The 2009 hit for the NY Yankees

The New York Yankees finished the 2009 regular season with a 103-59 record, the only team in the majors to win more than 100 games. The Yankees also had the best record at home at 57-24: the Yankees almost won as many home games as the Washington Nationals won the entire season, the Nats going 59-103.

The Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball — with a high payroll comes very high expectations. The Yankees had 7 players hit for 20+ home runs and Derek Jeter came close to finishing with 18. Mark Teixeira led the Yankees with 39 home runs (tied for first in the AL), 122 RBIs (first in the AL American) and .565 slugging percentage (3rd in the AL). Those kinds of numbers are surely MVP-worthy.

Derek Jeter was thought to be “washed,” that couldn’t be further from the truth. The King of New York had one of his best seasons to date averaging .334 (3rd in the AL), 107 (tied for 4th in the AL), 30 stolen bases (8th in the AL) and 212 (2nd in the AL). in the AL) Those numbers are MVP-worthy, too. Robinson Canó had an outstanding regular season finishing with 25 home runs, 85 RBIs, just 63 strikeouts in 161 games played, a .320 average and 204 hits (3rd in the AL).

Alex Rodriguez had a very interesting year even before the season started: He admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs in his days as a Texas Ranger and was injured early in the season. Despite all the drama off the field, A-Rod still hit 30 home runs and drove in 100 RBIs, which is considered a low year by his standards.

CC Sabathia signed a big contract with the Yankees and many felt he was overpaid. Sabathia leads the Yankees with 19 wins (tied for first in the AL), 3.37 ERA (fourth in the AL) and 197 (seventh in the AL) – these numbers are worthy of CY Young. All the individual awards will mean nothing if the Yankees don’t win the World Series.