Yankees manager Aaron Boone dismisses Blue Jays edge in AL East

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Aaron Boone isn’t about to completely dismiss the Blue Jays’ spirited run to the World Series this fall, because he’s wise enough to know that doing so would be idiocy.

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But the New York Yankees manager isn’t about to suggest that the reigning American League East champs have a decided edge heading into the 2026 season, either.

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“At the end of the day we, we ended up knotted with them,” Boone said of the Jays during his media availability here at baseball’s Winter Meetings, which continue on Tuesday. “I mean, we ended with identical records last year.

“I don’t want to discount that they kicked our ass last year. Don’t take it out of context. I would say the gap is small. We have the exact same record. But they obviously were a great team, an eyelash away from winning the world championship.”

Jays dominated head-to-head

The Jays and Yankees did indeed have the same 94-win seasons, but Toronto’s dominance in head-to-head regular-season meetings gave them the nod as division champs. That proved invaluable as the Jays then had home field advantage through the World Series.

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The Jays employed that edge to good use, first taking down the Yankees three games to one in the best-of-five ALDS series and later defeating the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 at the Rogers Centre to capture the American League and move on to the World Series for the first time in 32 years.

At least Boone was willing to admit that the Jays division title was earned.

“They certainly proved to be the better team this year and hopefully we can close that gap and pass them and others (in 2026),” Boone said. “In the head-to-head, (the Jays) kicked our butt and especially in those summer months.

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Sweep over Canada Day was decisive

“In that stretch where we were scuffling a little bit, they beat his up, including a four-game sweep up there (at the Rogers Centre) and that obviously ended up really hurting us.”

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Boone was referring to the four-game Yankees visit to Toronto at the beginning of July in which the Jays did indeed pull off the sweep and move into first place, a perch they would not surrender for the remainder of the season.

Boone, though, took heart in the Yankees’ late surge that forced the divisional race to go the distance before ultimately being settled in the final week of the regular season.

“We got them two out of three at (Yankee Stadium) late in the year when we were in a better place,” Boone said. “Obviously they were on fire against us in the playoffs.

“Look … against good teams it comes down to execution, performance, game plan, all that. Because the margin is thin against other great teams.

“To their credit, they beat our butts in the postseason. That’s sports sometimes. Obviously them being in our division — and obviously feel like they’re going to be really good again going into next year, as is the rest of the division — you’ve got to play well, especially in our division, if you’re going to have a chance to do something great.”

So, what do the Yankees need to do to surpass the Jays? Boone suggests the solution is obvious.

“Playing better against them is the real simple answer,” the Yankees skipper said.

rlongley@postmedia.com

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