Giancarlo Stanton Told Yankees He Doesn't Want to See Them Wearing AL Title Rings

The New York Yankees received diamond rings to celebrate their 2024 American League championship during a ceremony earlier this month, but one veteran made it clear that the team shouldn't be satisfied with them.

"This isn’t the one we wanted, boys," Giancarlo Stanton said during the ceremony, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "The one that we want is in front of us. I’d better not see any of you guys wearing these around."

The rings were made of 14-karat white gold and featured diamonds, rubies and sapphires with the Yankees' classic logo and the words "American League Champions 2024." Despite the beauty of the jewelry, most of the Yankees have heeded Stanton's word.

"I don’t want to walk around with this runner-up or second-place ring from when I was with the Yankees, looking back and saying, 'That was my shining moment,'" Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt told Hoch. "That’s just the standard here. We’re trying to win the World Series -- every single year."

Yankees captain Aaron Judge said he doesn't even like to watch highlights of his first World Series appearance because he knows that it ends with a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

"All I really think is, "We lost,'" Judge said. "We could break it down from Game 1 all the way through, but it comes down to, we didn’t get the job done. That’s what really matters, and how you learn from it and try to be a better player from it."

The Yankees appear motivated to return to the World Series for the second straight year and have the second-best record in the AL at 35-20. They are riding a five-game win streak into Friday's World Series rematch against the Dodgers (34-22).