Yankees $166 million quintet needs to start carrying its weight

KANSAS CITY, Mo.— The template for what is possible for Juan Soto’s 2024 Yankees is Juan Soto’s 2019 Nationals. Because those Nats were certainly not gnats.

They were top-heavy with stars, and what distinguished the only champion in that organization’s history is the stars showed up at night. The two best October hitters for that Washington team were Soto and Anthony Rendon.The two best pitchers were Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. That quartet of elite players performed in the biggest moment on the grandest stage through four rounds and carried the chorus along with them. Through two games of an AL Division Series, the Yankees had been way too chorus dependent.

The best at-bats had consistently come from Gleyber Torres.The best pitching from their Bullpen Anonymous group — Really, if Jake Cousins and Tim Mayza walk down a street, would you know it is not Tim Weaver and Luke Hill? Did I get you there? I know, it’s Luke Weaver and Tim Hill.

Just seeing if you are paying attention. Because if you are, you know these Yankees often go the way of their stars.They are top-heavy, and when that top-heavy group thrives, so do the Yankees.

When they don’t — if a baseball game breaks out when tactics and execution are most vital — the Yankees struggle. These Yankees are Mike Tyson.They are full of might and fury, not craft and guile.

And through the first two games, their knockout artists — Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon — had really let the team down.The Royals had outplayed the Yankees for most of the 18 innings, and — in many respects — the Yanks were fortunate to be tied one game apiece heading into Wednesday night’s Game 3. Soto had a diplomatic answer about the 2019 Nationals, noting, yes, “Our big stars had big moments,” but then added broadly, “At the end of the day, it’s all about the whole team.

We can’t lean on one player, that he’s going to do everything for us to go all the way.We’ve got to do ...