Alas, we have reached our final report card of 2009 (even though it is 2010). Today's final team will be the World Champions, the New York Yankees. Let's take a look at the Bronx Bombers of 2009:
New York Yankees:
Record: 103-59 (AL East Champions, World Series Champions).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Derek Jeter (.334)
Home Runs: Mark Teixeira (39)
RBIs: Mark Teixeira (122)
On-base Percentage: Derek Jeter (.406)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: CC Sabathia (19)
ERA: CC Saabathia (3.37). Bullpen- Mariano Rivera (1.76).
Strikeouts: CC Sabathia (197)
Innings Pitched: CC Sabathia (230)
WHIP: Mariano Rivera (0.90). Starters- CC Sabathia (1.15)
Saves: Mariano Rivera (44)
Highlight of the Season: Winning their 27th World Championship on November 4, over the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Duh!
Lowlight of the Season: Tie between getting clobbered by the Indians at home, 22-4 on April 18, and losing two out of three at home to the lowly Nationals on June 16-18.
The Lowdown:
At long last, after years of spending and even more spending, the Yankees were finally World Champions again, giving their long-suffering fans happiness and a reason for excitement once again. Of course, I was only being facetious with that previous statement, but the Yankees seemed to finally find that right mix of talent to carry them to the promised land in October for the 27th time. After years of bulking up their offense, and spending millions of ill-advised dollars on flukish or mediocre-to-terrible pitchers (does Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown or Kei Igawa ring a bell for anyone?), the Yanks finally found their front-of-the-rotation pitching aces that would carry them to October, and they would be in the form of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. However, it doesn't hurt to beef up your offense when you have the opportunity, and the Yankees did just that, as they were able to land Mark Teixeira as a free agent during the '08-'09 offseason. He would end up joining an already potent lineup that featured Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, and Hideki Matsui, among others.
The dawn of the 2009 season also marked the first time since 1922 that the Yankees would not be playing in "The House that Ruth built," as they moved across the street to the shiny, expensive, brand-spanking-new Yankee Stadium, that ended being even more of a haven for power-hitters than its predecessor. Home runs flew out of the new ballpark at an alarming rate last year, which no doubt made the Yankees' lineup all the more intimidating. However, they still had to have effective pitching to quell the offensive explosion at the new ballpark, and their staff, as a whole, was up to the task. When you combine one of the best offenses in baseball with some of the best pitching in baseball, it comes as no surprise that the Yankees finished atop the baseball world in 2009.
Offense:
Thanks to their homer-happy new ballpark, and to Mark Teixeira, the Yankees' offense was as explosive as ever in 2009. Their lineup featured a remarkable seven people who hit at least 20 home runs in 2009, and Teixeira led the way for them, as he drilled 39 in his first season in the Big Apple. It goes without saying that he put up a very MVP-worthy season, as he had a robust 122 RBIs, .292 batting average and .383 on-base percentage to go along with his 39 homers. However, he lost out in the MVP race to Minnesota's Joe Mauer, who put up an equally fantastic season behind the plate.
The other major power threat in New York's lineup was obviously, Alex Rodriguez. Despite missing some time due to injury, A-Rod still put up solid numbers, as he hit .286, with 30 homers and 100 RBIs, to go along with a robust .402 on-base percentage. Nonetheless, the aforementioned stats will not be what Yankees fans will remember about A-Rod in '09, as he was able to finally shake the postseason monkey off his back in October. He would end up leading the Yankees in all four major offensive categories during the play-offs, as he hit .365, with six home runs, 18 RBIs and a .500 on-base percentage. In fact, the only debate that you will find about A-Rod among Yankees fans is which of his home runs during the play-offs was bigger: his game-tying two-run homer off of Twins' closer Joe Nathan in Game Two of the Division Series, or his game-tying home run in the 11th inning of Game Two of the LCS against the Angels? Both home runs came in games in which the Yankees would eventually win. I'll let you be the judge.
Two other major contributors in the Yankees' lineup were the double-play tandem of Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Jeter was simply Jeter once again in 2009, as he hit for an outstanding .334 average, to go along with 18 home runs and a fantastic .406 on-base percentage. He also reached a major milestone during the season, as he passed Lou Gehrig for the Yankees' all-time hits record with his 2,722nd hit against the Orioles on September 11. His partner up the middle, Robinson Cano, also put together a fantastic season of his own, as he hit .320, with 25 home runs and 85 RBIs. It goes without saying that these are some excellent numbers for a second baseman, but despite this, his season was largely overshadowed by his other higher-profile teammates.
Overall, the Yankees would finish first in MLB in runs scored (915) home runs (244), on-base percentage (.362), and would tie with the Angels for first in hits (1,604). They would also finish second in batting average (.283), third in doubles (325) and first in total bases (2,703). While other lineups around baseball appeared to be just as potent on paper, the Yankees, by far and away, featured the best lineup in baseball in 2009.
