The subject of today’s newsletter is the 2009 New York Yankees, who are No. 16 in the Best 50, my list of the greatest ballclubs in history. The rankings come from my new book, Baseball’s Best (and Worst) Teams.
Here’s a quick boilerplate explanation that I’m appending to every story in this series:
I compiled the Best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major-league teams from 1903 to 2024. Those clubs have been ranked by their team scores (TS), which are plotted on a 100-point scale. (A given club’s all-time percentile is the percentage of the other 2,543 teams that it outperformed.)
See my book for an explanation of my TS calculations. The book also offers separate breakdowns of the best and worst clubs for every decade and franchise, comprehensive profiles of the Best 50 (including position-by-position lineups and much more information than you’ll find in this newsletter), and similar summaries of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now on to today’s profile.
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Team: 2009 New York Yankees
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Team score: 88.768 points
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All-time rank: 16 of 2,544
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All-time percentile: 99.41%
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Season record: 103-59 (.636)
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Season position: First place in American League East
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Final status: World champion
The Yankees sputtered in 2008, Joe Girardi’s first season as their manager. They dropped to third place in the American League East, their worst finish since 1992. A reporter suggested that another flop in 2009 would probably cost Girardi his job. “I don’t necessarily think about those things,” the manager replied warily, “but, as you state the question, you’re probably right.”
New York’s front office scrambled to forestall such a disaster. It tapped into the franchise’s prodigious treasury, investing $441 million in free agents. The bulk went to first baseman Mark Teixeira and pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.
The transfusion of talent had no immediate effect. The Yanks stumbled to a 15-17 mark over the first five weeks, falling 6.5 games behind division-leading Toronto. Then they abruptly reversed course, roaring to an 88-42 record thereafter. Teixeira’s 39 home runs and Sabathia’s 19 victories powered the club to a divisional title. “They’ve basically had the years we knew that they were capable of having,” Girardi said gratefully.
Get the complete lowdown on the 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
The Yankees advanced to the final level of the playoffs with relative ease. They swept the Twins in the American League Division Series, then subdued the Angels in a six-game AL Championship Series. The combined score for the first two rounds: Yankees 48, Opponents 25.
The World Series opened with an ominous 6-1 loss to Philadelphia, but New York rallied nicely with three consecutive wins. The Yanks locked up the title with a 7-3 victory in Game Six.
Andy Pettitte, a 37-year-old pitcher, was no longer the club’s ace, a distinction held by CC Sabathia. Yet Pettitte stepped up in the postseason, winning the decisive game in all three series. “For years and years, Andy has been the guy,” closer Mariano Rivera said after Pettitte’s World Series triumph. “Today, he showed it one more time.”
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The 2009 world championship was the fifth secured by the Yankees since 1996. Only four players — the so-called Core Four — stuck around for the entire 14-season streak.
Shortstop Derek Jeter, who had been a 22-year-old rookie in 1996, was now the third-oldest player in New York’s everyday lineup at 35. His .334 batting average ranked third in the American League. Catcher Jorge Posada chipped in with a solid .285 at age 38. The Core Four’s other two members worked off the mound. Andy Pettitte (age 37) went 14-8 as a starter, and reliever Mariano Rivera (39) registered 44 saves.
But New York’s driving forces were its younger free agents. First baseman Mark Teixeira, who topped the league in home runs (39) and runs batted in (122), had anticipated a lengthy adjustment to his new surroundings. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was going to happen in the first year,” he said. Pitcher CC Sabathia led the majors with 19 wins, mixing sliders and sinkers with his booming fastball. “He became a power pitcher that learned finesse,” analyst (and former outfielder) Doug Glanville said approvingly.
Third baseman Alex Rodriguez missed the first month of the 2009 season with a torn labrum. He recovered to hit 30 homers — a decent total, albeit his lowest since 1997. But Rodriguez primarily served as a source of controversy in ’09. Sports Illustrated revealed in February that he had privately tested positive for steroids in 2003. “I was young. I was stupid,” he said, though he wasn’t totally contrite. “To be quite honest,” Rodriguez said, “I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”