Chris Russo has most relatable rant ever about Yankees' 2024 playoff path

Given the New York Yankees' playoff futility over the last 15 years, you won't see many fans "wishing" for a specific opponent in October. Posteason baseball is incredibly difficult, and every team poses a unique challenge.

That said, the Yankees, during their most recent World Series window, have never had a path as favorable as 2024. The Houston Astros are gone. The Boston Red Sox missed the playoffs again and are wallowing at home. No AL team was better than New York this year. They are the No. 1 seed. No rivals in sight.

Right now, they're going up against the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS. KC is a very good team, but they're coming off a 106-loss 2023 campaign. We can't confidently say they are necessarily built for a deep October run.

In the other ALDS matchup, the Yankees will play the winner of the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers. Yup, all AL Central teams — the one division the Yankees consistently handle with relative ease since their 2009 World Series win (though the Tigers have eliminated them from the playoffs twice since then).

The point is that the Royals aren't a postseason stalwart; the Yankees almost always take care of business against the Guardians; and the Tigers had a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs in August before their improbable run. The Yankees, without a doubt, need to seize the moment, and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo couldn't agree more in his most relatable rant yet for NYY fans.

Chris Russo has most relatable rant ever about Yankees' 2024 playoff path

OK, well we won't subscribe to Russo saying "there's no other good team in the American League," but we will agree that there should be an investigation if the Yankees can't at least make their way to the Fall Classic. They may never see a more advantageous journey (and remember, Juan Soto isn't a guarantee to return).

Russo couldn't have done a better job of hitting the nail on the head when he lamented about the organization's excuses whenever they fall short. He reminded everybody that Brian Cashman's favorite thing to do is say the playoffs are a crap shoot and anything can happen — the Yankees executive just cited "bad luck" last year when he was faced with addressing countless player personnel failures at last year's GM meetings.

The Yankees can very well lose to one of their next two opponents. It's not out of the question. But there's a legitimate argument for heads to roll if that's the case, because they will have run out of excuses when the time comes to answer for their sins.