Photo courtesy of New York Yankees

The ornate rings sparkled in a staging area of the New York Hilton Midtown this past month, where general manager Brian Cashman handed them to members of the 2024 Yankees postseason rosters, minutes before those guests of honor were ushered to the stage at the club’s ritzy Welcome Home Dinner.

Each box revealed diamonds, rubies and sapphires, enveloping the Yankees’ classic top hat logo. Dressed in 14-karat white gold, these words were printed in block letters: “American League Champions 2024.” They were beautiful, classy, significant – and, for most players, now collecting dust.

“This isn’t the one we wanted, boys,” Giancarlo Stanton said, cutting through the ballroom chatter. “The one that we want is in front of us. I’d better not see any of you guys

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