Yankees end 17th straight season without a title. Imagine how George Steinbrenner would've reacted

NEW YORK (AP) — George Steinbrenner would be firing people.

The New York Yankees failed for the 17th straight season to win a World Series title and watched an opponent celebrate on their infield in October for the third consecutive year. Steinbrenner, their tempestuous controlling owner from 1973-2008, raged at far less frequent failure.

“There’s a standard to winning a championship. It’s black and white. There’s no gray area," Yankees captain Aaron Judge said Wednesday night after Tampa Bay completed a three-game AL Division Series sweep of New York. "It’s every day you show up to work, every little thing you do is, are you working towards a championship or you're not?”

New York ranked fourth in the majors in runs, 13th in batting average and second in OPS through May 31, its last game before Judge went on the injured list due to a fractured rib. From June 1 through the end of the season, the Yankees were 24th in runs, 29th in batting average and 27th in OPS. Judge returned for seven games from Sept. 8-16, hitting .174 with three RBIs before a calf strain ended his season.

After batting .382 with 18 runs in a two-game Wild Card Series sweep of Boston, the Yankees hit .130 and were outscored 10-5 by Tampa Bay with a batting order defanged without the three-time AL MVP.

“Look, it’s Aaron Judge, the greatest player in the world,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And that’s a huge, huge person to be missing.”

Yankees closer David Bednar, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., center fielder Trent Grisham and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt could become free agents this offseason along with infielder Amed Rosario, left-handers Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough, and right-handers Paul Blackburn, John Schreiber and Michael Fulmer.

“This is where I want to be,” Chisholm said. “I love it as a Yankee. I grew up as a Yankee fan, getting from the Bahamas, watching Derek Jeter and those guys every day. It was a great time being a Yankee. I loved my time (with the) Yankees.”

Chisholm learned he was benched for Game 3 against the Rays in favor of Anthony Volpe when he saw the lineup card.

“I always prefer a conversation,” Chisholm said.

Brian Cashman completed his 29th season as general manager, finishing a four-year contract. When Cashman took over in February 1998, it was the 15th change at GM since Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in January 1973.

Boone finished his ninth season as manager and has one season left on a two-year contract extension agreed to in February 2025. He has led New York to a 790-565 regular-season record and three first-place finishes in the AL East but a 27-30 postseason mark.

“Yeah, of course,” he said when asked whether he wanted to return for 2027. “That’s for another day.”

New York opened the season with MLB’s third-highest payroll at $303 million and the Yankees drew just under 3.3 million fans for 80 dates, fourth in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego and Toronto.

Judge hopes Hal Steinbrenner, his father's successor, directs Cashman to be active in pursuit of a top roster.

“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do and find — if we've got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you've got to go out there and get it,” Judge said. “That’s why I signed back here to play with the Yankees — is to fight for a championship every single year and to go all-in. That’s what I do every offseason, is get ready to give this team and this city everything I've got, so I expect them to do the same.”

A 25-year-old right-hander, Cam Schlittler is likely to win the AL Cy Young Award after going 14-6 with an AL-best 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings.

“We didn’t meet the expectations of the fans and this organization," he said. “There’s a certain standard of being a Yankee and we didn’t fulfill that.”

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

New York Yankees pitcher Paul Blackburn walks to the dugout after being pulled during the eighth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe celebrates his run-scoring double during the sixth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees players stand at the top of the dugout watching play against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees players watch play against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge stands in the dugout watching play against the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) — Max Fried gave up two home runs, the New York Yankees had one taken off the board by fan interference and then their season ended Wednesday night with a whimper.

After Anthony Volpe's would-be tying homer in the bottom of the sixth inning turned into a double on video review, the Yankees did not get a runner past second base. When leadoff hitter Trent Grisham struck out to end the ninth, it capped a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the AL Division Series and a series sweep that extended the Yankees’ championship drought to 17 years.

“Disappointment,” Game 3 starter Max Fried said. “It’s not the way that we wanted it to end, not up to what we were expecting.”

After sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series, New York never led against the Rays and has not advanced past a higher-seeded team in the postseason since 2020.

Asked to explain why the past two seasons ended without being able to get over the hump, likely AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler called it a great question and responded, “I don’t really have an answer.”

Without injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Yankees were one-hit and shut out in the opener, when catcher Austin Wells' baserunning blunder loomed large. Game 2 included four errors to get pushed to the brink of elimination.

The Yankees didn't go quietly — at least initially. When Fried gave up a run apiece in the third and fourth innings, the bats responded each time to tie the score.

Victor Mesa Jr. crushed Fried's 80th and final pitch for a go-ahead, two-run home run that was far from a short-porch homer like Ryan Vilade's earlier.

“It’s just as simple as I threw a bad pitch,” Fried said. “I left it up and the guy hit a home run, which was two runs and it put it out of reach. ... We played a really sound game and did enough win, and unfortunately I didn’t do enough to be able to kind of hold up my end of the bargain.”

It looked like New York would get it right back in a redemption moment for Volpe, but a Jeffrey Maier-esque moment came back to haunt the home team 30 years later.

Volpe looked to have a home run to left field, and it was called a home run by the umpires on the field. Video review determined the fan did interference, the play was scored an RBI double for Volpe, but the run that did not turned out to be the difference.

With the air sucked out of Yankee Stadium, Spencer Jones — who singled and doubled in his first two plate appearances — struck out swinging to end the threat. The eighth started with Paul Goldschmidt reaching on a throwing error and finished with fellow pinch-hitter with Giancarlo Stanton striking out in just his second at-bat of the postseason.

“They pitched well against us, and we had no answers for it,” Jones said.

Stanton got chances to swing the bat after strained calf muscles in each of his legs sidelined him since April 24. Judge was not afforded the same opportunity, left off the rosters for the AL Wild Card Series and the ALDS because of his calf injury.

“It definitely hurts," Judge said, unwilling to speculate whether he thought he would have been able to alter the result. "You want to be out there. You do all the rehab, all the work, come in here early, stay late — any time you’re banged up, you try to get out there as soon as you can. It definitely hurts not getting a chance to be out there and battling.”

The Yankees hit .130 in the series and were outscored 10-5.

“Obviously, they have some good arms, but we had the talent in here to combat that,” said left fielder Cody Bellinger, who was 1 for 12. “Didn’t really continue to get that big hit with runners in scoring position.”

Aaron Boone again fell short of a title in his ninth season as manager, and some fans chanted “Fire Boone!” as they streamed to the exits. He has a year left on his contract and expects to return.

“That’s for another day,” Boone said. “Right now is about trying to reflect on this, trying to connect with guys right now as much as I can. Appreciative of a lot of things, but those conversations and things are for another day.”

This story corrects that Game 3 was played on Wednesday night, not Thursday night.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried throws to the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge stands in the dugout watching play against the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, left, takes the ball from pitcher Paul Blackburn, right rear, as Luis García Jr. (26) and Austin Wells, left, rear, stand by during the eighth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe celebrates his run-scoring double during the sixth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)