Funny how the Yankees and Padres ended up in a pretty similar spot this year. The Yankees were supposed to make a serious World Series run, while the Padres looked primed for another deep postseason push. Instead, the Yankees fell short of the ALCS, and San Diego didn’t even make it past the Wild Card Series.

But what really stirred things up was how the Yankees’ early exit unexpectedly brought Manny Machado back into the spotlight. After the Padres’ Wild Card loss, Machado was asked to assess the team’s season. “What type of question is that, dude?” He shot back. “We just lost. How do you think I assess it? Come on, you can ask better questions than that.”

Now, that statement has come back to haunt Machado, albeit with an Aaron Judge twist! “It’s tough to describe. Yes, we didn’t do our job; we didn’t finish the goal. Had a special group in here with a lot of special players… You play to win, and when you don’t win, it’s not a good year, so you just have to put in more work.” Captain America had a composed response when asked the same question as Machado’s.

MLB insider Channel Ryan Knows Ball shared a comparison video of Machado and Judge talking with the reporters after their respective eliminations, and there’s a stark difference.

After watching the clip, fans are questioning Manny Machado, calling him out for his behavior. But Machado’s frustration probably echoed as his heroics went in vain.

The Padres’ offense completely sputtered in the Wild Card round. As a team, they hit just .189/.243/.305 over the three games against the Cubs. The Padres went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in Game 3. What probably frustrated Machado the most was how the Padres’ biggest names came up short in the series finale, even though he himself couldn’t come anywhere close to his 2 run homer from Game 2.

Just in the first inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong made a sliding catch to rob Machado of a hit.

Fernando Tatis had a rough night, going 0-for-4 with three SOs and flying out to right with runners on second and third in the fifth. Machado grounded out to shortstop Dansby Swanson to end the eighth, stranding a runner on third. And then there was the baserunning debacle.

Notably, in the 4th and 6th, Swanson took away the hits from Padres’ Luis Arraez. In the second play, Dansby grabbed the ground ball a bit feebly, but ended up throwing it to 1B Michael Busch, nailing Arraez.

Later, Tatis reacted, “It’s not fun at all. We definitely missed an opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge, too, found himself somewhere similar.

In Game 4, the Yankees just managed six hits off eight Blue Jays pitchers, a pretty good snapshot of how weak their offense looked. Judge did his part with his sixth multi-hit game of the postseason and an RBI in the ninth, but by then, it was way too late to make a difference.

Despite hitting .331 with 53 homers and winning the AL batting title, his team collapsed when it mattered most.

But the difference lay in the reactions.

Machado gets called out by the fans, citing Aaron Judge

“One is answering a question with class and respect, and the other guy is Manny Machado. Anybody who’s been paying attention to the last decade shouldn’t be surprised at the disparity of answers here,” one fan remarked. Machado is no new to controversies. Allegedly, in Game 2 of the 2024 NLDS against the Dodgers, Machado threw a ball into LA’s dugout between innings. While Jack Flaherty accused Machado, Manny shared that he always tosses baseballs before the start of half-innings for boys and girls to pick them up!

No matter what happened, his character contrasts starkly with Aaron Judge’s. With no such evident on-field controversies, Judge always plays the role of a leader. In fact, this year, when we saw a few events where Jazz Chisholm reacted against the umpires and the opponent dugout, Judge diffused the situation. And now, their different approach after elimination also reflects the same. “One’s a leader. One’s a follower,” another added.

“That’s why Machado isn’t the guy to lead this team.” All felt coming down to their leadership characteristics.

“Class. Respect. Knows the fans are listening.” Sometimes it’s all about the professionalism. Being watched by millions, players have the added responsibility of being composed in public. Aaron Judge, being a veteran in the diamond, excels in this skill, while Machado seems to lag. While both are honest with their opinions, fans took offense at how Machado responded.

But at the end of the day, they both are devastated. That’s why one fan found the similarity. “There is no difference. Both seasons ended without getting a ring.“

Now that both the Padres and Yankees have finished their journey for this year, what matters now is that these two cornerstones get backed by the dugout for the next season.