New York Yankees Have Harder Road to Defend American League Pennant

The New York Yankees are going to have more competitive field in the American League moving forward as their rivals improve.

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) doubles during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees finally broke through in 2024 in the American League, winning their first pennant in 15 years and getting back to baseball's biggest stage.

Of course, things didn't go as planned once they did get there, but in order to even have a chance to avenge their beatdown at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees will have to get through the American League once again after not really being challenged much in this past postseason.

Handling the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians with relative ease, the early elimination of New York's kryptonite in the Houston Astros made the league as a whole look like a little bit of a cakewalk.

Moving forward, the Yankees will likely receive significantly more resistance from the league as a whole in the path to the Fall Classic with some young teams ready to take the next step.

For one, New York's most hated rival in the Boston Red Sox are well on the road back to competence once again. The Red Sox addressed their pitching woes with a trade for Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet on the heels of three straight missed playoff appearances and boast one of the best farm systems in baseball with young players ready to take the next step.

Winning the league starts with winning the division, and an ascending Boston combined with having held off the severely injured but now healthy Baltimore Orioles by just three games will make the AL East significantly tougher in 2025.

Outside of the division, there's some teams to look out for, and one in particular who seems to be showing a whole lot more urgency to get better than New York is.

Coming off an unlikely run to the postseason and falling within a game of earning the right to take on the Yankees in the ALCS, the young and hungry Detroit Tigers added Jack Flaherty back and could be on the cusp of bringing in Alex Bregman as well, someone who New York has seemingly passed on despite a crippling need at third base.

Then there's the team who the Yankees took the American League crown from in the Texas Rangers, who look to rebound from missing the playoffs last season with a re-tooled bullpen, a home run hitting slugger in the middle of the lineup with Jake Burger, and perhaps most importantly, the potential return of a healthy Jacob deGrom to lead the pitching staff.

Winning the American League pennant is never easy, but it's safe to say New York caught some breaks with the way things played out.

That happening two years in a row is unlikely especially with the way things have played out this winter, and the Yankees should attack the rest of the offseason with this in mind as they get set to make their final preseason moves before chasing it all once again.

As the rest of the AL gets better and positions themselves to try to take down the current top dogs, New York should know they will have a dogfight on their hands this season.