NEW YORK — Four days after the Tampa Bay Rays finished a sweep in the Bronx, the sharpest criticism of the Yankees is not about a swing or a pitch. It is about what happens behind the clubhouse door.
The Rays closed out the American League Division Series with a 4-3 win in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night. Anthony Volpe’s apparent game-tying two-run homer in the sixth inning was overturned on replay and ruled an RBI double. The Yankees did not score again.
The series turned on mistakes. Drew Rasmussen held the Yankees to one hit over eight innings in a 1-0 loss in Game 1. In Game 2 at Tropicana Field, New York committed four errors, three in the first inning, during a 5-2 loss.
Before a scoring change, the Yankees had briefly matched a franchise record with five errors in a postseason game. That record dates to Game 2 of the 1976 ALCS.
Former Yankees stars lined up to explain the collapse. Derek Jeter, speaking to Fox Sports, said the Rays punished errors that weaker opponents forgive.
“You can make mistakes against the Boston Red Sox and still overcome those mistakes, but you can’t do it against Tampa,” Jeter said.
Alex Rodriguez went further when asked what keeps causing fundamental errors every October. He tied the sloppiness to habits formed long before the postseason.
“So if you’re doing mistakes April through September, you can’t expect things to change in October,” Rodriguez said.
CC Sabathia pointed to the clubhouse itself. The former ace traced a cultural shift to the departure of Brett Gardner, the last player from the 2009 championship roster.
“Once Gardy retired, it was a wrap. I always wondered about this. It seems after covid this team’s overall culture took a turn. Why isn’t anyone in that clubhouse setting the bar when it comes to having a winning culture?” Sabathia said.
Those were critiques from former players. The most pointed charge came from someone who has covered the Yankees for decades.
Sherman describes a Yankees world of ‘unreality’
New York Post columnist Joel Sherman used the Post’s “Pinstripe Post” season recap show to describe an organization that has walled itself off from bad news.
Sherman opened with a blunt diagnosis of the franchise’s mindset.
“And I think the Yankees now exist in a world that I would describe as unreality,” Sherman said.
He then described how that atmosphere was built and who it affects. His claim was not limited to how the club speaks with reporters.
“They have created an incubator of trying to keep negative news out that has fostered a fake positivity and a cliche-ridden level of nonsense, not just to me, but I think within the institution with each other,” Sherman said.
Show host Ryan Sampson pushed the point further, giving the critique its sharpest label.
“They’re gaslighting each other, Joel. They’re literally gaslighting each other,” Sampson said.
Sherman closed the thought by contrasting the roster’s talent with its results when pressure peaks.
“Talent for talent, the Yankees stand with anyone. But when the going gets tough, the Yankees play golf,” Sherman said.
The Dodgers model Sherman holds up
In a Post column Friday, Sherman contrasted Aaron Boone’s public tone with that of Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Sherman pointed to the 2025 NL Division Series, when Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts against the Philadelphia Phillies. Roberts called out his biggest star by name.
“Hoping that he can do a little self-reflecting on that series, and how aggressive he was outside of the strike zone, passive in the zone. The at-bat quality needs to get better,” Roberts said.
Sherman asked whether anyone could “imagine Boone saying that about a struggling Judge.”
Roberts did it again in August, with the Dodgers in first place. Facing a lineup that kept losing to fastballs, he made the problem public.
“It never feels good to be bullied,” Roberts said.
The October ledger since Gardner’s last game
The numbers behind Sabathia’s timeline are stark.
Gardner’s final game came in the 2021 AL wild-card loss at Fenway Park. In the four postseason series that have ended Yankees seasons since then, New York has won two of 16 games.
The Houston Astros swept the 2022 ALCS. The Dodgers won the 2024 World Series in five games. The Toronto Blue Jays took the 2025 ALDS in four. The Rays needed three this fall.
Roberts has won three World Series titles since 2020, including the 2024 Fall Classic against the Yankees. Boone has none in nine seasons, despite eight playoff berths.
The Yankees offer no public response
As of Sunday, no Yankees official had publicly addressed Sherman’s comments, based on available reports.
Boone, signed through 2027, deflected questions about his future after Game 3. General manager Brian Cashman’s contract expires at the end of this season.
For a franchise that has not won a title since 2009, the question raised by Sherman is no longer about the roster. It is whether the people inside the clubhouse are hearing the truth.
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