New York Yankees - The Obama / Trump Years (2010-2019)

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2010

Decade

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2012

2015

2019

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2016

Championships

Top New York Players of the Twenty Teens

2010 - WC Won ALDS(Twins); Lost ALCS (Texas)

2011 - Won Division, Lost ALDS (Detroit)

Pitchers:

2012 - Won Division, Won ALDS (Baltimore), Lost ALCS (Detroit)

CC Sabathia (23.91) - 64

2015 - WC; Lost WC Play-in (Houston)

Masahiro Tanaka (17.51) - 49

2017 - WC, Won WC Play-in (Twins), Won ALDS (Cleve), Lost ALCS (Houston)

Mariano Rivera (8.06) - 31

2018 - WC, Won WC-Play-In (A's), Lost ALDS (Boston)

Aroldis Chapman (5.68) - 30

2019 - Won Division, Won ALDS (Twins) Lost ALCS (Houston)

Luis Severino (12.42) - 25

Hiroki Kuroda (11.24) - 25

BallPark:

Phil Hughes (2.52) - 21

Yankee Stadium

Ivan Nova (7.49) - 19

David Robertson (12.35) - 18

Team Name:

Dellin Betances (11.61) - 15

Yankees

Andrew Miller (4.72) - 14

Michael Pineda (6.39) - 14

Owner:

Rafael Soriano (2.94) - 11

Steinbrenner Brothers

Andy Pettitte (6.96) - 11

Nathan Eovaldi (3.81) - 11

General Managers:

Domingo German (2.18) - 10

Brian Cashman (2010-2019)

James Paxton (2.42) - 8

A.J. Burnett (0.72) - 7

Managers:

Adam Warren (7.55) - 6

Joe Girardi (2010-2017)

Sonny Gray (1.64) - 5

Aaron Boone (2018-2019)

Jordan Montgomery (3.42 - 4

JA Happ (3.45) - 6

Hall of Famers:

Chad Green (5.63) - 3

Ichiro Suzuki

Zack Britton (2.84) - 2

CC Sabathia

Mariano Rivera

Catchers:

Derek Jeter

Gary Sanchez (11.31) - 30

Alex Rodriguez (Pending)

Brian McCann (5.33) - 25

Russell Martin (4.21) - 12

Rookie of the Year:

Jorge Posada (0.92) - 8

Aaron Judge (2017)

Austin Romine (0.07) - 7

Francisco Cervelli (3.63) - 3

MVP:

None

First Basemen:

Mark Teixeira (15.19) - 42

No Hitters:

Luke Voit (2.69) - 10

None

Second Basemen:

Cy Young

Robinson Cano (30.13) - 49

None

DJ LeMahieu (5.88) - 12

Starlin Castro (3.3) - 9

Notable Events:

ShortStop:

2010 - Not a good decade for New York. For the first decade in a hundred

Didi Gregorius (13.57) - 43

years, the Yankees don't make it to the World Series, let alone win one.

Derek Jeter (4.86) - 23

The decade started out strong as the residual effects of the 2009 spending

Gleyber Torres (5.88) - 18

spree kept the Yanks at or near the top of the Division for the next three

years. After that it was five years of mediocrity, at best, missing the post

Third Base:

season three times and barely squeaking in as a Wild Card twice.

Alex Rodriguez (12.43) - 28

The organization finally got its act together in 2018 and the Yanks topped

Chase Headley (7.46) - 14

100 wins in both '18 and '19 altho' they were unable to reach the World

Gio Urshela (3.9) - 9

Series. The decade was very reminiscent of the 1980's where the Yanks

Miguel Andujar (2.45) - 6

had a lot of total wins for the decade but rarely were a serious contender.

Outfield:

2010 - New York deals three youngsters LHP Mike Dunn, 25, RHP Arodys

Brett Gardner (38.09) - 87

Vizcaino, 19, and CF Melky Cabrera, 24, for RHP Javier Vazquez. 33.

Jacoby Ellsbury (9.83) - 39

Ironically, this is the second time the Yankees deal three youngsters

Aaron Judge (18.68) - 37

for Vazquez, the first time was in 2004.

