As Matt pointed out in a previous post, the Yankees opened the season 13-15 without Alex Rodriguez. Once he returned to action, they went 90-44. So was he the engine that powered their lineup? Does that make him their regular season MVP?
Well, on the last day of June (roughly two months into A-Rod's return), the Yankees had just won their 6th game in a row, had improved their mark to 44-32 overall and had won 31 of their 48 games since getting A-Rod back (a .646 winning percentage). At the time, the game's highest paid player was hitting .233 with 12 homeruns and 39 RBI in 159 at bats. True, his on-base percentage was very good (.399) but in the month of June, he slugged a very pedestrian .415. During those same two months, Derek Jeter's on base percentage was virtually identical but he hit 80 points higher with just 2 fewer extra base hits, plus 13 steals. Meanwhile, Mark Teixeira's May and June numbers look like this: .300 average, 17 homeruns, 19 doubles, 50 RBI, .391 OBP in 210 ABs. And let's not forget about C.C. Sabathia's 6-2 record and BAA of just over .200 during that time period, either. Perhaps the return of #13 helped settle everybody down.
That gets us close to the All-Star break. But let's not forget- the Yankees were still trailing the Red Sox by 3 games headed into homerun derby. They officially took the lead in the AL East July 21 and at the end of the month, they only had a game and a half advantage. It wasn't until August that they really pulled away. So who were the best Yankees then?
Well, A-Rod did hit .315 with 8 XBH, 12 RBI and 18 walks in August- a very good month. But Derek Jeter hit .377 with 12 XBH, 17 RBI and a higher OPS than Alex. Mark Teixeira was also very good...26 RBI, 32 runs scored (both best of the 3) and an OPS of .914. Oh, by the way, C.C. Sabathia went 5-0 in his 6 starts with a 2.64 ERA and a WHIP below 1.00.
Entering September, the Yanks just about had it locked up. They had a 6.5 game lead with 32 remaining. A-Rod had another good month (.337/5/23 with a .958 OPS) but so did Jeter (.450 OBP, 7 steals), so did Tex (.343/7/20 with a 1.081 OPS), and so did C.C. (4-0, 1.29 ERA, WHIP below 1.00).
And just for fun- against the Red Sox this season, Teixeira's OPS was 104 points higher than A-Rod's (1.123 vs. 1.027), plus Sabathia went 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA and .172 BAA.
So while it's most definitely accurate to say the Yankees clicked once they got A-Rod back, I'm not sure if that makes him the team's 2009 MVP, given what the guys around him did, too. My vote goes to Teixeira.
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