The Full 408: New York Yankees’ 2015 Season Wrap-Up

This season has been a very streaky one to say the least for the New York Yankees. While many thought they’d win 80 games at the most, they did manage to go above expectation again despite the usual New York turmoil. The Yanks finished with an 87-75 record (and probably could’ve gotten over 90 without the resting of players the last weeks). Overall what matters is that they are in the playoffs, and whether they make it to the ALDS against the Royals, a lot of things were found out this season. A lot of things went wrong, injuries (as always) hurt this team, and they still stuck through. They stuck through to the end despite going against a historic refurbished team in the Blue Jays. There’s so many things to go over about this season, and I’m about to do that on the final 2015 edition of The Full 408.

The Good

Track: With injuries comes replacements, and with injuries to those replacements brings the last source of players, the rookies. This year (just as the last two years) the Yankees used more players than any other team in the MLB. As I’ve said all year, you never want injuries to happen, but you know it’s part of the game and you see who can play in your second and third lines. This year the Yankees learned a lot about their top rookies this season and it should excite all fans moving forward. The top four prospects were Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo, and Greg Bird. Judge wasn’t quite there yet, but expect to see him at some time next season as he is in Triple-A level now. Mateo still very young, still has a long way to go, but he will gain more attention as he moves through the levels next year as well. That leaves Severino and Bird, the Yankees’ future ace, and their heavy hitting first baseman to take over Mark Teixeira‘s place when his career is done. It’s safe to say each of the two performed to expectation and beyond. Severino posted a 5-3 record with a 2.89 ERA, with that came 56 strikeouts in 62.1 innings. The record would’ve been something more to look at if the Yankees run support wasn’t non-existent for Severino’s first three starts as well. As for Greg Bird he gave the Yankees 11 homers and 31 RBIs, his BA was .261. Bird replaced Teixeira in the best possible way, and the season could’ve went even more south if Bird wasn’t ready for the task. What the two do in the playoffs (should the Yankees make it to Kansas City) is to be determined, but one thing’s for sure, they will be full-time Yankees next season.
Wall: The biggest story surrounding the Yankees, and one of the biggest stories of the MLB this off-season was Alex Rodriguez of course. Alex was coming back from his year long suspension and for Yankees fans his fate would lay in how he played. It turns out he’d be the Yankees most important player along side Mark Teixeira. Alex led the team in home runs (33), OBP (.356), OPS (.842), and walks (84). Many thought he wouldn’t be able to hit an elite major league fastball, and his eye would be to his disadvantage. Every premonition the critics had went in the complete opposite way. He is in no doubt the AL Comeback Player of the Year, and the only way he doesn’t win it will be from the hate others have for him. Whether you like him or not, the fact is that Alex Rodriguez has done something this year nearly no one else could think of doing. Also with the 30+ homers, the possibility of him reach the home run record is still in tact depending on how much longer he goes.
See Ya!: Brian Cashman hasn’t been the fan-favorite in years past, and still isn’t. However, this off-season he went in a totally different direction, one that the Yankees need badly. 2015 was the season of youth in free agency. Aside from Andrew Miller, the Yankees added what will be the start of the future in New York. Nathan Eovaldi and Didi Gregorius leading this list of off-season additions have seemed to both pan out. Though Eovaldi was injured the last month of the season it seems he was getting control over his arsenal and could really take himself to the next level this off-season coming up. As for Didi, well I’d say he’s in pretty good condition after having the weight of New York on his shoulders the first couple months of the season. Didi turned his season around and started fielding and hitting like the Yankees knew he could. It’ll be exciting to see these two take their games further as I think both can call New York their home for many years to come. Another key addition this off-season was Justin Wilson as the Yankees traded Francisco Cervelli to Pittsburgh in return. The trade has worked out perfectly for both teams as Cervelli easily had what it took to be a starting catcher (and the Yankees are stocked on catchers for the next 15 years), and Wilson has became the second top bullpen pitcher behind Dellin Betances. I hope this is the direction the Yankees continue to go in because in all honesty I’m tired of dealing with injuries and players going cold at the end of the year. Young talent is dominating the MLB and for once the Yanks have some of it, let’s keep it going.

The Ugly

The Yankees had a streaky season, and though it was mostly a positive season, there are many reasons why it seemed like a different team almost each week.

