It has been about five months since Walker Buehler recorded the final out of the 2024 World Series, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers their eighth title in franchise history.
During the victory lap in the days following their World Series win, the Dodgers certainly had their fair share of honest, if not critical, comments about the Yankees. Though, their focus has long since shifted to defending their title in 2025.
But over the course of the offseason and now well into Spring Training, criticisms levied against the Yankees are still resonating. Between comments from Yankees manager Aaron Boone and former infielder Jon Berti, it was clear that a number of members of the organization took offense to the Dodgers’ comments.
Nestor Cortes is just the latest member of the 2024 Yankees roster to speak out about the World Series. Like Berti, Cortes is no longer with the Yankees organization after being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason.
Unlike Berti and Boone, Cortes took things even further with his comments, going so far as to say the Yankees were the superior team in the World Series, according to Tyler Kepner of the Athletic:
“We had done enough to win that game,” Cortes said. “They can talk whatever they want to talk, but we win Game 1 — which we should have — we lost 2 and 3, we win Game 4 and we should have won Game 5. Then we go back to LA up 3 to 2.
“So people can say it slipped away from us, people can say we made a lot of mistakes, which we did. But at the end of the day, we were the better team. I see it that way, and I’m sure everybody in that clubhouse sees it that way. The reality (could have been) going back to LA leading 3-2. It didn’t happen that way and they deserve all the credit in the world, they won the World Series. At the moment, they showed they were the better team.”
Cortes is correct about one thing: The Yankees very well should have won Game 1, and they would have if not for the walk-off grand slam he himself surrendered to Freddie Freeman in the 10th inning.
Outside of that appearance, Cortes didn’t have much of an effect the rest of the way. The 1.2 scoreless innings he threw in Game 3 was his final appearance in the Fall Classic in a game the Dodgers won 4-2 to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Aaron Boone upset with Dodgers
Boone’s biggest gripe with the way the Dodgers celebrated their World Series win was that certain players were more vocal in their criticism than others.
Boone seemingly was alluding to various comments made by Chris Taylor and Joe Kelly, who, like Cortes, didn’t have much, if any, impact on the World Series.
Taylor mostly served as a defensive replacement and Kelly didn’t have any postseason appearances because of a right shoulder injury.
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