New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge suggested back in February he was embracing a "World Series-or-bust" mentality ahead of the ongoing season. The 2024 Yankees are now headed to the playoffs, will likely end September as champions of the American League East and could finish the regular season atop the overall AL standings.

For one night, the New York Yankees could celebrate. But those feelings will not last long. After defeating the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night to clinch a playoff spot, the basis on which any Yankees campaign is defined will begin in 11 games,

Given that the Yankees are currently three games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East with 12 games to go for both teams, the Yankees would need at least nine wins/Orioles' losses in order to finish the regular season with the same record as Baltimore. However, in that scenario, it is very likely that Baltimore would hold the tiebreaker.

New York clinched a postseason berth thanks to Anthony Rizzo's go-ahead RBI double in the tenth inning. In the bottom of the tenth, Julio Rodríguez got picked off third when he strayed too far from the bag avoiding Randy Arozarena's bat after he lost it on a swinging strike three. Check it out:

The 2024 MLB postseason is peeking out from over the horizon, and the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks are looking to make another magical postseason run. Much of the circumstance surrounding Arizona's World Series appearance a year ago is happening again in 2024.