With the 2016 New York Yankees’ season officially at a close, it’s time to hand out some awards to the best of the best.
It’s been a pretty interesting season for the New York Yankees, to say the least.
It started dreary as New York would get off to a depressing 9-17 start and sit in mediocracy for the entire first half en route to a 52-52 record entering the deadline.
At the end of that day (Aug, 1), two of their best relievers in Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller along with their best hitter in Carlos Beltran were off the roster and sent to teams expecting to contend.
With that, the farm system was stocked with seven prospects in MLB.com’s Top-100 List and 2016 became an opportunity to check out what the kids had to offer.
Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin, and more Baby Bombers earned promotions as the rebuilding youth movement was officially underway in the Bronx.
Shockingly, the rebuilding Yankees entered the fourth-to-last game of the year still in contention for a Wild Card spot thanks to the infusion of youth.
The postseason will exclude New York for the third time in four years, but it was a terrific season for many reasons. This slideshow will award those who performed to an exceptional degree this season.
Without further adieu, here are your New York Yankees award winners for the 2016 regular season.
Comeback Player Of The Year: CC Sabathia
Who else should earn this award other than CC Sabathia?
A year ago, the veteran southpaw maintained a 4.73 ERA across 29 starts, surrendered an opponent’s slash line of .285/.338/.458 with, and gave up a jaw-dropping 28 home runs.
Exceeding those struggles, however, his gloomy season concluded with a trip to an alcoholic rehab center.
So, he entered 2016 facing severe adversity with not only a disease that has concurred millions of Americans, but also needing to learn how to be successful with a diminished arsenal.
Somehow, he smashed that affliction with his best season since 2012.
Capped off by an outing on Thursday night in which the 36-year-old overpowered the dominant Red Sox offense over 7.1 innings, Sabathia became one of 20 AL starters with 160 innings under their belt along with a sub-4.00 ERA.
Additionally, he gave up six fewer home runs despite tossing 12.1 more innings and had the highest strikeout per nine rate (7.6) since last All-Star campaign back in 2012.
Sabathia’s overall record (9-12) would have been greatly improved if he didn’t receive the fifth-worst run support in the American League, according to ESPN.
However, his AL-leading 24% soft contact rate proves that the misfortune of getting over his lack of velocity has been overcome.
No, this is not the Cy Young award-winning Sabathia we’re used to seeing, but a reliable veteran workhorse who has turned his career around could still be valuable in more ways than one.
Best Fielder: Third Baseman Chase Headley
Chase Headley was not only the best fielder on the team but one of the best fielding third baseman in baseball.
The 2012 gold glove award winner lead the team with 7.2 defensive runs saved above average, made the fewest errors among infielders with at least 1,000 innings, and owned the highest Ultimate Zone Rating.
Headley’s defensive runs saved above average also ranked inside the top-10 among all major league third basemen.
What’s even more impressive, however, is the improvement from his 2015 campaign in which he ranked 125th in MLB in the same category, according to FanGraphs.
Defensive Play Of The Year: Brett Gardner, 9/7/16
While Brett Garnder’s catch in Anaheim is a close second to this award, this game-sealing catch against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 7 takes it.
After Dellin Betances surrendered three runs to cut New York’s lead down to one (7-6) with the bases loaded and just one out, the Blue Jays seemed as though they were about to bury any hope fans had left.
Manager Joe Girardi removed his closer from the contest, he got a strikeout from Blake Parker and then the catch heard all around baseball, courtesy of Brett Gardner, sealed the deal.
In what looked like a Justin Smoak go-ahead grand slam off the bat, Gardner used up every inch of the ballpark to race back and snowcone a Yankees’ victory.
Moment Of The Year: Austin And Judge Go Back-To-Back, 8/13/16
The day Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge went back-to-back in their major league debuts is a day all fans should back on and appreciate.
After all, the feat of two rookies in their debut to hit home runs in their first at-bat in back-to-back fashion has never been done before in the history of baseball.
More importantly than making history, however, the two home runs — which came the night after the farewell to Alex Rodriguez took place — marked the start of the Baby Bombers takeover in the Bronx.
Best Pitcher: Masahiro Tanaka
In Masahiro Tanaka’s third season in New York, he became the epitome of an ace.
The 27-year old finished his season 14-4 with an earned run average of 3.07, good enough for third-best among qualified American League starters.
What’s even more impressive was the fact that the Yankees were 23-8 when they sent the right-hander to the hill. Plus, in nine starts since Aug. 7, Tanaka was 7-0 with a 2.28 ERA while opponents batting a mere .223 off him.
Tanaka may fall short in winning the AL Cy Young award, but he was everything the Bombers needed throughout the 2016 season.
Team Rookie And Team MVP: Gary Sanchez
The fact that Sanchez only played in 52 games simply doesn’t matter. This 23-year old backstop was one of the only reasons why the Yankees made it to the last week of the regular season in contention.
Overall, Sanchez slashed .295/.357/.625 with 20 home runs and an OPS of .982 during his rookie campaign. On the way, he became the fastest player (45 games) to reach the 18 home run mark on September 21.
Sanchez’s overall performance doesn’t earn him the award, though. What makes him deserving was how he sparked the rebuilding (and .500) Yankees into a postseason contender throughout the month of August.
In 24 games that month, he slashed .389/.458/.832 with 11 home runs and maintained a 1.184 OPS when New York went 20-12 from Aug. 3-Sept. 10.
As a personal plus, he took home the AL Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month honors.
A very (and I mean very) close second is Masahiro Tanaka. However, the Yankees were mediocre when he was anchoring the staff prior to Sanchez’s call up. That promotion sparked the Yankees’ team to continue their stretch of .500 seasons, which has reached 23 years.
Tanaka was tremendous, but Sanchez’s value exceeds how peculiar his sample size is.
What do you think, fans? Was this list of award winners accurate? Is there anything you’d change? Make your voice be heard in the comments below.
Christian Kouroupakis covers the New York Yankees for ESNY. Interact with him and view his daily work by “liking” his facebook page and follow him on Twitter. All statistics are courtesy of Baseball Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Don’t hesitate to shoot him an email with any questions, criticisms, or concerns.