Curtis Granderson (15.03) - 35

And for the second time, it doesn't work out as Vazquez fails again.

Nick Swisher (10) - 28

Aaron Hicks (9.52) - 24

2010 - The Yankees pick up CF Curtis Granderson, 29, from the Tigers in

Carlos Beltran (2.4) - 17

exchange for two more youngsters, RHP Ian Kennedy, 24, and

Giancarlo Stanton (4.39) - 11

CF Austin Jackson, 23. It's déjà vu all over again as now Cashman,

Ichiro Suzuki (2.82) - 10

instead of George, that's emptying out the farm system for the

Andrew McCutchen (0.76) - 2

stopgap veteran du jour.

2010 - the Yankees come into the Twenty Teens decade on a high.

Notable Events:

They had just won the World Series in '09.

The team is loaded with veteran star callibre talent:

2015 - SS Didi Gregorius, 25, is obtained from Arizona for Shane Greene.

□ C - Jorge Posada, 38, pre-Cashman core four

This deal is a steal.

□ 1B Mark Teixeira, 30, high priced free agent 2009

You have to wonder what the Diamondbacks were thinking on this one as

□ 2B Robinson Cano, 27, IFA 2001

Gregorius oozes talent.

□ SS Derek Jeter, 36, pre-Cashman core four

□ 3B Alex Rodriguez, 34, trade for Alfonso Soriano in 2004

2015 - Closer Andrew Miller, 30, is signed as a FA from Baltimore. Nice signing

□ CF Brett Gardner, 26, 3rd round pick 2005

□ OF Nick Swisher, 29, trade from Chicago in 2009 for 3 suspects

2015 - C Gary Sanchez, 22, debuts. He was an IFA in 2009

□ LHP CC Sabathia, 29, high priced free agent 2009

The Yankees would do well to move Sanchez to another position before it's too late.

□ LHP Andy Pettitte, 38, pre-Cashman core four

He is too good a hitter to have his career cut short due to catcher's disease -

□ RHP AJ Burnett, 33, high priced free agent 2009

heavy legs from constant squatting.

□ Closer Mariano Rivera, 40, pre-Cashman core four

And, besides, he's not a good catcher.

□ RHP Javier Vazquez, 33, trade with Braves 2010

□ CF Curtis Granderson, 29, trade with Tigers 2010

2015 - RHP Luis Severino, 21, debuts. He was signed as an IFA in 2011

Note that even tho' a lot of these guys are old, they can still play

at the highest level.

2015 - 1B Greg Bird, 22, debuts. He was a 5th round pick in the 2011 draft

There are also several talented youngsters on the 2010 roster:

□ RHP - Phil Hughes, 24, 1st round pick in 2004 draft

2015 - The Yanks are a Wild Card, but get beaten in the Wild Card Play-in

□ RHP - Joba Chamberlain, 24, 1st round pick in 2006 draft

game by Houston

□ Closer - David Robertson, 25, 17th round pick in 2006 draft.

□ Closer - Mark Melancon, 24, 9th round pick in 2006 draft

2016 - 2B Starlin Castro, 26, is picked up in a deal with the Cubs for Adam Warren.

Another steal of a deal altho' the Yanks dump Castro the following year.

2010 - OF Lance Berkman, 34, is obtained from the Astros for

Mark Melancon, 24, at the trade deadline.

2016 - OF Aaron Judge, 24, debuts, he was a first round pick in 2013

Bad deal as Berkman is a dud, while the young Melancon turns into a stud.

2016 - Closer Aroldis Chapman, 28, is obtained in a trade from the Reds for four

2010 - New York makes the playoffs as a Wild Card and beats the Twins

non-prospects. He is later traded to the Cubs at the 2016 trade deadline

before losing to Texas in the ALCS.

for Gleyber Torres and Adam Warren and then re-signed after the season by the

Interestingly, altho' the club dropped eight games in the standings

Yankees as a free agent in 2017. Nice maneuvering.

from '09 to '10, their run differential was almost identical both seasons.

