Yankees' 2024 Schedule and Season: Biggest matchups and playoff structure?

The 2023 season left a bitter taste in Aaron Judge and the Yankees' mouths -- well, every Yankee except Josh Donaldson, who was probably just excited to cash them checks.

That means 2024 could either feature a reckoning buoyed by massive free agent signings and shrewd trades or represent the end of the franchise as we know it, as vitriol toward Hal Steinbrenner passes a boiling point, gets served at the team's Welcome Home luncheon, and poisons Michael Fishman and the analytics department ("I'm sorry, why are we all drinking boiling vitriol?" "Computers told us to, boss.").

There's a lot left to be finalized before the 2024 Yankees take the field on Opening Day (in Houston, very cool), and it all begins when free agency kicks off just after the World Series.

Yankees 2024 Schedule and Key Dates

The offseason begins in earnest five days after the World Series, which will end between Nov. 1 and Nov. 4. As soon as that date has come and gone, the market will move on everyone from Cody Bellinger to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, though don't expect any massive business or Juan Soto trades to be finished before the Winter Meetings. Those begin Dec. 3 in Nashville and last through Dec. 6.

When the 2024 schedule opens, the Yankees' first game will be on March 28 in Houston, which blessed be will not feature a ring ceremony. Their home opener is Friday, April 5 against the Blue Jays, who still won't have Gabriel Moreno on the roster.

As has become customary, the Yankees and Red Sox will not play until June 14-16 at Fenway Park. On the flip side, New York will be done with Houston by May 9.

2024 MLB Playoff Structure: How can Yankees top AL East foes?

Next season's playoff structure will be identical to this year's much-debated bracket style. Three division winners, three Wild Cards, and the division winner with the lowest number of wins will be stuck hosting a best-of-three battle with the No. 6 seed.

You know. Exactly how this season's Diamondbacks reached the World Series after toppling the Brewers.

It's true that the Yankees only have to "get in" in order to make some magic happen. They also need to improve their roster tremendously before they can even be considered six-seed material. This World Series should be iconically unfamiliar, but you'll forgive Yankee fans for crossing their fingers until five days after it's over. That's when the real fun begins.