2009 New York Yankees season

2009 New York Yankees
File:NY Yankees Logo.png
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York, New York
Owners	Hal Steinbrenner
Managers	Joe Girardi
Television	YES Network WWOR-TV
Radio	New York Yankees Radio Network
Seasons

The 2009 New York Yankees season is the 109th season for the New York Yankees franchise. The Yankees opened their new Yankee Stadium on April 3, 2009, when they hosted an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs. The new stadium hosted its first regular-season game on April 16, when the Yankees played the Cleveland Indians.

Offseason

Passing of control

George Steinbrenner stepped down as the main decision maker for the team on November 20, as Major League Baseball's owners approved passing control of the Bronx Bombers to his youngest son, 39-year-old Hal Steinbrenner. The patriarch of the Yankees success over three and a half decades since buying the team from CBS in 1973 has been in failing health, and has been reducing his role in the ownership the last several seasons. Despite his limited role, he will still remain as a team chairman with his two sons.

Offseason departures

After the Yankees failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, General Manager Brian Cashman made clear that there would be offseason changes. Mike Mussina retired from baseball on November 20, 2008. Infielder Wilson Betemit was traded to the Chicago White Sox in a trade for Nick Swisher on November 13, 2008. The Yankees declined options on first baseman Jason Giambi and starting pitcher Carl Pavano. Giambi went on to sign a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics on January 1, 2009, and Pavano signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians on January 6, 2009. Right fielder Bobby Abreu signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and catcher Ivan Rodriguez signed a one-year pact with the Houston Astros. From those departures, the Yankees shed nearly $89 million from their payroll, enabling them to spend money to fix their team. Furthermore, the Yankees non-tendered the contracts of Chris Britton and Justin Christian, allowing them to become free agents; Britton signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres and Christian signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles.

Offseason acquisitions

The Yankees began retooling the team, when they traded for first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox for infielder Wilson Betemit, relief prospect Jhonny Nunez and starting pitching prospect Jeff Marquez.

On December 18, 2008, the Yankees announced the signings of starting pitchers CC Sabathia to a 7-year deal worth $161 million and A. J. Burnett to a 5-year deal worth $82.5 million. On January 6, 2009, the Yankees signed first baseman Mark Teixeira to a 8-year deal worth $180 million. The signings of Sabathia, Teixeira and Burnett filled the Yankees' biggest needs: starting pitching and first base.

On December 22, the Yankees re-signed Chien-Ming Wang to a 1-year deal worth $5 million, avoiding salary arbitration; they would later reach deals with Brian Bruney, Melky Cabrera, and Xavier Nady.

On January 26, the Yankees re-signed Andy Pettitte to a 1-year deal worth $5.5 million dollar contract with performance-based incentives.

The Yankees signed starting pitcher Sergio Mitre to a split (minor/major league) contract, and signed former major leaguers such as Justin Leone, Angel Berroa, Doug Bernier, Jason Johnson, Kevin Cash, John Rodriguez, and Todd Linden; they also acquired catcher Chris Stewart from the White Sox for a player-to-be-named later.

In addition, to prevent them from becoming eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, they placed starting pitchers Wilkins De La Rosa, Chris Garcia, and Mike Dunn, as well as relief pitcher Anthony Claggett on the 40 man roster.

As of March 2009, the Yankees are shopping centerfield Melky Cabrera on the trading block.

Coaching changes

Third base coach and former player Bobby Meacham did not get his contract renewed and special pitching instructor Rich Monteleone was fired as well. Former major leaguer Mick Kelleher was hired as the new first-base coach, with Tony Pena moving to bench coach, and Rob Thomson moving to third-base coach.

Linked players

In terms of other transactions, the Yankees were linked with several other upper-tier free agents such as Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, and Ben Sheets, and trade targets such as Mike Cameron and Rick Ankiel. But as of February 4, 2009, GM Brian Cashman stated that the team is finished with its major free agent spending for this offseason.

Controversies

In early 2009, before Spring Training, third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids while playing for the Texas Rangers during the 2001 through 2003 seasons.

Former manager Joe Torre, managing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, published a book called The Yankee Years about his time in New York that criticized Steinbrenner, Cashman, and Rodriguez.

Preseason

In March, Alex Rodriguez was diagnosed a hip injury and will undergo surgery, sidelining him for 6 to 9 weeks. The Yankees announced that journeyman Cody Ransom would start the season as the third baseman; the back-up field spot has been narrowed down to Ramiro Pena or Angel Berroa.