First off, the Yankees lineup is mostly set for the next couple of years with all the huge contracts on it. Brett Garder, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Alex, Chase Headley, the list goes on and on. Jacoby, Gardner, and Didi are really the only contact hitters in the lineup. The situation at second base is up for grabs it seems at this point, but Stephen Drew has seemingly lost it. Aside from those three, what do they all have in common? Home run hitting. The Yankees desperately need more contact hitters if they don’t want to die-out by the time the playoffs come, aka what happened this year. I constantly compared this team to the 2013 New York Knicks this season as the Knicks were basically non-existent once they faced a real defense and couldn’t get the three pointers off and lost from having no inside game. In this situation the home runs stopped when good pitching was present and they had no contact hitting to rely on as a back-up. Looking back at the trade deadline Ben Zobrist was basically a gift for the taking and exactly what the Yankees needed. However the years of trading prospects away came back to bite them in the backside as it was clear Cashman wasn’t looking to give any up. What happens in the Wild Card game remains to be seen, and should they make it past the Astros and face the Royals, well you’ll see it come into play. Cashman was clearly trying to take pages from the Royals this off-season and build youth, defense, and a bullpen. However, the one thing he couldn’t do because of outstanding contracts was build hitters who could hit anywhere in the park. Didi was a start, and Dustin Ackley has emerged as someone who can do that here and there, but in the playoffs it’s going to be hard to rely on a player like Ackley. Yes, Jacoby and Gardner are there, but they haven’t been the same this second half. Whether Ells’ is stilk struggling with injuries or not will be brought to light after the playoffs. All that aside, the bottom line is the Yankees need contact hitters. Relying on the oldest lineup in the league to continue hitting power like they have this year isn’t going to end well. Being that Cashman doesn’t want to give much up in trades, where’s the best place to add this? Free Agency, and I’m expecting another huge off-season for this team because the time to win is now.
At the start of the year everything seemed fine with the Yankees bullpen, and it was. However, due to injuries and let-downs, here the Yankees are in October with a tired and worn-out bullpen. Joe Girardi had glaring mistakes with managing the bullpen, but he also didn’t have a lot of guys to trust and getting five to six innings from starting pitchers didn’t help either. On one hand you can make a point that Girardi could be manager of the year once again getting all he could out of an injury-ridden lineup, and then again fans are already wanting him out of New York. Realistically Girardi had a terrible month of September, but in no way do I think he should be driven out of New York given the circumstances he had to work with. It all seems easy from the TV, but no one really understands how hard it is to work with a team that has it’s whole lineup under huge contracts, old players, an unreliable bench, and only a select few to trust in the bullpen. I may be more forgiving than most of New York right now, and depending on what happens in the Wild Card game, no one will agree with me (which is something I’m used to). The possibility of the Yankees sitting Brett Gardner and Brian McCann in the most important game of the year is very realistic, just think about that and how hard it makes Girardi’s job. It tells the story of this season and the years before this.

Batter of the Year

The Yankees have three players who could get this title, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Carlos Beltran. Yes, Teixeira was out the last part of the season, but he was the key to the success they had up until then and was also right up there for Comeback Player of the Year with Alex. Alex Rodriguez was right there for top batter with Teix but he dropped significantly the last two months of the season. Carlos Beltran seemed to get hotter as the season went on, and when Teix’ was out and Alex was slipping, Beltran was the reason the Yankees were still even in contention for the AL East for as long as they were. For that reason I’m going to go with Carlos Beltran as the Yankees’ Batter of the Year. Beltran finished with a .276 BA, 67 RBIs, 34 doubles, and 19 RBIs. Alex could have this title but I’m taking the drop off and time of it into consideration. Beltran got lots of needed rest during the season to keep him going and it seems to be the formula for him next year again.

Pitcher of the Year

This isn’t a very easy decision, and being that almost everyone struggled at some point this year doesn’t help. I mean, honestly how could I not go with Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller collectively though? What the Yankees had to ask of them this year was unbelievable at times. Miller deserved every amount of that contract this year as he only blew two saves. He’d end up with 36, and could’ve led the league if not for the injury. He had 100 strikeouts in 61.2 innings and had a .86 WHIP. For Dellin he had 131 strikeouts in 84 innings and did get nine saves when Miller was out. Cashman knew what he was doing when making this bullpen up and next year expect a new bigger name to be there as well.

What’s Next?

What’s Next? Well, the Yankees are going to take on Dallas Keuchel in the Wild Card game as cold as they could be and hope for the best. There’s some things they have going for them. One is Keuchel is going off of three days rest, the only time he’s done that before is in college. The next thing is it’s in New York and he is noticeably a different pitcher on the road. However, with how this team has been playing anything can go terribly wrong, or switch around and they’ll be on their way to Kansas City.

In terms of the off-season: The Yankees need help in every possible aspect of the game. New starting pitching, better help in the bullpen, and small-ball hitters on the bench. There will be a lot of players available in free-agency this season and the Yankees need to take advantage of it.

Also the situation at second base needs to be figured out after this season, no exceptions. Out of the group (Stephen Drew, Rob Refsnyder, Brendan Ryan, Dustin Ackley, and Jose Pirela) two must go. Drew is obviously the one wanted to go most, Brendan Ryan is a wild card in the situation with Ackley being a multi-position guy. It seems as if the Yankees want him back at second though. Jose Pirela shows promise just as Refsnyder does, it seems every time Pirela is sent back down he dominates Triple-A and who know what will happen with Refsnyder at this point. He’s definitely shown he’s worth keeping around the Bronx at times this last month.

I’m also interested to see what happens with Chris Young. The Yankees have an older, injury-prone outfield, and whoever is the fourth guy out there will get significant playing time. Do the Yankees still trust Young or will they look to add someone even better to back up Gardner, Ellsbury, and Beltran.

Are you happy with how this season turned out overall? What would you fix and what are you looking for in the off-season? For the last time this season, see you next time on The Full 408, and GO YANKEES!