4 easy moves the Yankees could have made to stop Dodgers' modern day dominance

The Los Angeles Dodgers are staring straight at the possibility of winning their second World Series title in as many years, and their third since 2020. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees have gone 16 years without a parade down the Canyon of Heroes. They have just one appearance in the Fall Classic over that span.

The Yankees are no longer baseball's evil empire, but things didn't have to be this way. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and if the Yankees had made these obvious moves, they may have halted the Dodgers' dominance in its tracks and embarked on their next period of greatness.

4 easy ways the Yankees could have turned the tables on the Dodgers

Sign Blake Snell either of the past two offseasons

If you've followed the Dodgers this postseason, you've seen their starting rotation do incredible things. At the center of that has been Blake Snell. The former Tampa Bay Ray has logged 21 innings over three starts, allowing just two earned runs in the process, which is good for a 0.86 ERA.

The Yankees had long been connected to Snell, but failed to pony up either time the ace hit the market the past two seasons. While the club did end up pivoting to Max Fried last winter and gave him a more lucrative contract overall, they did so to lower the contract's AAV and attempt to save on the luxury tax.

In that trade-off, they got a very good pitcher, instead of a legitimate fire-breathing ace. Snell has won a Cy Young in both leagues in addition to two ERA titles. The difference in postseason performance between Snell and Fried tells you all you need to know.

Refuse to be outbid for Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The Yankees saw firsthand what a buzzsaw Yoshinobu Yamamoto could be in the postseason. The Japanese right-hander has picked up where he left off this go around as well, going throwback with a complete game three-hitter in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Yankees made a $300 million offer to Yamamoto, which came with other benefits, but lost out to the Dodgers' 12-year, $325 million proposal. While there's reason to believe that he simply wanted to be a Dodger, and there was some cause to proceed with caution, sometimes you gotta take the plunge and come in with an offer that can't be refused.

That's what the Yankees of yesteryear would have done, and at the end of the day, cash is king. Stealing away Yamamoto to be Gerrit Cole's running mate would have taken a huge cog out of the Dodgers' rotation, potentially swung the pendulum back towards the pinstripes in last year's Fall Classic, and possibly would've derailed the Dodgers this year as well.

Sign Freddie Freeman over Anthony Rizzo

Perhaps the biggest example of the Yankees' chickening out is the decision to bow out of the Freddie Freeman bidding in favor of a much more economical deal for Anthony Rizzo.

At first, it appeared the Yankees were prepared to do what was necessary to nab Freeman, even after acquiring Rizzo at the trade deadline in 2021 and benefitting from his steady presence in the lineup. However, once the Dodgers began throwing their weight around, the Yankees backed down and pivoted to retaining Rizzo on a two-year, $32 million deal.

Let's compare the 2021 lines for a moment. Rizzo slashed .248/.344/.440 with 22 homers between Chicago and New York. Freeman, on the other hand, posted a monstrous .300/.393/.503 line with 31 dingers. There was no comparison.

The Yankees would get 32 homers from Rizzo in 2022, but it came with a .224 average. Meanwhile, the Dodgers got a 6.8 fWAR season from Freeman in his first season in Hollywood. The two would only drastically diverge further from that point.

Steal Kiké Hernandez away from LA

It's been a while since Kiké Hernandez has been a consistent threat at the plate during the regular season. Over the last three years, he's posted wRC+ marks of 73, 82, and 70. With that said, he plays solid defense at nearly every position on the diamond.

However, the real value of having Hernandez on your roster is that he truly comes alive in the postseason and has made himself into something of a secret weapon for the Dodgers. The versatile veteran has a playoff ledger that includes a .282/.356/.508 line over 299 plate appearances. He's continued that magic this year, slashing .306/.375/.417 in the run-up to the World Series.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have employed a bunch of utilitymen who haven't proven to be able to rise to the occasion. While stealing stars away would've put a big dent in the Dodgers' dominance, stealing the most vital role player could've been a death knell to their dynasty, and it was reportedly on the table.