Regular season

April

On April 18, the Indians score 14 runs in the top of the 2nd inning en route to a 22 – 4 Yankee loss. . The 14-run inning set a record for the most runs scored in an inning by an opponent against the Yankees. One day later, Jorge Posada hit a ball that barely cleared the outfield fance and was caught by a fan, thwarting an attempt by an Indians outfielder. After reviewing replays, the fly ball was indeed ruled a home run. The Yankees would take a 4–3 lead that they would not relinquish.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	103	59	0.636	—	57–24	46–35
Boston Red Sox	95	67	0.586	8	56–25	39–42
Tampa Bay Rays	84	78	0.519	19	52–29	32–49
Toronto Blue Jays	75	87	0.463	28	44–37	31–50
Baltimore Orioles	64	98	0.395	39	39–42	25–56

Record vs. opponents

Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	LAA	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Baltimore	–	2–16	5–4	2–5	3–5	4–4	2–8	3–2	5–13	1–5	4–5	8–10	5–5	9–9	11–7
Boston	16–2	–	4–4	7–2	6–1	5–3	4–5	4–2	9–9	5–5	2–4	9–9	2–7	11–7	11–7
Chicago	4–5	4−4	–	10–8	9–9	9–9	5–4	6−12	3–4	4–5	4–5	6–2	2–4	1–6	12–6
Cleveland	5–2	2–7	8–10	–	4–14	10–8	2–4	8–10	3–5	2–5	6–4	5–3	1–8	4–4	5–13
Detroit	5–3	1–6	9–9	14–4	–	9–9	5–4	7–12	1–5	5–4	5–4	5–2	7–2	3–5	10–8
Kansas City	4–4	3–5	9–9	8–10	9–9	–	1–9	6–12	2–4	2–6	5–4	1–9	3–3	4–3	8–10
Los Angeles	8–2	5–4	4–5	4–2	4–5	9–1	–	6–4	5–5	12–7	10–9	4–2	8–11	4–4	14–4
Minnesota	2–3	2–4	12–6	10–8	12–7	12–6	4–6	–	0–7	4–6	5–5	3–3	6–4	3–5	12–6
New York	13–5	9–9	4–3	5–3	5–1	4–2	5–5	7–0	–	7–2	6–4	11–7	5–4	12–6	10–8
Oakland	5–1	5–5	5–4	5–2	4–5	6–2	7–12	6–4	2–7	–	5–14	6–4	11–8	3–6	5–13
Seattle	5–4	4–2	5–4	4–6	4–5	4–5	9–10	5–5	4–6	14–5	–	5–3	8–11	3–4	11–7
Tampa Bay	10–8	9–9	2–6	3–5	2–5	9–1	2–4	3–3	7–11	4–6	3–5	–	3–6	14–4	13–5
Texas	5–5	7–2	4–2	8–1	2–7	3–3	11–8	4–6	4–5	8–11	11–8	6–3	–	5–5	9–9
Toronto	9–9	7–11	6–1	4–4	5–3	3–4	4–4	5–3	6–12	6–3	4–3	4–14	5–5	–	7–11

• Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2009

Game log

Legend
Yankees Win	Yankees Loss	Game Postponed

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG	SB
Angel Berroa	4	8	2	2	0	0	0	0	.301	0
Melky Cabrera	19	45	11	14	0	0	5	12	.311	1
Robinson Cano	21	89	17	33	5	0	8	27	.371	1
Johnny Damon	19	74	14	22	2	1	12	30	.328	3
Brett Gardner	20	59	9	13	3	0	2	9	.306	5
Derek Jeter	21	90	14	25	4	0	5	21	.346	4
Hideki Matsui	18	61	8	18	5	1	5	14	.295	0
Jose Molina	11	29	2	8	0	0	1	5	.276	0
Xavier Nady	7	28	4	8	4	0	0	2	.286	0
Ramiro Pena	15	22	1	5	0	0	0	1	.227	0
Jorge Posada	19	65	6	18	5	0	5	16	.277	0
Cody Ransom	15	50	4	9	5	1	0	6	.180	1
Nick Swisher	21	75	19	23	8	1	10	29	.307	0
Mark Teixeira	18	66	10	13	2	0	11	21	.197	0
Totals	21	761	121	211	43	4	32	112	.277	16

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	R	ER	BB	K
Jonathan Albaladejo	1	1	8.18	9	0	0	11.0	10	10	4	5
Brian Bruney	2	0	3.38	9	0	0	8.0	3	3	2	12
A.J. Burnett	3	1	5.47	4	4	0	24.2	15	15	12	20
Joba Chamberlain	3	1	3.13	4	4	0	23.0	11	8	13	17
Anthony Claggett	0	0	43.20	1	0	0	1.2	8	8	2	2
Phil Coke	3	3	4.15	10	0	0	8.2	7	4	4	7
Phil Hughes	2	2	0.00	1	1	0	6.0	0	0	2	6
Damaso Marte	0	1	5.19	7	0	0	5.1	9	9	3	6
Andy Pettitte	4	1	2.52	4	4	0	27.1	10	9	6	16
Edwar Ramirez	0	0	6.48	7	0	0	8.1	7	6	8	8
Mariano Rivera	1	1	3.12	9	0	4	8.2	3	3	0	11
David Robertson	0	0	3.86	2	0	0	2.1	1	1	1	4
CC Sabathia	4	3	4.07	5	5	0	32.1	18	17	14	19
Nick Swisher	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	1.0	0	0	1	1
Jose Veras	1	1	5.73	9	0	0	11.0	7	7	6	10
Chien-Ming Wang	0	3	34.50	3	3	0	6.0	23	23	6	2
Totals	24	18	5.88	21	21	4	188.1	132	123	85	148