The World Series is over and the offseason is about to begin.  But before we get into all the things the Yankees should and hopefully will do, lets take a final look back at the Fall Classic with a handful of notes.

1) Ever since they signed Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers were the favorites to win the World Series.  They then went and put up the best record in baseball.  They were the best team and they won the World Series.  As much I would have loved for the Yankees to beat them, losing to the best team is nothing to be ashamed of.   

2) The Yankees needed the Dodgers to play bad baseball if they were going to beat them.  That’s what KC did and that’s what Cleveland did.  The Yankees can get sloppy at times and they needed their opponents to play down to their level.  Some of the games in the series prior to the World Series were just terrible baseball by both teams.  The Dodgers were not perfect, but they played a much cleaner game than the Yankees did.  Now, who’s fault is it that the Yankees sometimes look like a little league team?  Some would say it is the manager’s fault.  I don’t know, but it’s something they need to fix.   

3) It’s going to be interesting to see what the Yankees do in the off season.  As of now I can only say for sure that Judge, Giancarlo, Wells, Volpe, and Jazz will be in their lineup next season.  Cole and Rodon are the only pitchers I can say for sure will be in pinstripes next year.  Most of the Yankee roster is either arbitration eligible or has an option, or is pre-arbitration.  Now, most of them will be back, but I can’t say for sure which ones yet.  Obviously one particular right fielder is a free agent and the lynch pin to the entire off season, however, the Yankees have a lot of decisions to make on the rest of the roster as well. 

4) 2 down, 24 to go.  What am I talking about?  Well, here’s the thing, at the beginning of the 20^th century the Boston Red Sox won a handful of World Series, their last one being in 1918.  After that they traded away their best player (Ruth) for financial reasons.  They then went 87 years without a championship and the team they traded him to won 26 World Series in those 87 years.  Well, at the beginning of the 21^st century the Boston Red Sox won a handful of World Series, their last being in 2018.  They then traded their best player (Betts) for financial reasons.  Since then, the Sox have not won anything and the team they traded Betts to has won 2 Worlds Series.  I have seen this movie before, I know how it ends.  It’s too bad the Yankees didn’t make the trade with the Sox this time but hopefully they can still win a handful of World Series this century.           

5) I mentioned this in my thoughts for game 5 but I’ll say it again.  Major League Baseball really has to move to the 2-2-1-1-1 format for the World Series.  Not only is it the fairest way to play a 7-game series, but it also gives the pitching staffs more rest.  What happened with the Dodgers and Yankees bullpens is embarrassing for the sport.  You want the teams playing for your championship to be playing their best.  That is not what we got in game 5.  I know everyone wants starters to pitch 9 innings every game, and I would like that too, but it just isn’t reality anymore.  And even if starters usually went longer into games, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t get pulled early in the playoffs.  Jack Flaherty wasn’t supposed to only pitch 1.1 innings last night.  They pulled him because he was getting hit all over the ball park.  Starters are going to have short leashes in the play-offs, that’s all there is to it.  Changing the format will give pitching staffs extra rest and allow them to be at their best when playing for the championship.  Watching Weaver’s arm fall off and the Dodgers having to use a starter to close the game just isn’t what’s best for baseball.  

Well, I think that about covers it for the World Series.  On to the offseason.  I’ll get into all of that shortly, probably next week.  Only 148 more days until Opening Day.  Go Yankees!