What's next for the Red Sox? Boston's roller coaster season ends at hands of rival Yankees — again

The Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday after a two-game Wild Card Series sweep New season, same result. The Boston Red Sox were sent home for the winter by the rival New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series again this year, this time going home in two games rather than three after Wednesday's 9-2 decision at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox were outscored 18-2 in the two-game sweep. They'll now head into the offseason trying, again, to figure out how to get over the Bronx hump. Boston's regular season was disjointed. They started 10-17, which led to manager Alex Cora's firing, and were 32-46 on the morning of June 25.

A win over the Yankees that night spurred a 32-5 stretch during which the Red Sox outscored their opponents by 2.6 runs per game. They looked simply unbeatable — like the best team in baseball and the team so many expected coming into 2026. A cool-down period followed and the Red Sox went 23-24 in their final 47 games, including 7-10 in their last 17. Despite a very successful offseason that saw them add All-Stars Willson Contreras, Ranger Suárez and likely Cy Young vote-getter Sonny Gray, the Red Sox ultimately took a step back this season. The 2027 Red Sox figure to look a lot like