As the New York Yankees ponder how to improve their roster this winter, they could look at the two teams in the 2026 World Series for inspiration.
After all, one of those teams is the Tampa Bay Rays, who held off the Bronx Bombers for the AL East title and knocked them out in the ALDS. That convincing three-game sweep made it look like the Yankees weren't just an Aaron Judge-sized piece away from winning.
The other team, the Milwaukee Brewers, finished with the best record in MLB during the regular season. When the Yankees played the Brew Crew in a three-game series back in May, they got swept.
Based on those results, the Yankees were clearly a tier below those two clubs, even with arguably more talent across their roster. Granted, New York was missing their principal superstar for most of the year, yet it still had Judge during the sweep in Milwaukee and another sweep in Tropicana Field back in April.
So how can the Yankees narrow that gap and put their "superior" talent to good use?
1. Get on base more
Although both the Brewers and Rays are small-market teams, they managed to construct productive lineups with those limited resources. The key to those lineups is their ability to get on base; the Brewers led MLB with a .341 on-base percentage as a team, while the Rays ranked fifth at .326. Both teams also tied for first in batting average at .258.
However, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay ranked 11th and 15th in slugging percentage with marks of .403 and .402, respectively. The Yankees had a .409 slugging percentage as a team (tied for the sixth-best in MLB) even without Judge for most of the year. So why was their offense less effective? Because they generated significantly fewer baserunners.
The Yankees have committed to a power identity, and that has typically served them well. After all, home runs are the easiest way to put runs on the board. But that approach worked because they consistently had great on-base skills throughout the lineup, resulting in more impactful two-run or three-run homers when somebody went deep. With just a .235 team batting average (fifth-worst) and .311 team on-base percentage (sixth-worst), that power approach didn't work nearly as well in 2026.
The Bronx Bombers produced the second-most home runs of any team this season with 223. Yet only three were grand slams, and all were hit in September. This serves as a perfect analogy of the Yankees' failure to put runners on and maximize those home runs.
2. More offensive variety
Just like how the Yankees have their identity of power, the Brewers and Rays have more contact-oriented identities. However, they still have multiple different player profiles to complement their approach and create runs through different means.
The Brewers still have players who can hit for power like Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, and even the jack-of-all-trades Brice Turang. Meanwhile, the Rays have three excellent power threats at the top of the order: Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and especially Junior Caminero. Even if those are the exceptions rather than the rule, they still have them to maximize rallies.
The Yankees have a slew of power hitters, but very little variety beyond that. Even their stolen base threats either have a ton of swing-and-miss (Jazz Chisholm Jr.) or poor on-base skills (Jose Caballero). They don't have a Chandler Simpson-type who can lay down a bunt for a hit and constantly pose a threat to the defense with his speed and contact skills. They don't have a Brice Turang or Jake Bauers who exhaust pitchers with long at-bats.
This is why fans accuse the Yankees of being "overly reliant" on home runs. Having a greater variety of hitters like the Rays and Brewers do would help the Yankees immensely; whether they excel at making contact, drawing walks, putting up long plate appearances, stealing bases, bunting for infield hits, or a combination of any of these skills, these skill sets can be used to complement the power predominantly featured in the lineup.
3. Getting quick outs from pitchers
This point is more of an advantage for the Rays than the Brewers, but Tampa Bay's pitching staff throws 3.79 pitches per plate appearance, which is the third-fewest in the majors (league average is 3.88). Nick Martinez leads all qualified MLB pitchers in this category with just 3.50 pitches per plate appearance. While Drew Rasmussen's 3.97 pitches per plate appearance is above league average, his infamously dominant starts against the Yankees involve a ton of short plate appearances, allowing him to pitch deep into the game.
Yankee pitchers have thrown 3.92 pitches per plate appearance this season, with Cam Schlittler averaging four pitches per batter. Amid his Cy Young-winning season, Schlittler's biggest weakness is his vulnerability to long at-bats, which sometimes snowballs into uncharacteristically short outings. This was also a problem for David Bednar at times, whose elevated pitch counts in one game would prevent him from being available the next day.
The Yankees relied heavily on their pitching in 2026, which was arguably the best in baseball. But there's still room for further improvement, and the biggest area the Bronx Bombers' arms can build upon is finishing opposing batters faster. Quicker outs will allow the vaunted starting rotation to pitch more innings and the bullpen to have greater availability for the next game.
4. More high velocity relievers
This can also be applied to the starting rotation outside of Schlittler and Gerrit Cole, but Carlos Rodon and Max Fried don't need velocity for their fastballs to be effective. Fried, in particular, has a massive pitching arsenal that allows his fastballs to keep hitters off balance.
Rather, the low fastball velocity is a much more serious problem in the Yankees' bullpen. Outside of Angel Chivilli, who averaged 98 mph on his fastball in just 16.2 innings this year, Bednar is the only reliever in the bullpen with a fastball that averages more than 96 mph.
Most of New York's relievers specialize in using other pitches and lack a hard fastball to blow hitters away. But if they miss their location with the fastball, it tends to get launched.
In contrast, the Brewers have a slew of high-octane relievers with overpowering fastballs. Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, and closer Trevor Megill all average 97 mph or higher on their fastballs, with Uribe consistently reaching triple digits. Even if they miss their spots, they don't miss over the heart of the plate, so most batters end up whiffing (or making weak contact, in Uribe's case).
Perhaps the Yankees can look at the free agent market for a hard-throwing reliever, with Adrian Morejon being an especially attractive option. They also need to make sure any hard-throwers have good control, which was the primary failure of flamethrower Camilo Doval before he was traded. Nonetheless, if the Brewers are any indication, the Yankees need higher velocity in the bullpen.
5. Greater team contributions
What everything comes down to is that the Brewers and Rays were able to win because of a complete effort. Even their weaker hitters were able to contribute in the field, and vice versa, and they had the bullpen depth to pick up a starting pitcher after a short and/or bad day.
The Yankees had far too many players underperform, especially with Judge out. Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. were two players expected to carry the load on offense without the captain, and both of them failed. Ryan McMahon still couldn't hit, and his defense declined. Tim Hill declined so rapidly in relief that he was left off the postseason roster. Will Warren went through a near-unplayable stretch from June to August (although he recovered nicely down the stretch).
While the Yankees were getting nothing from a few players, the Brewers and Rays were getting at least something from everybody. Whether it was hitting, pitching, fielding, or baserunning, both pennant winners played strong all-around games and had great fundamentals. That last point is especially noteworthy, as the Yankees' lack of fundamentals was exploited at length by the Rays in Game 2 of the ALDS.
The Bronx Bombers may have a more star-laden squad compared to both pennant winners, but they couldn't harness it to become the strongest team they could be, as the Rays and Brewers did. Even if they substantially improve the roster this winter, the Yankees need a collective effort to reach the heights they desire.
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