The New York Yankees have been in free fall over the last several months. On June 3, they stood at 37-22 with a 6.5 game lead in the American League East. Now, they're just 61-54 and currently sitting in third place in the division, 6.5 games back of the Blue Jays. In fact, the White Sox have as many wins as the Yankees in the stretch.
Missing presumptive AL MVP Aaron Judge for several weeks certainly didn't help, but their downward spiral began while Judge was still in the lineup. With the Red Sox and Blue Jays surging, the Yankees have been left in the dust.
After being swept by the Marlins over the weekend, even Red Sox legend Pedro Martínez took pity on the Yankees, saying: "It's hard to believe that the Yankees would be at this stage at this time in the season. I imagine how NY fans are feeling right now. Strap it on boys!f"
Red Sox legend Pedro Martínez sympathizes with Yankees amid struggle
The @Marlins sweep the Yankees for the first time in franchise history! pic.twitter.com/C0Dh2Agijv
— MLB (@MLB) August 3, 2025
Despite being very active at the trade deadline by acquiring third baseman Ryan McMahon and relievers David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Jake Bird, the Yankees haven't reversed their fortunes so far. McMahon was their second choice at third base behind Eugenio Suárez, who ended up in Seattle, and all of their new bullpen acquisitions struggled mightily in an August 1 loss to the Marlins, which can only be described as a comedy of errors.
While the Yankees have been moving in reverse, the Red Sox have surged forward. On June 3, they were five games under .500, but they now sit at 64-52 and in second place in the AL East. They've also taken five of six games from the Yankees since then.
Not only that, but while the Yankees' main contributors are largely veterans, like Judge, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger, the Red Sox' new young core, long touted as prospects, are powering the team, and they have every reason to be excited about the future. Twenty-one-year-old Roman Anthony, once the top-ranked prospect in MLB, recently signed an eight-year extension with the team and named the team's core as a large reason for his decision.
Of course, the Yankees are always active in free agency and will certainly field competitive teams in the future, but for now, they may be at the end of their reign of terror. Meanwhile, the future seems extremely bright for the Red Sox.