Giancarlo Stanton makes proclamation after Yankees win AL East

The New York Yankees won the American League East for the second time in three seasons after defeating the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. After missing the postseason a year ago, New York returns to baseball in October.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run in Thursday’s decisive win and entered the game hitting .233/.298/.471, for a .769 OPS and now 27 home runs this season. The Yankees get another postseason shot with the running core along with star Aaron Judge and ace Gerrit Cole. By signing superstar Juan Soto, the Yankees won even more this season and won a division rich in talent.

That’s now in the Yankees’ rearview mirror, and Stanton wants New York to take on the pressure of a team that, despite consistent performances, has consistently fallen short of the ultimate crowd. He confirmed this when asked if the Yankees should be the “team to be” heading into the postseason.

“We better do that,” Stanton told reporters, according to SNY. “That’s the point.”

The only problem is that the Yankees actually have to back it up this time.

New York’s championship drought dates back to 2009, when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. New York has since reached the American League Championship Series five times without returning to the World Series. The current core has playoff experience, but stars like Judge have had individual deficiencies in the biggest moments in October in recent seasons.

Time will tell if the Yankees are actually able to get over the hump or if more disappointments lie ahead in the Bronx come October.

The Yankees and Orioles, who both secured their postseason spots, are now competing for the seeding, while the rest of the division is eliminated with the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox making the playoffs for the third time missed in a row for the fifth time in six years.