Yankees’ season ends in heartbreak as they choke away Game 5 of World Series

In the aftermath of his biggest bet of his offseason and one of the largest in his tenure, Brian Cashman acknowledged the stakes and the urgency.

“We’re just very proud of the fact we can call him a Yankee at this time,” the general manager said in December before his one guaranteed season of Juan Soto, “with the full intentions of taking a shot at a title.”

The shot missed. The Yankees now hurdle into an offseason of uncertainty after a season of a lot of joy, far too many mistakes and ultimately yet more disappointment.

The drought has reached 15 years without a World Series championship for the Yankees, whose dream died three wins short and at the hands of the Dodgers.

Dave Roberts’s group fought its way out of a five-run hole, with the hosts’ help, and celebrated on the field in The Bronx in a dramatic, 7-6, Game 5 Yankees loss on Wednesday that was part heartbreaker and part self-inflicted head-shaker.

“I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken,” manager Aaron Boone repeated, “and I’m heartbroken for those guys that poured so much into this. The ending is cruel. It always is.”