I'd like to come up with another intro recapping the ups and downs of the season, but honestly, we all know how it went and we don't need to be reminded of it again. Let's just cut to the chase. After the jump, AB4AR is proud to present its winners of the 2013 seasonal awards.
MVP- Robinson Cano
This doesn't need much of an explanation. Robbie took AB4AR "Player of the Month" honors in 3 of the 6 months and it could have easily been 5. He led or tied for the team lead in every important statistical category except for stolen bases and was responsible for more than half of the Yankees' total position player fWAR (6.0 of 10.3). He's the clear cut best offensive player on the team, one of the best defensive players, and he turned in his 3rd best season in a year where he had little to no support hitting behind him in the lineup. Without Cano, this team wouldn't have even matched its Pythagorean predicted 79 win total let alone beat it. He'll likely have another top 5 AL MVP finish and it's not even a contest when it comes to his own club.
Cy Young- Hiroki Kuroda
Once again he didn't finish particularly strong, but there was no denying Kuroda's status as the rotation's most reliable and consistent starter. He was tops on the staff with 32 starts, second with 201.1 IP, and first or second in ERA (3.31), FIP (3.56), BB rate (5.2%), and fWAR (3.8). There were times when other pitchers were better for short stretches - Nova in August, Andy in September - but no other pitcher comes close to matching Kuroda's overall body of work or his July dominance. He allowed 3 ER or fewer in 24 starts, pitched 6 or more innings 24 times, and tossed 9 scoreless outings, including a 4 out of 5 run in July. In a rotation that was up and down all year, Kuroda was the steadying force and best pitcher.
Rookie of the Year- Adam Warren
With the Yankees' position player rookies combining to produce -0.5fWAR, the contest came down to the 2 rookie pitchers with the most innings. While Preston Claiborne's overall numbers are a little better, he struggled mightily in the season's final month. Warren, after a very poor summer, rebounded to work a 1.93/2.12 ERA/FIP split in 14.0 September IP and nudge himself above Claiborne on my ballot. His ERA was lower (3.39), his FIP, K, and BB rates comparable (as was his low fWAR total), and he pitched 27 more innings than Claiborne in a wider variety of roles. He wasn't quite as good as Phelps in 2012, but Warren followed a similar path of bullpen flexibility and spot starts to make a name for himself and stand out as the team's best rookie.
Coach of the Year- Joe Girardi
On a team that was middle of the pack or worse on offense and on the pitching mound, there was no chance that K-Long or Rothschild were going to get this. Given that that mediocre collection of talent is what he had to work with, Joe is a no-brainer for this one. His team could have easily packed it in multiple times throughout the season when they experienced major injury setbacks and he didn't let them. The A-Rod return could have blown up into just as big a drama headache in the clubhouse as it was in the papers and he didn't let that happen. Joe handled his players and the media expertly this year and showed why he's worth the big raise the Yankees are likely to give him to stay onboard.
Comeback Player of the Year- Mariano Rivera
Greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, coming back from ACL surgery at age 43 and pitching to a 2.11/3.05/3.09 line with 54 K and 9 BB In 64.0 IP in his final season. Duh.
Most Improved- Ivan Nova
It was looking like it could have been the beginning of the end for Nova when he was being quick hooked from starts in April and then ended up on the DL. The Yankees weren't in much of a rush to bring him back to the rotation when he was healthy, but once they did he pitched very well. In 87.1 post-All Star Break IP, Nova posted a 2.78 ERA (3.76 FIP) and showed major improvement to his command and ability to change up his strategy based on whether he had his fastball or curveball working better. He topped things off with a CGSO of the Giants and 7 innings of 2-run ball against the Rays during the Yankees' last playoff gasp.
Most Disappointing- CC Sabathia
The reasons don't matter anymore. The results do and they were not good. CC was the biggest problem in a rotation full of them and post-ASB he was the worst pitcher on the staff (6.08/4.21/4.29 tripleslash). For the first time in his Yankee tenure, CC went from being the solution to the problem, and there's a lot to shore up to fix that problem next season.
Best Acquisition- Alfonso Soriano
It cost Cash a prospect he didn't want to give up, but it's hard to argue that the Yankees didn't get great bang for their buck in that deal. Soriano hit .256/.325/.525 (.366 wOBA) in 243 PA as a Yankee with 17 HR, a number that was at or near the top of MLB from August on. He even played a pretty competent left field and his 1.8 fWAR in less than half a season ended up as the 3rd highest total on the team. There's little chance he repeats that over the course a full year in 2014, but Soriano was the only new player the Yanks brought in over the course of the entire year who made any positive impact.
Worst Acquisition- Kevin Youkilis
$12 million for this guy. Think about how much more could have been done with that money. Instead it got the Yankees 28 games and 118 PA of sub-replacement level production at third base, something that was a common theme until A-Rod came back, and more time spent on the DL. It's not Youkilis' fault he got hurt, but it is the Yankee front office's fault that they put all 12 million of their A-Rod backup plan eggs in that basket and actually expected the outcome to be better than it was.
So there it is. That's it, that's all the fake awards I'm handing out this year. Next Monday kicks off the official start to the 2013 AB4AR "Season Review" series, so start getting amped for that now.
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