By: John Jastremski

This weekend, the Yankees will renew acquaintances with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Remember those guys? The World Series Champs. 

It will be the Yankees first matchup with the Dodgers since last year’s Fall Classic. 

It was a World Series to forget for Yankees fans. 

I have a very hard time making a series at the end of May, a be all, end all type of series. 

That said, as the Yankees get set to take on the champs, this take dawned on me. 

If you would have said to me after the World Series a year ago, the Yankees would lose Juan Soto and be a better baseball team, there is no chance I would have believed you. 

Yet, as the Yankees get ready for the month of June and this World Series rematch to come, I think that they are. 

Look, this has nothing to do with Juan Soto. Juan Soto is one of the main reasons last year’s team won the AL Pennant. 

He was amazing, he was clutch, and make no mistake, I wanted him back in pinstripes. 

However, look at the complexion of the 2025 New York Yankees. 

Through two months, they have the best run differential in Major League Baseball. 

Offensively, they have done a wonderful job replacing the production of Soto. 

Ben Rice and Trent Grisham have come out of nowhere and have been essential components to the lineup. 

They’ve hit the ball hard, they’ve gotten on base and they’ve hit for power. 

The Yankees youngsters have been up and down, but Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells have all shown moments of promise.   

It also helps that the lineup has Aaron Judge, the best hitter in the world mashing at a record pace through the first two months. 

Offensively speaking, the Yankees have been just fine for now, without Mr. Soto. 

The first Free Agent signing in the Yankees Juan Soto pivot was Max Fried. 

Can you imagine where this Yankee team would be without Fried? Fried has been one of the three top starters in baseball over the first two months of the season. 

The team needed an ace in the absence of Gerrit Cole’s season ending Tommy John surgery and Fried has delivered on that front. 

Just think about this for a minute. 

The Yankees have played two months of baseball. Juan Soto is a Met. Gerrit Cole was lost for the season in March. Luis Gill and Giancarlo Stanton have not appeared in a single game. Oh and Jazz Chisholm has missed a month.. 

With all that. The Yankees have a six game lead in the American League East and have the best run differential in baseball. 

There is a long way to go, but in the post Soto pivot, there is a whole lot to like. 

If you’re a Yankees fan, you’re singing, “Gimme More!” 

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network following every Knicks Playoff Game on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite on SNY.