On the latest edition of The Sal Licata Show, Sal argued that the Yankees’ 2026 season should go down as a disappointment regardless of Aaron Judge’s latest injury, pointing to a front office and dugout that have made the same mistakes for years.
The big takeaway
A Yankees team that fails to win its division has failed, and no injury excuse changes that. Judge’s latest setback is legitimate, but it doesn’t absolve the outcome.
“This is why it’s a bad Yankee season. It should never be accepted.”
The timing makes it worse. Judge got hurt again with the postseason roughly a week away and the AL East already decided, one of two reasons fans should feel uneasy heading into October. The Red Sox are the matchup to fear most in a potential series, ahead of the Rays.
For Yankees fans, the team heads into meaningful October baseball having already underachieved its way into a tougher path, injury or not. This isn’t a call for anyone’s job, but it is a call for accountability for what has become an annual repeat.
“Something needs to change. I’m not advocating for firing Cashman, firing Boone, but something’s got to change because they do the same thing every single year and it hasn’t worked.”
One more thing
Pete Alonso’s monster 40-homer season doesn’t change his Hall of Fame outlook. The math is simple: Alonso sits at 304 career home runs and would need roughly 35 per year across six seasons to reach 500, the real threshold. It’s a reality check, not a knock on his value to the Mets.
“I don’t look at Pete as a Hall of Famer, and I’m not sold.”
Catch the full episode on YouTube, including the full breakdown of Alonso’s Hall of Fame case, and watch The Sal Licata Show every weekday at 9 a.m. ET.
Catch the full episode on YouTube for the whole breakdown of the Yankees’ season and Alonso’s Hall of Fame case, and tune in to The Sal Licata Show every weekday at 9 a.m. ET.