New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

With Yankees playoff hopes officially dead, star calls season a 'failure'

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated Sep 24, 2023 8:43 PM ET

The New York Yankees playoff hopes ended on Sunday, prompting star outfielder Aaron Judge to share a few harsh realities about the team while calling the season an overall "failure."

"We got a lot to work on, a lot of things to change and a lot of stuff going on around here that need to be fixed," Judge said via the YES Network.

Appropriately, miserable, rainy conditions were the backdrop on Sunday for the club's last gasp. Even more fitting, New York went down without much of a fight, as the Arizona Diamondbacks ran away with a 7-1 victory, officially eliminating the Yankees from postseason contention.

Nothing has seemed to go right for the Yankees this season, whether it was injuries to stars or prolonged losing streaks. The flaws shown throughout the year weren't imaginary, though. On a team of well-known names expected to be a World Series favorite, only a handful, like Judge, infielder Gleyber Torres and starter Gerrit Cole, stood out.

The New York Yankees have been eliminated from Postseason contention pic.twitter.com/nWlT50CXHY
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 24, 2023

The Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016, so change is undoubtedly coming to the Bronx. When it comes to what the Yankees must do this offseason to make sure they're not on the outside looking in at the postseason next year, Judge seemingly wants a say. When pressed by reporters on what he believes the team should do, Judge responded, "Oh yeah, I have some ideas."

While Judge didn't give anything away, his plans likely involve the Yankees spending money on the free-agent market. As luck would have it, a generational talent will be available this winter in two-way star Shohei Ohtani.

Whether or not signing Ohtani is what Judge has in mind is anyone's guess. However, even after the disappointment of this year's team, boasting the second-highest payroll in baseball, the Yankees aren't likely to shy away from spending money to fix what's broken.

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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