Plus Warren is back so they essentially got Castro in the earlier deal for nothing.

The Yanks scored 162 runs more than they gave up in '09 and 166 in '10,

The difference can be attributed to Mariano Rivera dropping from 44 to 33

2016 - Closer Andrew Miller is traded to Cleveland for four prospects at the trade

saves altho' the rest of his stats were almost identical. His save opportunites

deadline including two former first round picks: stud outfielder Clint Frazier, 21

went down from 46 to 38 which means that altho' the team's run differentials

and stud lefty Justus Sheffield, 20.

were virtually identical, there were eight less games for Mariano to save,

for what it's worth.

2016 - A-Rod is put out to stud during the season.

Mercifully, his Yankee career (and ordeal) is finally over.

2011 - C Russell Martin, 28, is signed as a free agent from LA

2016 - New York finishes fourth with an 84-78 mark.

2011 - A lot of new faces on the mound:

□ RHP Ivan Nova, 24, IFA in 2004, debuted in 2010, goes 16-4 in 2011

2017 - OF Matt Holliday, 37, is signed as a FA. He still has some gas left in the tank

□ RHP - Bartolo Colon, 38, FA signed from Chicago,

who knew he was still just a youngster?

2017 - LHP Jordan Montgomery, 24, is a rookie. He was a 4th round pick in 2014

□ RHP - Freddie Garcia, 34, FA signed from Chicago

□ Closer - Rafael Soriano, 31, signed as a FA from Tampa,

2017 - 3B Miguel Andujar, 22, debuts. He was signed as an IFA in 2011

he makes it clear he doesn't consider himself to be a setup man

□ Reliever - Dellin Betances, 23, he was a nice pick in the

2017 - The Yankees pick up ace righty Sonny Gray, 27, from the A's at the

8th round of the 2006 draft

trade deadline for three players.

2011 - The Yanks win the Division but lose to Detroit in the ALDS.

2017 - New York finally starts putting it together, making the wild card and taking

New York has a far better run differential in '11 as they outscore the

eventual WS Champs Houston to game seven of the ALCS.

opposition by a whopping 210 runs and improve in the standings by 6 games.

The organization is loaded with young talent. It looks like, after twenty years in the

It's an old club but, by and large, the old guys are still producing at a

job, that Cashman has finally figured out how to do it properly. He's been making

high level. The core four plus one, however, is beginning to disintegrate.

some excellent trades lately and the farm system is one of the best in baseball.

□ Rivera is still rolling along

□ Posada is replaced behind the plate by Russell Martin

it's the "even a broken clock is right twice a day" theory with Cashman.

□ Pettitte prematurely retires

Time will tell, so to speak.

□ A-Rod misses a third of the season with a knee injury

□ Jeter continues a roller coaster ride that started in 2010 of slumping,

2018 - New York acquires super star slugger Giancarlo Stanton, 28, in a deal

adjusting his swing and then hitting well afterwards.

with the free falling Marlins.

2B Starlin Casto and two youngsters go the other way in an extremely one sided

2012 - New York adds a bunch more really old veterans:

deal. Miami had tried to deal Stanton to the Cards and the Giants earlier, but

□ Ichiro Suzuki, 38, no longer a superstar, but can still play

Stanton vetoed the deals. Two ex Yankee superstars are running the Miami club

□ Andruw Jones, 35 going on 45

in President Derek Jeter and manager Don Mattingly and there were howls of

□ Eric Chavez, 34, still shows flashes of his great talent thru the injuries

protest about how lopsided the deal was, but it was legit.

□ Raul Ibanez, 40, was getting better with age

□ Hiroki Kuroda, 37, was getting better with age

2018 - In a questionable move, Cashman fires manager Joe Girardi.

Note that Kuroda turns into the ace of the staff.

Girardi had consistently year in and year out had his teams outperform their

This is reminiscent of the Eighties where they Yanks are now desperately

talent level in New York including 2017. Unclear why you would want to get rid

plugging in second and third tier veterans trying to keep afloat.

of one of the few managers who is a real difference maker.

