My glacial look at all thirty teams continues, in spite of the fact that it has been well over thirty days!
New York Yankees
Record: 95-67 (Second place in AL East, one game behind Tampa Bay. AL Wild Card Champions).
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Robinson Cano (.319)
Home Runs: Mark Teixeira (33)
RBIs: Alex Rodriguez (125)
On-base Percentage: Brett Gardner (.383)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: CC Sabathia (21)
Strikeouts: CC Sabathia (197)
Innings Pitched: CC Sabathia (237.2)
ERA: CC Sabathia (3.18). Bullpen- Mariano Rivera (1.80)
WHIP: CC Sabathia (1.19). Bullpen- Mariano Rivera (0.83)
Saves: Mariano Rivera (33)
Highlight of the Year: Sweeping the Twins for the second year in a row in the Division Series on October 9, as they would defeat Minnesota 6-1 in front of the home crowd at Yankee Stadium.
Lowlight of the Year: Almost two weeks later, the Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers 6-1 in Game Six of the ALCS, which ended their quest to repeat as World Champions.
The Lowdown:
The Yankees entered the 2010 season with reason to believe that they could repeat as World Champions. After all, they had the best team in baseball by a wide margin, and there wasn't any reason to believe that their pitching would regress. Even if it did, they still had a phenomenal lineup to fall back on to bail their pitching staff out in times of trouble. Once the season began, the Yankees were back at it again, bludgeoning opponents with their mighty offense, even when their starting rotation was largely mediocre behind CC Sabathia. However, the Yankees were challenged once again by the pesky Tampa Bay Rays, who were able to keep pace with New York all season long. With Boston as a non-factor in the AL East race, New York and Tampa duked it out until the season's end, when the Yankees fell short of Tampa Bay by one game in the East, capturing the Wild Card instead.
In spite of being the Wild Card, the Yankees still had the look of a dangerous team entering the playoffs, and they laid waste to the Twins in the first round yet again to make it back to the ALCS. Surprisingly enough, their opponent would not be the Rays, but the Texas Rangers, a very formidable adversary. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they ran out of gas in the ALCS, as the Rangers made fairly easy work of the Bronx Bombers to reach the World Series. While many teams in baseball look at a trip to the LCS as an accomplishment, the Yankees have a much different standard for evaluation, and coming up short in the playoffs last year was no doubt a tremendous failure for a team with the expectation to win it all.
Offense:
Strength was the key to the Yankees' offense yet again, as they would finish first in MLB in runs (859) and on-base percentage (.350), while finishing third in slugging (.436) and home runs (211). They had a plethora of weapons at their disposal, including Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez. Between those five players was a great balance of speed, contact and power.
Cano for all intents and purposes was probably the best overall hitter on this team, as the MVP-candidate hit .319, with 29 home runs, 109 RBIs, and a solid OBP of .381. Those numbers would be great for a player at any position, but the fact that he's a second baseman putting up these numbers is simply phenomenal. Mark Teixiera continued to provide a sufficient amount of power at the plate, leading the team in home runs with 33, while driving in 108. Along with Teixieira, Alex Rodriguez continued to be a significant threat at the plate, hitting 30 home runs once again while driving in a team-best 125. Nick Swisher provided a nice balance of contact and power at the plate, hitting .288 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs, while Brett Gardner was outstanding in the lead-off spot, getting on base at a team-best .383 while stealing 47 bases, good for third in the American League.
With all of the strengths the Yankees have in their lineup with those aforementioned five, you can easily get away with some weak spots in the lineup, even if one of them happens to be team captain Derek Jeter.
Final Grade: A+
Pitching:
What was one of their strengths in 2009 ended up being a weakness last year, as the Yankees finished 15th in ERA (4.06), 13th in walks (540) and third in home runs allowed (179). CC Sabathia was immune to any struggles though, as he put up a Cy Young-caliber season, going 21-7 with a 3.18 ERA and 197 strikeouts while facing some of the toughest lineups in baseball on a regular basis within his division. Behind him was a great deal of mediocrity however, as A.J. Burnett regressed significantly from 2009, going 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA while Javier Vazquez wasn't much better, going 10-10 with a 5.32 ERA. Phil Hughes had a nice record of 18-8, but his suspect 4.19 ERA meant that he was the beneficiary of a great offense helping him out even when he wasn't at his best.
Andy Pettitte was solid in his final MLB season, going 11-2 with a 3.28 ERA. His numbers would have likely been better had he not missed two months in the second half with a groin injury. While there are a plethora of factors one could look to as to why New York didn't win the division, Pettitte's injury in the second half certainly had to be a major contributor. His final career start was a gutsy one, going seven strong innings in Game Three of the ALCS while giving up only two earned runs. Unfortunately he wouldn't get the win, as the bullpen blew up in the final two innings, surrendering six runs.
The Yankees' bullpen was decent last year, finishing seventh in ERA at 3.47, no doubt influenced by the seemingly-ageless Mariano Rivera closing out ballgames. He was fantastic yet again at the ripe old age of 40, recording a 1.80 ERA and a WHIP of 0.83 while closing out 33 games last year. He had two other solid relievers around him, as Boone Logan and David Robertson were serviceable, finishing with ERAs of 2.93 and 3.82 respectively in 50-plus appearances. Most of the other relievers were either average or below, including Joba Chamberlain, who made the most appearances on the staff (73) in spite of his high ERA (4.40).
When you have an offense as good as theirs, you can easily get away with having an average pitching staff, and collectively that's what they Yankees were last year.
Final Grade: B-
Wild Card: Derek Jeter
The team captain obviously leads by example on the field and off of it, but Jeter wasn't leading anybody in offense last year, as he had the worst statistical year of his career, hitting only .270 with 10 home runs, 67 RBIs and a miserable OBP of .340. He won the Gold Glove at short last year, but as we all know, the Gold Glove is a farce that's only awarded based on reputation and not by actual on-field performance in a given season. While Jeter is 36 and still has a few years left in him, one has to wonder how those years will be, especially since most major league players begin their decline after 35.
Final Grade: D-
Overall:
Hey, you can't fault them for reaching the postseason once again, even if it was through the Wild Card. However, the expectations for the Yankees are usually so high to the point where if they don't even reach the World Series, their year is a failure. I don't think they were a failure obviously, but with the talent they have, they probably should have made it again.
Final Grade: A
Check back soon for the report card on the Tampa Bay Rays!
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