The Los Angeles Dodgers capped off a memorable 2024 season by defeating the New York Yankees to win their eighth World Series title in franchise history.
It represented the 12th meeting between the teams in the Fall Classic and the first since 1981. Many stars were on display in the matchup, including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.
The Dodgers won the first game in memorable fashion after Freddie Freeman delivered a walk-off grand slam. L.A. then overcame a five-run deficit in Game 5 to eliminate New York on the road.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t appreciate how several Dodgers players critically discussed his team after their victory, via the “BT and Sal” show on WFAN 660:
“Not good. Didn’t like it. They won, so they had that right. A couple of the people saying some things, it’s like, ‘Did you see what you did this year?’ Like, it wasn’t the Freddie Freemans and Shoheis and Mookies popping off. It was some others.
“Look, they won the World Series. We didn’t play our best and they’re flying high right now. We’ll try and get back to that stage and hopefully punch through.”
Boone’s comments are seemingly in response to thoughts Joe Kelly shared about the Yankees, and the manager also referenced what Chris Taylor said during Betts’ podcast after the Dodgers celebrated their World Series title with a parade and event at Dodger Stadium.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman previously remarked he believed Kelly’s criticism was “personal” and caught him by surprise.
The Dodgers have continued loading up since winning the World Series, while the Yankees could face more of an uphill battle to return to baseball’s biggest stage after losing Soto to the crosstown New York Mets.
However, the Yankees have made several moves to improve their roster, such as signing Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt, and trading for Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger.
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner: ‘Difficult’ to match Dodgers
The Dodgers are heading into the 2025 season with a payroll that could top $370 million after signing the likes of Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Michael Conforto, Kirby Yates and Roki Sasaki.
During an appearance on the YES Network, Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner became the latest MLB team owner to say that it is getting difficult to compete with the Dodgers financially.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!