As the Yankees get set to embark on a critical offseason that will be headlined by the free agency of Aaron Judge, the team could be dealing with an unexpected obstacle that could keep players from wanting to return, or arrive via free agency: the fan culture.
According to SNY’s Andy Martino, multiple Yankee players were taken aback by the “unusually brutal experience” at Yankee Stadium during the postseason, particularly games three and four of the ALCS, when the Astros completed a sweep of New York to eliminate them from the postseason for the fourth time since 2015.
Per Martino, Aaron Judge hearing boos after a record-setting home run season and Josh Donaldson hearing even more boos in a brutal postseason showing did not sit well with some members of the team.
“More than one Yankee player has told his agent this week that playing at the Stadium last weekend was an unusually brutal experience,” Martino reported. “It was hard for many teammates to believe that fans booed Judge.
Even a difficult person and underperformer like Josh Donaldson was turned into a somewhat sympathetic figure internally by the force of the jeering.”
Martino also added that members in the organization were surprised by the reaction at the games and after the team was eliminated, with one “longtime executive” saying, “I get that it’s World Series or bust, but damn they’re spoiled.”
Of course, if Judge himself is one of the players feeling this way and had such a negative reaction to hearing boos during a postseason in which he slumped badly, then it could mean the end of his Yankee tenure. Whether the atmosphere in the Bronx last week impacts the free agent market for Brian Cashman and company remains to be seen.