Yankees star Anthony Rizzo RELEASED after World Series disaster

The New York Yankees have declined their option on Anthony Rizzo after their World Series defeat to the LA Dodgers, the team has announced.

Rizzo, who made a huge blunder before the Dodgers' championship-winning comeback in Game 5 of the series, is now a free agent after being released at the end of his fourth season in New York.

After Wednesday's decisive loss to LA, the 35-year-old said about his future with the team: 'I feel like I have a lot left to offer in this game in a lot of different ways. I don’t want to take this off.'

Rizzo moved to Yankee Stadium in 2021 after a decade-long stint with the Chicago Cubs, where he became a World Series champion in 2016.

He also earned three All-Star inclusions during his time in Chicago, while claiming four Gold Glove awards. 

The first baseman's miscommunication with Gerrit Cole on a routine ground ball contributed to one of the most disastrous innings in Yankees history on Wednesday night as they surrendered a 5-0 lead before the Dodgers clinched the World Series with a 7-6 win.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Dodgers star Mookie Betts hit a grounder to first as Rizzo failed to charge, while Cole halted after initially running towards the bag.

'Those balls off righties, those are the hardest balls for us [first basemen to field]… I kind of was going for it, and then it kicked one way, so I had to really make sure to catch it first,' he explained afterwards.

Rizzo hit .228 with eight homers and 35 RBIs over 92 games in an injury-interrupted season.

He missed 62 games with a fractured right forearm after colliding with Boston reliever Brennan Bernardino on June 16. He batted .380 (8 for 21) after returning from the injured list on Sept. 1, then fractured the fourth and fifth fingers when hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh's Ryan Borucki on Sept. 28.

He returned for the AL Championship Series and World Series and batted .267 with no RBIs.

A 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs, Rizzo has a .261 career average with 303 homers and 965 RBIs in 14 major league seasons. He was traded from Chicago to the Yankees in July 2021.

He stayed with the Yankees for a $32million, two-year deal then agreed in November 2022 to a $40m, two-year contract.

The Yankees are facing a battle to keep hold of star man Juan Soto with his contract also up at the end of the 2024 season.

It is not a matter of if, but how and when Soto cashes in with one of the biggest contracts in sports history as several Major League Baseball teams look to acquire his services.

The incumbent Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets are among 11 teams in pursuit of the 26-year-old, per the New York Post. 

Although an exact figure cannot be discussed for what his next contract will be worth, long-term stability and market value will set the price. Expectations are that a deal could near $700million. 

This also may not be a scenario like Shohei Ohtani's monster deal with the Dodgers, of which 97 percent is deferred. This will instead be straight cash, maybe with some added incentives.

Big-market teams that can win now are likely to have a better inside track to landing Soto, like the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, per The Post.