Giancarlo Stanton turns 35 next week. The core is getting old and maybe the window is starting to close without a title.

They know nothing about the future of Soto, who is expected to receive the second-largest contract in baseball history — behind only Shohei Ohtani, whose Dodgers hugged on the grass as Soto watched from the dugout for what could be the last times could be .

The Yankees failed to do what every other World Series contender who dropped the first three games had failed to do: force a Game 6.

They drilled the underbelly of the Dodgers bullpen in Game 4 before Game 5, in which they jumped out to a five-run lead and threw it away in an error-filled collapse in the fifth inning.

“That inning is going to sting for a while,” Anthony Rizzo said of a frame in which the Yankees gave the Dodgers six outs.

Wasted were early home runs by Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Stanton, with the Yankees getting through the third inning with a 5-0 lead.

Much more was wasted on a night when the Yankees left 12 on base, went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and allowed the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning.

Tommy Kahnle faced three batters and retired no batters before Luke Weaver came in and allowed sacrifice flies to Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts, who became the game deciders.

Wasted was the only year the Yankees knew they would have Soto.

The soon-to-be free agent cost a lot — including Michael King, who emerged as a star with the Padres — and enjoyed his time in The Bronx, but the money will likely determine where he signs.

“Stay with us,” was the advice Stanton gave.

The 2024 Yankees made progress — reaching the World Series for the first time since 2009 — but not enough by Yankees standards.

In a season where the Yankees continually tried to outdo their mistakes, those mistakes made the difference in an inning that will haunt this franchise.

In the fifth, Gold Glover Anthony Volpe, the defensively sound righty, and a mental error by Cole, the smart pitcher, cost them their lead.

It started with a single by Kiké Hernandez. Tommy Edman then hit a sinking liner to center, and that’s when things started to unravel.

Judge got to the ball and first appeared to look at the ball to see if he had a chance to double Hernandez, only for the ball to deflect off his glove due to an error that left it two without an out.

Three was on without an out, as batter later Will Smith grounded into the short stop gap and Volpe threw a throw in the mud to Chisholm in an attempt to get the lead runner.

Cole took out Lux and Ohtani to take one step to escape, but Cole’s steps failed him: Betts hit a play ball to first base, where Rizzo operated and didn’t cover Cole quickly enough, Betts reached base and scored a point.

The first Dodgers run was scored by accident. The next four were more powerful, Freddie Freeman driving in two with a single to center and Teoscar Hernandez doubling over Judge’s head to tie the game.

“We just didn’t get the job done,” Judge said. “There were just a few mistakes along the way that hurt us.”

This is how the Yankees’ season ended: complaining about what could have been and might have been while watching what was — a World Series slipping away.