These kinds of guys can only take you so far, however.

At the end of the day, the Yankees were now talented enough where they

could succeed without Girardi, so the firing was moot.

2012 - The Yanks win the Division but lose to Detroit in the ALCS this time

2018 - The Yanks win 100 games and make the Wild Card.

2012 - A lot of intrigue with the core four plus one:

They beat the A's in the wild card play-in, but then get beaten in four games

□ Posada retires but isn't happy about it

by the Red Sox in the ALDS. The Red Sox series exposed weaknesses

□ Rivera tears his ACL shagging flies in early May and is out for the season.

in an otherwise juggernaut team. New York bludgeoned the opposition

For most guys over forty, this would be the end of the line.

scoring 851 runs behind OF Aaron Judge, DH Giancarlo Stanton,

Mariano wasn't most guys.

3B Miguel Andujar, IF Gleyber Torres, SS Didi Gregorius and OF Aaron Hicks.

□ Pettitte un-retires, comes back, breaks his leg getting hit with a ground

The Bombers slugged a record 267 home runs. But they were home run or nothing.

ball, and, similarly to Rivera, bounces back to pitch effectively at an

The lineup is unbalanced righthanded, which is particularly eggregious because their

advanced age when most guys that age wouldn't be able to do it

home games are in lefty friendly Yankee Stadium, altho' that is mitigated somewhat

□ A-Rod breaks his hand getting hit by a Felix Hernandez pitch and

by the fact that some of these righties' popups to right field land in the seats.

misses a bunch of games

Hicks, Gregorius, Gardner and Bird are the only lefties which makes the Yankees

□ Jeter keeps rolling along despite dubious reports about his supposedly

vulnerable to even mediocre right handed pitching.

declining fielding and he leads MLB in hits. The stats about Jeter's bad

There are several very bad defensive players among the starters:

fielding came from a statistician working for the Red Sox. Talk about bias!

C Gary Sanchez, 1B Greg Bird, and 3B Miguel Andujar.

Not only that, Boston would have killed to have Derek on their squad

A fast team with guys with good bat control like the Red Sox was able to expose

as their shortstop, bad fielding stats or no.

the defensive weakness.

The Yankees lineup had one way of winning, the home run. When that was taken

2013 -The Yankees fall back a notch and stay there.

away, the Yankees had no plan B.

They no longer have the talent to contend.

Bat control, speed, the ability to put the ball in play were all weapons for the Sox,

They had been doing it with a bunch of really old guys with the core

not for the Yankees. New York was overmatched.

four plus one producing at a high level way past their expected shelf life

On the mound, the Yanks had a great bullpen, but they didn't have the lights

to help keep the Yankee ship afloat. There just wasn't any young talent

out starter you need in the post season.

coming up to replenish the squad.

And frugality prevailed regarding the free agent market.

2019 - New York tops 100 wins for the second year in a row. Their 21st 100 win

The Yanks had been bringing in free agents, but they were really old and,

season and the fifth time they've done it twice in a row:

therefore, not very expensive. There was no interest by the Steinbrenners

□ 2002-2004 (three in a row)

in bringing in high priced FA's. With an awful farm system, where was the

□ 1977-78

high quality talent going to come from if not free agency?

□ 1941-42

□ 1936-37

2013 - The core four plus one:

□ 1927-28

□ Posada stays retired

This 100 win season was one of their most impressive because New York was

□ Pettitte retires, this time for good.

besieged with injuries and yet kept on winning as second and third stringers

□ A-Rod, his body clearly breaking down, has hip surgery and misses

stepped in and did the job. Unfortunately, the Yankees post season woes

most of the season. The roids use was taking it's toll. Yankee management

continued as they were unable to match the front line pitching of their opponents.

would use this to try to void the remainder of A-Rod's contract.

While the Yankees have great organizational talent and depth both at the plate

□ Jeter broke his ankle in the 2012 post season and spends most of '13

and on the mound, they continue to lack top of the line aces on the mound and

on the DL due to a hairline fracture in that same ankle as well as

balance in their offense. Also, several of their big hitters are liabilities in the field.

suffering quadriceps and calf strains compensating for the pain.

