Well, if you look at as 2013, 2014 and 2016 with no playoffs and 2015 was a wildcard berth then it has been a bit longer of a retool/rebuild than just one year of no playoffs. They have not been that dominant for awhile and I can't say I've missed that since it allowed the Jays to finally get to the postseason. It's always sucked that the Jays have to be in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees which are two high prestige markets to attract talent and have a lot of money to bankroll that talent making it that much tougher for the Jays to crack through. It's been great to see the Jays spending money to retain and attract talent, for once, since it felt like they were always shedding all their good players to keep costs down. Not that it did them much good this year.
Anyways, it figures that the first year they miss the playoffs in 2013 is when they draft Aaron Judge who's turning out to be a really impressive talent. But I guess that time of missing the playoffs and getting better picks is now allowed those picks to start maturing and they've had time to shed contracts and players to rebuild. I do think there is some middle ground for the Yankees. If the Yankees were to win, it wouldn't bug me as much as in some years. I'd be happy with victories for the Red Sox, Cubs, Jays or Dodgers and they're all in the top ten of spending so it's pointless to complain about the Yankees and their spending.
Plus, the Yankees are kind of underdogs so it is a bit different compared to say the late 90's and early 2000s when they were dominant all season and then crushed weaker lineups in the playoffs on their way to various World Series matches. (It's why the 2004 Red Sox 0-3 series comeback was so, so sweet.) As mentioned on ESPN, "For starters, we have three 100-win teams for the first time since 2003 and just the sixth time in history. The collective win total of the 10 teams is the most since the second wild card was added in 2012, and that's despite the Twins barely finishing over .500." If the Yankees were to win, they'd have done so having to go through the Indians, Astros and a 50/50 chance of facing the Dodgers. If it is the Dodgers then they'd have to defeat all 100 win aka top three teams. That's quite a feat. I'd be impressed. Especially since they had to play a winner-take-all wildcard game just to start such a playoff push (even if it was the Twins).
Another thing about the Yankees is that they don't really have any players that bug me right now. Having not been in the post season much these past few years, I haven't really been following their roster much to care about most of the players on it and losing players like A-Rod and Jeter and a few others that always annoyed me has left me without much of a reason to root against the team. Right now, I'm kind of a fan of Judge. I wish he was on a different team but from the highlights and clips I see of him, he's done nothing to make me root against him. Plus, he's a guy they actually drafted and didn't just pick up with obscene money on the free market so the Yankees success with him feels like they've legitimately earned it a bit more compared to picking up talent that other teams developed but couldn't afford to pay for anymore. I suppose there is some weird psychology at play with my mind there to make one type of success better than another but that's my take on it.
Sure, it'd be kind of disappointing to see the Yankees add yet another World Title to their club but I would respect their ability to keeping winning. If the teams I rooted for in any sport could average a championship every 4 years, would you be upset at that prospect? Part of the reason for rooting against the Yankees is because I'd rather it was a team of my preference winning that much. So, that's why I think there can be some middle ground on the team. Of course, if they suddenly got dominant again or were eliminating the Red Sox or Jays from the post season, I could see some grudges against the franchise resurfacing but, at the moment, my relationship with the Yankees is in a bit of a thaw.