Yankees bullish on their championship caliber roster and challenge anyone to say otherwise

Now that the Yankees have just about the whole band back together — the one that got knocked around in an ALDS loss to the Blue Jays — exactly why will this version have a better ending than the 2025 version?That’s what Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone and the player that was at the center of the Yankees reunion, Cody Bellinger, tried to explain Wednesday.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

The answer lies in the development of some young players — Cam Schlittler for one — a full season with their trade deadline acquisitions from last summer and, most of all, the expected return of Gerrit Cole in the first half of the season.Cole didn’t throw a pitch last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the spring. His rehab, as well as the rehab of Carlos Rodón, is going as expected, which is positive news in The Bronx.Will it be enough, though, to get the Yankees past the Blue Jays — not to mention the improved Orioles and up-and-coming Red Sox — to win the AL East and then have a chance to upend the mighty Dodgers in the World Series?“One series, make or break, is not gonna define what we think our capabilities are,” Cashman said of the ALDS loss on a Zoom call from Tampa.“We all understand in [the] postseason, you’ve got to bring your best baseball every series and if you don’t, you’re going home.

It doesn’t mean we weren’t capable of great things.We just didn’t get the job done in that time frame against the Toronto Blue Jays, the defending American League champs.”Boone was similarly confident.“At the end of last year, in so many ways, it’s as good as I felt about our team heading into the postseason in the years I’ve been here,” Boone said.

“Obviously, we got beat up in the division round.It didn’t go our way.

That doesn’t mean it’s not gonna go our way the next time.We think we’re really good.

That doesn...