That being said, it wouldn't shock anyone to see the Yankees win a World

□ Mariano retires after the season after saving 44 games to a 2.11 ERA

Series with this club.

after coming back from the ACL at age 43. Remarkable.

2019 - The Yanks don't make it to a World Series, let alone win one, for the

2013 - As an aside, the Yankees team up with soccer power Manchester

first time in a hundred years. For a team with New York's resources and

City to found the new New York City FC soccer franchise.

the fact that they are the most iconic team in the world on it's most iconic stage,

This is only significant because Manchester City's management knows

the decade cannot be considered anything but a failure.

that there's virtually no upper limit to what you should spend to keep

Not only that, but for a four year run in the middle of the decade,

your team on top and loaded with stars when you have a team that is a

they were a mediocre, barely over .500 club. A disaster if you're a Yankee.

big name brand in your sport.

Ironically, Yankee management continues to remain ignorant of this fact

even with a living example camped on their doorstep as they continue to

step over dollars to save nickels with their obsession about staying out

of the baseball luxury tax zone.

2014 - Now in unmistakable decline, New York decides that it will spend a

fortune on free agents. The problem is that they're doing it in desperation.

Timing is everything. If you're going to spend big, the game needs to come

to you. i.e. When a high quality talent becomes available, pounce. With

the Yankees, they got desperate and then threw a lot of money at whatever

was around. The Yankees got lucky in 2009, the last time they decided to

spend. A couple of high quality guys like Sabbathia and Teixeira were

around back then. There was nothing of their quality around this time.

2014 - The one high quality superstar that was available, ironically, was

the Yankees' own Robinson Cano, 31, who they don't hold onto and

let him leave as a free agent to Seattle. This was an extremely foolish move.

It's one thing to BS the world. What you don't want to do is believe your

own BS. That's what the Yankees did with Cano. Yankee management

had been blaming A-Rod's contract for all of their woes. 100% BS.

Now, they were BS-ing themselves into not signing Cano because it

would turn into another A-Rod contract. They should be so lucky, A-Rod

kept them in the playoffs for years. Ironically, Cano is exactly the piece

that will be most glaringly missed for the rest of the decade. A high quality,

lefty hitter with power. The Yankees are never able to fill this gap once

they let Cano slip thru their fingers and are vulnerable to any mediocre

righthander other teams throw at them, especially at Yankee Stadium.

Dumb on dumb.

2014 - The new free agents:

At the end of the day, these guys don't move the needle much despite the

cost. Losing Cano more than offset any gains and the Yankees remain

a team struggling to stay above .500.

□ CF - Jacoby Ellsbury, 30, spent a fortune on a redundant player.

Hadn't anyone noticed that Bret Gardner was still on the team?

Ellsbury turns out to be a dud, but even if he wasn't, this signing was

pure lunacy.

□ C - Brian McCann, 30, the Yankees needed to do more of this type of

signing. McCann was worthy.

□ OF - Carlos Beltran, 37, ten years earlier, this would have been a great

signing. Carlos still has a lively bat, but is limited as a DH only

□ RHP - Masahiro Tanaka, 25, good signing.

Becomes a solid member of the rotation altho' not the ace that the Yanks

had hoped for. Even with this signing, Yankee management just couldn't

seem to get out of their own way. They instigated major league baseball to

change the bidding process for Japanese free agents and it turns out that

the original bidding process would have been much cheaper for them.

Even when they won, they lost.

2014 - Core four plus one

□ Derek retires after the season. He bats .256 at age forty

□ A-Rod is suspended for the year for drug use.

A bogus suspension by Commissioner Bud Selig who appears to be

doing this purely to do the Steinbrenners a favor by saving them a year of

A-Rod's salary. It certainly wasn't any moral stance by Selig, who deliberately

ignored steroid use in baseball for years when it was "juicing up" interest in

the sport in the late Nineties and early Naughts.