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Anthony Rizzo stares at the Yankees' ignoble end after a mistake in the World Series

Anthony Rizzo stares at the Yankees' ignoble end after a mistake in the World Series

Anthony Rizzo's plan is to get X-rays of the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand on Thursday and then assess what his future might look like with the Yankees.

The club has an option on the veteran first baseman worth $17 million next season and Rizzo would prefer to stay.

But the Yankees might as well give him a $6 million buyout and look in a different direction.

Mookie Betts follows up with an infield hit when no one was covering after Anthony Rizzo fielded a grounder in the fifth inning of the Yankees' season-ending loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series on October 30, 2024. Robert Sabo for NY Post

“I'm going to talk to Cash and the Yankees and see what they think,” Rizzo said, referring to general manager Brian Cashman after the team's 7-6 loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series.

Rizzo's would rather stay with the club.

“I feel like I have a lot to offer this game in a lot of ways,” he said. “I don’t want to take this (uniform) off.”

Rizzo found himself in the middle of a play in the fifth inning on Wednesday that helped erase the Yankees' 5-0 lead and send the Dodgers toward the World Series trophy.

Anthony Rizzo reacts after striking out with two runners on, ending the eighth inning with the Yankees' loss. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Mookie Betts hit a bases-loaded squib grounder to Rizzo that should have been the last out. But Rizzo was slow to move to base, and that was compounded by Gerrit Cole's failure to cover the sack.

Betts was safe, the Dodgers' first run scored, and before the inning was over the score was 5-5.


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“The balls from hitting against a right-handed hitter spin,” Rizzo said. “I went one way and the ball went another way, so you just have to follow it the whole time because you don’t know what the ball is going to do.”

And a breakdown in communication with Cole didn't help either.

“Pitchers are always taught to get over it, no matter what,” Rizzo said. “It was just a weird twist.”

Rizzo, who broke two fingers last month and missed the ALDS before returning to the ALCS and World Series, said he had a hard time saying goodbye to his teammates afterward.

Luke Weaver talks to Anthony Rizzo during the ninth inning of the Yankees' loss. Jason Scenes/New York Post

“This is the last time you will be with this exact team and these exact people in this moment,” Rizzo said. “The uncertainty of what this clubhouse will look like next year is definitely in the air. But when you lose like that, it’s more about hugging each other and showing each other how much they mean to you.”

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