Evaluating the Yankees Chances for Major AL Awards in 2016

The New York Yankees feature several legitimate contenders for the major American League awards in 2016. Here’s a look at their chances of taking home the hardware:

The New York Yankees have not had much luck with the major American League awards in recent years. Their last MVP was Alex Rodriguez in 2007, their last Cy Young Roger Clemens in 2001, and last ROY Derek Jeter all the way back in 1996. Chances are they aren’t going to end any of those droughts this year, but they do have a few players who will get consideration.

Most Valuable Player

It should come as no surprise to anyone who watched this team all year that they have no strong contenders for this category. One guy who is sure to get at least one down-ballot vote though is rookie sensation Gary Sanchez, who single-handedly kept the Yankees in contention until the final games of the season.

Cy Young Award

Masahiro Tanaka looked like the favorite for this award two weeks ago, but missing his final two starts of the season with a forearm strain more or less removed him from an extremely close race.

Tanaka will still get some votes, however, after finishing the year third in the American League in pitching WAR with 5.4 (according to Baseball-Reference), third in ERA with 3.07, fifth in WHIP with 1.077, and third in BB/9 with 1.623. He fell just one-third of an inning short of reaching 200 IP for the first time in his career.

Rookie of the Year

This is easily the Yankees strongest case for a major award, but it’s no sure thing. Finishing the year in a 2-for-29 slump definitely curbed the growth of Gary Sanchez’s support, but he’s helped by the fact that his chief rival, Tigers starter Michael Fulmer also had a weak finish, giving up 10 earned runs in his final 15.1 IP.

Depending on your WAR of choice, Sanchez was either slightly more valuable than Fulmer (3.1 vs. 3.0 by FanGraphs) or not even in the same conversation (3.0 vs. 4.9 by Baseball-Reference). In most seasons, Sanchez’s historic performance would easily land him the award. A good defensive catcher who hit 20 homers over a full season, let alone in 53 games, would usually be good enough to win. The 23-year old just has the misfortune of debuting in the same season as Fulmer.

The Baby Bomber definitely has a shot to take home the honor, but ultimately probably didn’t do enough in the final weeks to win.

Comeback Player of the Year

CC Sabathia is the Yankees player who had the biggest bounce-back, going from one WAR and a 4.73 ERA last year to three WAR and a 3.91 ERA this season. That’s nothing to sneeze at, but Sabathia was far from a star this year, while the front-runners for the award like Ian Desmond, Michael Saunders, Hanley Ramirez, and Rick Porcello were among the best at their positions and also have the advantage of playing on playoff teams, giving them a better narrative arc.

Manager of the Year

Joe Girardi usually gets solid support for this one, but the Yankees disappointing finish removes him from serious consideration. New York outperformed their Pythagorean record by five games, which has been a hallmark of the team under Girardi’s watch.

Mariano Rivera Relief Award

Two Yankees (sort of) finished the year tied as the most valuable relievers in the American League according to FanGraphs WAR with 2.9. While Andrew Miller was dealt to Cleveland at the deadline, New York should receive half-credit for the honor if he ends up winning. Even with his rough finish to the season, Betances finished the year tied with Miller and amazingly ahead of Baltimore’s Zach Britton. His 15.5 K/9 is absolutely insane, but his mediocre 3.08 ERA probably takes him out of the running.

Gold Gloves

Chase Headley has been quietly excellent at the hot corner, but probably can’t compete with superstars Manny Machado and Adrian Beltre. For whatever reason, the metrics don’t love Didi Gregorius the same way they did last year, so he probably won’t get the nerd vote. Mark Teixeira was still great with the glove, but didn’t play nearly enough. Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury just can’t hang with the young guys anymore.

Next: Five Yankees Most Likely to Be Traded this Winter

Silver Sluggers

There is literally zero chance a Yankee wins one of these after their miserable offensive performance this year. I guess Sanchez comes closest?

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