Final Grade: A+
Pitching:
The biggest reason for the Yankees' success in 2009 lies not within their lineup, but within the pitching rotation. For the first time in several years, the Yankees had a solid rotation, and not one that could be considered "shaky, at best." Pitching was the key formula to their three consecutive championships from 1998-2000, and the Yanks found it again this year with a great rotation that featured CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain making up the bulk of the starts. Sabathia picked right up where he left off in his stellar '08 campaign, as he finished 19-8 this year, with a 3.37 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Innings also were not a problem for the big lefty either, as he gobbled up 230 of them on the rubber last year. He certainly silenced the prognosticators at the beginning of the season who said that he was due to regress in '09, and he would have definitely received more consideration for the Cy Young last season if it weren't for Zack Greinke's monster year in Kansas City.
Backing him up in the number two slot was A.J. Burnett, who finally put together back-to-back 200 inning seasons for the first time in his career. While he did not receive as many wins last year as he did in Toronto in '08 (when he went 18-10), he was still solid in the Yankees rotation, going 13-9 last year, with a 4.04 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 207 innings pitched. While many around baseball knew that a dominant Sabathia would be a big key to the Yankees success, many also knew that if they were going to go deeper into the play-offs than in recent years, Burnett had to be healthy and producing, too. The once injury-prone Burnett proved that he was healthy once again in '09, and that he was definitely up to the task.
In the number three spot was a familiar face, and that was Andy Pettitte. In his third season back with the Yankees after a brief sojourn to Houston, Pettitte continued to be the wise and experienced presence on the staff, as he was one of the remaining left-overs from the Yankees' glory years of 1996-2000. He would continue to prove to everybody that he still had something left in the tank, as he went 14-8 last year, with a 4.16 ERA in 194.2 innings. While he is no longer a front-of-the-rotation starter, he is still quite adequate as a number three starter, and he is still a guy the Yankees have no problem handing the ball to in big games.
Rounding out the major four starters for the Yankees is Joba Chamberlain. While he was certainly serviceable as a number four starter (finishing 9-6, with a 4.75 ERA in 31 starts), his season could have certainly been better, considering how much talent he has. However, 2009 marked his first full season as a starter in the bigs, so I'll cut him some slack. Plus, it seems that the Yankees have finally found out what they wanted to do with him, so I wouldn't be too surprised if he improved substantially in 2010. As long as they don't keep threatening to shuffle him off to the bullpen, he will be fine.
Speaking of the bullpen, the Yankees had a very youthful crew coming into ballgames in '09, as Phil Coke, Phil Hughes, David Robertson, Brian Bruney and Alfredo Aceves were all 27 or younger during the season. This young bunch would be backed up by the sage-like presence of the great Mariano Rivera closing out games, who no doubt had to be a big influence on the rest of the 'pen this year. While the youngsters were effective during the season (four out of the five aforementioned pitchers would finish with ERAs under four except for Coke), it was Rivera who was the best of them all in the 'pen once again, finishing with 44 saves in 46 chances, a 1.76 ERA and a ridiculous WHIP of 0.90. Rivera- who was 39 during the season- seems to be like a fine wine; he just continues to get better and better with age.
Overall, the Yankees rotation definitely held their own amongst all of the teams in MLB, as they tied for 11th in ERA (4.26), finished 17th in runs allowed (753), 13th in walks (574), fourth in strikeouts (1,260) and fifth in "batting average against" (.251). While they weren't in the same category of pitching excellence as the Giants and Dodgers, they were still better than most teams in MLB.
Final Grade: A-
Wild Card: Homegrown Talent
Yeah, that's right, I said it. The Yankees have much more homegrown talent than most people realize. These weren't just marginal players either who contributed very little to the team's success. These were major players, guys who made a difference to the team this year, who, without them, the Yankees would not have achieved the level of success they earned this year. Here is a list of the major contributors on the Yankees in 2009 who came out of their farm system at some point:
Derek Jeter
Andy Pettitte
Jorge Posada
Mariano Rivera
Robinson Cano
Phil Coke
Phil Hughes
Joba Chamberlain
Brett Gardner
Melky Cabrera
David Robertson
Alfredo Aceves
By my count, that is twelve people, which is damn near half of their team. I might have still left out some people, but those were the guys who came to mind for me. While the Yankees do spend a lot of money (the last team to have a higher opening day payroll than them was the 1998 Baltimore Orioles), they also have a great eye for finding talent as well. The only difference is that they have the money to lock them up once contract time comes. You can rip the Yankees all you want for spending big bucks for free agents, but don't accuse them of not being able to develop their own talent, because clearly, they have.
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
Don't let the Phillies' acquisition of Roy Halladay fool you, the Yankees are still the team to beat coming into 2010. They are the best team in baseball right now.
Final Grade: A+
Well everybody, that will do it for our "Report Cards" series. I would like to thank each and every one of you that decided to take time out of your day to come on to my little website to read about baseball! We had the opportunity to learn about the some of the best and worst baseball had to offer in 2009, and some of the surprising stars and unsung heroes of many teams as well. With that, I bring the "009 Report Cards"series to a close. Make sure to stay posted for updates on the White Sox and MLB right here on "Miracle on 35th Street!"
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