ARLINGTON, Texas — The past three times the Yankees made the postseason, they got there as a wild card, and so they went straight from the regular season into the playoffs.
That’s not the case this year.
Winning the AL East for the first time since 2012 allows the Yankees avoid the one-game drama of the wild-card game, but also presents another challenge: What do you do with the longest stretch of time off since the All-Star break?
From a baseball standpoint, the plan is fairly simple.
The team will be off Monday and have a voluntary workout Tuesday before full-team workouts Wednesday and Thursday leading up to Game 1 of the ALDS against the Twins in The Bronx on Friday.