Yankees vs Royals: Max Goodman Covers Division Series

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00:00some great coverage coming this weekend from the Star-Ledger and NJ.com from Max Goodman.

00:08You want to catch all of his coverage of the upcoming division series between the Yankees

00:13and Royals as Max is with us here on the show once again. Max, it is great to catch up with

00:17you ahead of the series 162. Not enough for you. You got a lot more to go. Maybe here

00:23with the Yankees. I guess we'll see what happens after the weekend. It could be a long run,

00:28Craig. The AL is pretty much wide open unless you've got a team of destiny like Detroit or

00:33Kansas City's playing well. Cleveland is pesky. Any of those three I think could upset the Yankees

00:39and either the DS or the CS, but they don't have to face the Astros finally, right? They can get

00:44back to the World Series and get over the hump. They don't need to face their demons there in

00:49Houston. Yeah, it's two series to go for the Yankees. I think that most would agree that

00:54if the Yankees get to the World Series, regardless of what happens in the World Series,

00:58I think they'll consider it a success. I don't know, though, beyond that, if it doesn't get that

01:01far and they're going to have to go through some really good pitching. Seth Lugo has been fantastic

01:06this year. So is Cole Reagan's walk has had their number two and all of the haters on the Yankees

01:11really haven't gotten to them in the past, especially when you take a look at Aaron Judge

01:16and John Carlos Stanton, the combined 8-4-62 I'm seeing here on my board. So look, it's the

01:25postseason. And so, you know, Max, the thing I guess is I don't get all that concerned with this.

01:30Like if the Yankees are going to bat a buck 50, they're in trouble, but we know that the

01:34runs are going to be at a premium in all the playoff series. Well, watching this team all

01:38year, they've had issues sometimes when Aaron Judge and Juan Soto don't show up. That's obviously

01:43rare. I mean, the two of them have had MVP caliber seasons, but I think we've all seen those

01:48stats over the course of the season, right? Where beyond those two players, the Yankees have had a

01:54basically like a sub 500 team on offense. If you factor in everybody else now, do I think that

02:00Soto and Judge are going to be complete non-factors in a postseason series? No,

02:03I think that they'll, they'll have their big moments. And again, they're, they're superstars.

02:07They're going to do their thing, but you mentioned it. I mean, Judge is one for 18 in his career

02:12against WACA and Soto hasn't played in the Bronx in the postseason before he obviously has some

02:18playoff experience and a ring, which only Anthony Rizzo is the only other guy on this roster that

02:23has one, I believe. And it doesn't seem like he's going to be available. He has great numbers

02:27against Michael WACA, but again, I don't think he's going to play. So game one to me is incredibly

02:33important for this team because the Yankees have their rotation set up. They've got Garrett Cole

02:37going. And if he sets the tone, it could really tip the scales for this series. But if they go

02:41out there and they scuffle against Michael WACA and then Lugo and Reagans in the other order,

02:46Reagans and then Lugo are looming, it's going to be tough for them to slug against those two guys.

02:52I mean, last month, Reagans and Lugo had their way with this Yankees lineup and pitched incredibly

02:58well. The Yankees have fits against left-handed pitching. Reagans did well in that start. And

03:02then Lugo pitched seven scoreless with over 10 Ks and Aaron Boone called it one of the best

03:07pitching performances he's seen against his team in a long time in that start.

03:12So I think those two match up well against the Yankees, but it's those guys after Judge and

03:17Soto in the lineup, Austin Wells, Giancarlo Stanton, Jess Chisholm Jr. They are pivotal in

03:22this series because I don't think any other team is going to let Judge or Soto beat them. I could

03:27see them getting intentionally walked, pitched around. You're going to make the rookie who's

03:31hitting cleanup beat them in a big spot. That's how I would approach it if I were the other team.

03:35Yeah, and I'm sure they will. And by the way, this was the deal when Washington was in the

03:39World Series with Juan Soto. They learned the hard way. Pitching to him didn't work. He helped

03:44that team win a World Series. So I think you're 100% right. Hard to pitch around both though.

03:48We'll see how it plays out. As far as the past, when I was very young, I do remember the Royals

03:53beating the Yankees in the ALCS in 1980. This was like a historical series. It's hard to believe

03:59that the Yankees and Royals faced off against each other so many times in the ALCS, 76, 77,

04:0478, and 80 when the Royals went on to win it all with George Brett and Quisenberry and names that

04:10nobody knows these days. But I remember because I was a young kid watching those games. And so

04:15there is that historical aspect to this series, but baseball is just so different now. Back then,

04:20there was no wild card or anything like that. And so I think that's what's opened up the door,

04:24Max, to this crazy postseason, very similar to March Madness. It has that feel to it.

04:29And I think something to bring up also is the Yankees are coming off a five-day layoff here.

04:34They have one more workout today, and hopefully we're going to get some more answers on who's

04:39going to make the roster, who's going to be pitching in game three, who starts in left

04:42field, et cetera, last bullpen spot, last bench spot. But the Royals are coming off of a momentum

04:49swing with their series in Baltimore. I thought the Orioles were going to hang a little bit tougher

04:53and Kansas City really ran the table with them. So they're coming into this series as the

04:58underdogs. They've got all the fire in them. They've been playing well for a while. I know

05:03they ended the regular season kind of cold, but they've had a great year. Yankees got to find a

05:07way to not come out of the gates slowly here because, again, they can't afford to do that.

05:12It's a best of five. I think that they would maybe win a best of seven against this team

05:18because they have more depth, they have more stars. But if Bobby Wood Jr. comes out or Salvi

05:23Perez comes out and they can be game wreckers in one game, and all of a sudden your back's

05:28against the wall, right? So it's cool that this is a new chapter to a rivalry that hasn't really

05:33been tested in a while. And I think this series could go five games. I really do. I think that

05:38the Royals match up well with this Yankees team. And unless the Yankees roar out of the gates,

05:43like I said, it might be closer than some people think. Yeah, no, I agree too. I think this is

05:50games will be played in Kansas City in this series, and I think it has a chance to go the

05:53distance. It is crazy, Max, to look at this and forget that with the payroll and with the way

06:00that the Yankees have approached things through all the years, they just simply haven't been able

06:04to get over the hump for a long time. I mean, no World Series in any of these years that you

06:10see there on that graphic, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17. But I would say this, yes, you're right,

06:16Max, the Astros were in the way, but you cannot look at the contenders and think to yourself,

06:23Max, this is the best shot the Yankees have had to go deep, at the very least deep into the post

06:29season, at least for me. And again, different for you covering the team. The way I view it is

06:34anything less than getting to the World Series is an unacceptable season for the Yankees right now.

06:39That's the way that I had nothing against Cleveland, nothing against Detroit, nothing

06:42against Kansas City. You may not be able to beat Philadelphia or LA, I guess, or maybe even San

06:47Diego, but my gosh, gotta be able to get through this round and the next. That's my opinion.

06:52No, I'm with you. I think anything less than a World Series appearance, quite frankly,

06:56anything less than a World Series championship is considered a failure here. You've got one

06:59year of Juan Soto guaranteed. You gotta go out there and take care of business. Those demons

07:04aren't in the way with Houston and the Red Sox and those other foes. You gotta do it, right?

07:09I think you gotta get there. I think the other teams in the NL are better than the

07:12Yankees. I'm not gonna go there. But Max, enjoy the weekend. I'll see you soon. Thanks again.

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