Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner isn't ready to concede the AL East to the Blue Jays just yet.
The Bronx Bombers boss is still confident that the Yankees, a club that has missed the playoffs the past two years, will eventually win the AL East for the first time since 2012.
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"I said in the offseason several times that if we stayed healthy, which is something we haven't been able to do the last couple years, and if the middle of the lineup produced, which they didn't do last year, then we were going to be contenders, and we are," Steinbrenner said Wednesday at baseball owners meetings in Chicago, according to ESPN. "It's still ours to lose."
While they haven't lost anything yet as far as a playoff push is concerned, the Yankees did go on to drop their fifth straight game, 2-1, to the Indians on Wednesday.
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As for the Blue Jays, they notched their 10th straight victory with a 10-3 drubbing of the Athletics to leapfrog New York for sole possession of first place in the AL East. Toronto hasn't made the postseason since winning the World Series in 1993, but its deadline moves and improved pitching has it playing like a contender.
The Blue Jays made several moves at the deadline, which were headlined by the acquisitions of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and highly-coveted left-hander David Price.
Tulowitzki has belted three homers in 14 games with Toronto while Price is 2-0 with a sparkling 0.60 ERA.
The Yankees, meanwhile, stood pat at the deadline and opted to hang on to prized prospect Luis Severino, who made his MLB debut last Wednesday.
The Yankees owned a seven-game lead over the Blue Jays on July 28, but they wake up on Thursday trailing their adversary by a half-game. New York was swept by Toronto in three games last weekend.
These two AL rivals play 13 more times this season with a three-game set starting Friday in Toronto and then 10 more meetings in September.
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