Yankees and Dodgers Set to Leave Fanbases Wanting This Offseason

What are the odds that a swath of otherwise locked-in baseball fans haven't watched an inning of the World Series, just because their teams are out and it'd be torture to see the Nationals and Astros going at it? We're not talking about the (small) armies of, say, Tigers or Pirates loyalists; they're used to empty Octobers. We're instead zeroing in on the Yankees' and Dodgers' fanbases, who by all accounts should be grateful for the prosperity, even if their offseasons have already started.

The Dodgers, after all, were the National League's most successful team, what with their 106 regular-season victories, 59-22 home record (also tops in the NL) and a gate of nearly 4 million—No. 1 in the sport by far. 

The Yankees have surged as well: 103 wins were the most since their last championship in 2009, which they achieved despite a record number of stints on the injured list. This continued a run that's been pure gold. The Bombers haven't finished under .500 since 1992; how many teams wouldn't sign up for that level of consistency?

Yet, there's something missing, at least if you pay attention to Twitter and message boards, where the Dodgers and Yankees are being roasted for falling short once again. The Dodgers haven't reached the finish line since 1988. The Yankees just completed their first decade without a World Series appearance since 1910-19. The frustration is understandable on both coasts. 

Both franchises, after all, tell us only one metric matters—winning the World Series. By that logic, the Dodgers and Yankees are bound by the need to do something—anything—to find the missing ingredient.

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Is Dave Roberts the problem in L.A.? Yes and no. Even though he's taken Los Angeles to the postseason in each of his four years, his managerial style has been formulaic and data-driven. Roberts is articulate and friendly, but his decisions lack imagination, as if he doesn't trust his instincts. Or when he does go with his gut, he's inevitably wrong. Case in point was Roberts' refusal to remove Clayton Kershaw in the eighth inning of a devastating loss to the Nationals in Game 5 of the Division Series.

Roberts allowed Kershaw to give up back-to-back homers as a seemingly safe 3-1 lead—and a ticket to the NLCS—turned into a 7-3 loss. Roberts later took full blame, pointing to Kershaw's status as "probably the best pitcher of our generation." That didn't exactly console the ticket buyers who wonder if Roberts will ever get it right in October.

But anyone who was expecting a coup at Chavez Ravine got their response almost immediately. Five days after L.A. was bounced, Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, announced Roberts would be back for his fifth season. And no, it wasn't as if the Dodgers front office agonized over the decision.

"Frankly, I was surprised by the question," Friedman said during a press conference, emphasizing that Roberts is an "additive" part of the long-term solution.

In the short term, the Dodgers are unlikely to be making a big splash in the free-agent market. They'll certainly be interested in current Astros starter Gerrit Cole, the top player available, but the consensus among MLB executives is the biggest bid for the right-hander will come from Los Angeles Angels. 

The same stay-the-course narrative was being repeated in the Bronx, where general manager Brian Cashman conceded that while the Game 6 loss to the Astros in the ALCS was a "failure," the six-month campaign that led to the Yankees' first division title since 2012 was not. 

"It wasn't a failed season," Cashman insisted. "It's very important not to get emotional. Most teams would love to be in the position we put ourselves in and the roster we have." 

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There's no arguing the Yankees are an American League powerhouse and are, in fact, on the upswing: Their win total has increased steadily in the last three seasons, ever since Cashman rebuilt the team at the 2016 trade deadline, adding Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier, among others. The makeover didn't require a five- or even three-year plan. No tanking, no last-place finishes like the Red Sox and Astros had to endure before winning championships this decade. Cashman instead turned the Queen Mary around like it was a speedboat. 

But that hasn't solved the larger problem—winning a World Series. Cashman says the Yankees are built for excellence, but the mission has somehow devolved into creating a club good enough for the postseason and then waiting for a break or two. The GM hasn't had a losing season since he took over for Bob Watson in 1998 and has used that 22-year run to learn a thing or two about October baseball: Like his friend Billy Beane says, the playoffs are nothing more than a pitiless "crapshoot."

In Cashman's mind, there's no guarantee for victory—it certainly doesn't come from the size of the payroll. As if to prove that anything can happen in October, he pointed to the wild-card Nationals taking the first two games of the Series against the heavily favored Astros. At Minute Maid Park, no less. 

Point is: Minor changes, such as changing pitching coaches, may be coming, but the Yankees aren't about to blow up the roster or go running to the ATM to overpay for Cole this winter. For one, they don't think the Astros ace, soon to become a free agent, wants to play in New York in 2020 or ever, for that matter. And second, the Yankees already believe they have enough pitching. The idea of being forced to bullpen their way through the decisive Game 6 wouldn't have been quite as disastrous had Dellin Betances and Domingo German both been on the postseason roster.

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But they weren't. Betances, who was supposed to resume his role as the eighth-inning bridge to closer Aroldis Chapman after recovering from season-long shoulder problems, partially tore his left Achilles tendon in a freak accident in late September. And German, an 18-game winner, was placed on administrative leave after allegedly slapping his girlfriend around the same time.

Both pitchers would've given manager Aaron Boone more (and better) choices in the final innings of that 6-4 loss to the Astros, which ended with Jose Altuve's walk-off HR against Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth. 

The loss resonated deeply in the postgame clubhouse, where Aaron Judge was seen crying. The Yankees can talk about year-to-year momentum, but it didn't feel that way while the Astros were throwing a toga party for Altuve at home plate. Like the Dodgers, the Yankees are learning about the difference between relative success and an honest-to-goodness, last-man-standing championship.

For these two legacy franchises, the gap has never seemed wider.