One Good, One Bad: Game 3 ALDS

By Andrew Hefner

October 8, 2026

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I have never experienced a New York Yankees championship. Sure, I was three months old when they last won in 2009, but each year this franchise has fallen farther and farther from the men who wore pinstripes in the decades before. My family recounts stories of the teams of the past, owners who risked it all to win, players who put their bodies and careers on the line to bring a championship to the Bronx, and an organization that understood what the weight of playing for the New York Yankees meant.

The next time the Yankees play baseball, it will likely be 2028. Aaron Judge will be 36, Gerrit Cole will be in the last year of his contract, and, as it stands, there will be no Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham, or even Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup. This era of Yankees baseball and MLB, for that matter, is over. Teams want a salary cap, and the two teams in the ALCS may be the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox. Baseball never fails to entertain.

There is a spark missing from the team right now. The new Baby Bombers are here. Ben Rice has broken out like 2017 Aaron Judge. I feel like my childhood Yankees are all but gone, and for the first time in my life, a new generation of New York baseball is coming. I will be an adult (which is insane) the next time the Yankees play postseason baseball. Hopefully the new Baby Bombers, the next Aaron Judge, the next Tyler Austin, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar, will finally be the ones to get it done.

For now, though, let's take a look at One Good and One Bad from Game 3 of the 2026 ALDS and the final of the Yankees’ season.

The Good

The future was on display.

I have talked a big game to everyone who will listen about the new generation. The Somerset Patriots are my second home. I saw these players develop from unranked prospects like Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler about two years ago into the stars they now are on the biggest stage.

Spencer Jones and George Lombard have just witnessed their first postseason heartbreak, and each of them was one of the most important members of this team down the stretch and into the playoffs. After the game, Lombard was shown on the broadcast with his head against the railing, staring at the dugout floor. He did not speak to anyone, look at anyone, or move at all. Lombard, more than anyone, has a whole career ahead of him. He will be 23 when the next MLB season begins and has time to develop into the star that he knows he can become, and yet this postseason had an effect on him at such an early stage in his career. He played with heart and passion and understands the weight of pinstripes, and one day he will become a Yankee great and help lead New York into its new era.

Anthony Volpe did his part tonight and has been willing to upend his career this season for the betterment of the team. Austin Wells was great defensively and was heating up at the plate as of late. Cam Schlittler is the Cy Young winner. Ben Rice was the hottest hitter in the postseason in all of baseball. In two years, these players will be in their prime years. Yankees fans have just seen a preview of what to expect in future years, and hopefully there is some hope left in this fanbase and the Yankees move forward.

The Bad

I began to reference what I wanted to say in the intro, but this team does not feel like the New York Yankees. This is an objective thought, and it may not feel the same for everyone, but from reading and hearing about the great postseason teams of the past and the stars that helped carry the Yankees to greatness, this team did not feel like that.

Injuries were rampant, facial hair was a thing, and Brian Cashman and ownership barely spent a single dime. This is not the Yankees I have grown up with, nor the Yankees of the past decades.

Defensive liabilities cost one game, offense another; even managerial issues were prominent throughout the postseason and the entire year, for that matter. Would these problems have occurred in the 1950s, 1990s, 2000s, etc., year after year with no change? The answer is no. This was the weakest American League in years, and the Yankees lost to a team with a payroll $200 million less than their own. Maybe this time someone will find a real solution.

What I am trying to say is there should be no more “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” An ALDS exit in 2025 and an ALDS exit in 2026 both occurred with virtually the same roster (Who would’ve thought?!). Bring back aggression, passion, energy. The fanbase is here, and the brand still exists.

The Rays clinched the AL East and the ALDS in our house. Unacceptable. 

Bring back the old Yankees.