New York Yankees: The 2010s in review (2010-2014)

2011 

Record: 97-65, 1st in the AL East

Key Acquisitions: Russell Martin, Andruw Jones, Rafael Soriano

Key Departures: Andy Pettitte, Dave Eiland

The Yankees cleaned out much of the clutter that was on their 2010 roster and looked to right the ship.

The team looked up at Boston for much of the first half of the season but stayed within reaching distance. Derek Jeter was struggling throughout much of the first half of the season and even had a stint on the 15-day disabled list. However, on July 9, he hit his 3,000th career hit, a home run, against the Rays’ David Price.

Jeter heated up in the second half and ended up batting .297. Another personal accolade occurred in September when closer Mariano Rivera notched up his 602nd career save to become baseball’s all-time saves leader. The Yankees took control of the division in the second half and never looked back, winning by six games over Tampa Bay.

They entered the postseason as the top seed and would face the Detroit Tigers. They took the first game pretty easily but dropped the next two. With their backs to the wall in Game 4, A.J. Burnett pitched brilliantly and the Yankees thumped the Tigers 10-1, to send the series back to New York. However, it all ended abruptly there, as the Yankees failed to get the big hits with RISP and ended up losing 3-2 in both the game and series.

Analysis: 2011 ended in enormous disappointment for the Yankees. The Tigers were good and deserved to win the series, but the Yankees just could not come through when it mattered most. The only Yankee who shined in the playoffs was veteran Jorge Posada, who hit well over .400 in the series. This series would end up being his final games as Major Leaguer as he officially retired during the offseason on January 24th.