“The Yankees have too many nice guys,” John Jastremski quipped to me when we spoke right before Opening Day.
The host of The Ringer’s popular “New York, New York” podcast wasn’t alone in his opinion. Appearing on CC Sabathia and Ryan Ruocco’s “R2C2” podcast weeks earlier, outfielder Aaron Hicks said this year’s Yankees needed to “have some f*** you.”
An AL East crown, 99 wins, 62 Aaron Judge home runs, and a first-round playoff bye later, mission accomplished, right?
Wrong, dear readers. Sure, the 2022 New York Yankees certainly played with an edge not seen last year, but it’s not quite enough.