PM
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Thank you, 18thstreet. I will never in my life understand why anyone who isn’t a Fox or TBS shareholder cares even a little bit what the ratings are.
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- nbjays - Sep 26, 2013 at 9:57 PM
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Yep, no matter what teams are in the playoffs, my network is going to broadcast every game, and I’ll watch every game, too. Gotta get enough baseball in to last through a long winter.
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- bigmeechy74 - Sep 26, 2013 at 10:14 PM
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why would you care about ratings? Are you a network exec?
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- deepstblu - Sep 26, 2013 at 10:56 AM
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There are some cool potential World Series matchups this year that have never happened before. Pirates-A’s would be one, Dodgers-Tigers and Braves-Red Sox are a couple of others. We could have an Ohio Series (Indians-Reds), a Rust Belt Series (Indians-Pirates), or a rematch of the first Series (Red Sox-Pirates). Dodgers-Indians, Dodgers-Red Sox, Tigers-Pirates and Braves-A’s haven’t met in the Series since 1920 or before.
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- tampajoey - Sep 26, 2013 at 12:42 AM
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The Yankees weren’t eliminated because of the Indians… the Yankees were eliminated because they didn’t win enough games.
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- respectfortampabay - Sep 26, 2013 at 7:36 AM
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Yes, I love the way the press perceives it – It’s always a pro-Yankme stance. The Rays beat them, they didn’t just lose when the Indians won… talk about small market teams. We can’t get enough local people to back our team because over a third of the population of the Bay area are snowbirds who insist on playing long-distance loyalty. We don’t give a sh1t how you did it back home!!
Rays-Dodgers WS… Wil Myers for ROY
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- Tim OShenko - Sep 26, 2013 at 12:47 AM
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Expect news that MLB is expanding the Wild Card to 4 teams next year, to further insure that we never have a Yankees-less postseason again.
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- dcfan999 - Sep 26, 2013 at 4:14 AM
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Time for girardi to become the nats new manager
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- theskinsman - Sep 26, 2013 at 5:36 AM
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Just for Dirty Harry,and his sister Bad Intent;
“Ball game over!!Season Over!! Yankees lose! Theeeeee Yankees LOSE!”
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- TheMorningStar - Sep 26, 2013 at 7:35 AM
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Wow the arrogant and entitled Yankee fans/clowns are avoiding this post like the plague….they all must be cradling their Mariano Rivaria bobbleheads (but that’s because no one wants to buy it from them on ebay, ha ha) and repeating over and over “I done with baseball for good”
Best wishes in the the off-season Yankee fans…its gonna be a rough one for ya…old dead George ain’t gonna be resurrected.
Long live the (cheap) Steinbrenner bros!!
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- churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged - Sep 26, 2013 at 11:39 AM
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I’m sorry, I must have missed the part where we need to post on every thread.
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- lazlosother - Sep 26, 2013 at 8:45 AM
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The actual elimination is a mere formality, NY has been toast for weeks. Congrats to Boston, the A’s, Tigers and probably the Rays and Indians. It’s been a long strange season for us Yankee fans and the winter promises to be different as well. Lots of holes to fill and I don’t think Cashman will be able to shovel fast enough.
Oh well, the playoffs start soon and could be an excellent show this year.
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- stackers1 - Sep 26, 2013 at 8:54 AM
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I’ve been through the up’s & down’s with the Yankees since 1969. Whatever happens with the roster this offseason is beyond my control, but I’ll be watching & cheering for them next spring just like always.
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- bravojawja - Sep 26, 2013 at 9:30 AM
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Gotta admit, though: 21 straight winning seasons is impressive. Most impressive.
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- bigmeechy74 - Sep 26, 2013 at 10:10 PM
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YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
