In the midst of the pandemic, we have no choice but to live in the past. What better way than to reflect on some of the best offensive seasons in Yankees history?
It’s always easy to remember where you were for special Yankees moments in recent memory: the 2009 World Series, Didi Gregorius’ Wild Card Game home run, DJ LeMahieu’s game-tying home run that was celebrated for about 15 seconds.
But seldom do we think back on best complete seasons ever.
So here are the five best offensive WAR seasons by the Yankees since 2000.
BRONX, NY – APRIL 7: Alex Rodriguez #13 of the New York Yankees bats against the Baltimore Orioles on April 7, 2007 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. The Yankees won 10-7. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Alex Rodriguez, 2007, 9.5 WAR
A-Rod’s third and final MVP award came in a magical 2007 season.
He was the best player in baseball that year right out of the gate. He hit two walk-off home runs while trailing within the first 14 games. His lowest OPS of the season was .976 – after the third game of the season. It never dipped below 1.022 for the rest of the season. In his first 24 games, he was slashing .371/.432/.887, with 14 home runs and 34 RBI.
Of course, he didn’t keep that pace of 94 home runs and 230 runs batted in. But he did finish the 2007 as baseball’s leader in home runs (54), RBI (156), slugging percentage (.645), OPS (1.067), OPS+ (176), runs scored (143), offensive bWAR (9.5), and bWAR (9.4).
All those stats above are also the best in a single-season by a Yankee since 1961.
A-Rod ran away with that season’s MVP award, earning 28 out of 30 first place votes. The other two votes went to Magglio Ordonez, who led all of baseball with a .363 batting average while belting 28 home runs and driving in 139 runs.
But A-Rod won the award from the start.