Bleacher Report's playoff prediction foolishly ignores Astros' supremacy over Yankees

Jokes usually begin with, "Knock-knock" or "What do you get when you cross a...", but instead, Bleacher Report decided to dedicate several paragraphs this week to telling baseball fans why the New York Yankees would defeat the Houston Astros in 2024 ALCS.

With a little less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, Bleacher Report published their latest MLB playoff race predictions. Of course, the Astros were forecasted to win the AL West and the Yankees, despite a challenge from the Baltimore Orioles, were projected to take home the AL East crown and earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

All that's fine, and honestly, most likely to happen. Bleacher Report's ALCS prediction of another Astros-Yankees showdown could very well be the exact matchup MLB fans will witness this October. But to go as far as to predict that New York will upend Houston in the championship series isn't just wrong, it ignores the past.

Bleacher Report's playoff prediction foolishly ignores Astros' supremacy over Yankees

The Astros have been the Yankees' nemesis during the postseason since 2017. As Bleacher Report correctly points out, the Astros have been the reason the Yankees were sent packing in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. Those final three series wins all came in the ALCS. So what in the world would make anyone think that the results are going to be any different this season?

There is the regular season to consider. New York dominated Houston during the opening series of the season, sweeping the Astros right out of Space City and setting the team's course for the first two-plus months of their 2024 campaign. The Astros have just one win in seven games against the Yankees this season. That said, New York won the regular season series against Houston in 2017, 2019, and 2022 as well, and that failed to matter in the playoffs, didn't it?

Yes, the Yankees have Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, and the pinstripes. But they also haven't won a World Series since 2009, and haven't even appeared in one since Aaron Boone has been at the helm.

Derek Jeter's not walking through that door, and until New York proves that they can take down Houston in the postseason, any prediction that prognosticates a Yankees' ALCS victory over the Astros is asinine.

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