Timeline - 2010s
2010: A 28th World Series title proved to be elusive for the Yankees in 2010, a season marked by the loss of iconic principal owner George M. Steinbrenner III, longtime public-address announcer Bob Sheppard and former manager/catcher Ralph Houk. Fueled by a breakout season from Robinson Cano, who placed third in the American League MVP race, the Yankees won 95 games and grabbed the AL Wild Card spot, entering the playoffs for the 15th time in 16 years. A first-round matchup with the Twins again proved fortuitous for the Yankees, who coasted to a three-game sweep, extending their string of consecutive postseason wins over Minnesota to nine. The Texas Rangers were too strong to subdue in the AL Championship Series, however, riding the bat of ALCS MVP Josh Hamilton and the left arm of ace Cliff Lee to a decisive six-game series win over the Bronx Bombers. Not lost in the disappointment of the Yankees' postseason demise was another regular season featuring a collection of standout performances by a number of stars, including Alex Rodriguez, who became the youngest player in Major League history to hit 600 home runs when he went deep off the Blue Jays' Shaun Marcum on Aug. 4. The 2010 season was the 13th in a row in which Rodriguez recorded at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. On the mound, closer Mariano Rivera again defied logic by posting a 1.80 ERA and recording 33 saves at the age of 40. Ace CC Sabathia became a 20-game winner for the first time and struck out 197 batters for the second time in as many seasons, helping make up for the disappointing seasons posted by A.J. Burnett (5.26 ERA) and Javier Vazquez (5.32 ERA). Despite losing out on star free agents Lee and Carl Crawford after the season, the Yankees worked out a two-year contract with Rivera and fought through a somewhat tense negotiating period to re-sign captain Derek Jeter to a three-year deal.
2011: The Yankees completed the regular season with an American League-best 97 victories, but their season ended abruptly with a first-round playoff exit, suffering a five-game defeat to the Detroit Tigers. The campaign was made memorable by several individual milestones, including Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit on July 9, a home run off the Tampa Bay Rays' David Price. Mariano Rivera set the new Major League record for career saves with his 602nd on Sept. 19 against the Minnesota Twins, and on Aug. 25, the Yankees became the first team in history to hit three grand slams in a game as Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson went deep. New York overcame a rash of injuries to several key players, including Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, to secure their 16th postseason appearance in the last 17 years, helped greatly by MVP-caliber campaigns from Cano and Granderson. They led the Majors with 222 home runs, finished second with 867 runs scored and, behind ace CC Sabathia, enjoyed a breakout 16-win season from rookie Ivan Nova. Veteran starters Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia made resurgent showings after making the team in Spring Training, and New York's relievers combined for an AL-best 3.12 ERA, with David Robertson (1.08 ERA) performing exceptionally well in a setup role.
2012: The Yankees clinched the American League East for the 13th time in the last 17 seasons, riding a 95-win campaign to defeat the Orioles in a five-game AL Division Series before being swept by the Tigers in the AL Championship Series. CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Phil Hughes each topped the 15-win mark, while New York led the Majors with 245 home runs, paced by Curtis Granderson's 43. Derek Jeter led the Majors with 216 hits, Robinson Cano hit a career-high 33 homers and Rafael Soriano secured 42 saves in place of Mariano Rivera, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in May.
2013: The Yankees missed the playoffs for just the second time in the last 19 years, finishing third in the American League East with an 85-77 record, their 21st consecutive winning season. Preparing for the retirements of 'Core Four' members Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, the club used a franchise-record 56 players, 28 of whom made their Yankees debuts. Rivera recorded 44 saves while fellow All-Star Robinson Cano led the team with a .314 average, 27 homers and 107 RBIs, securing his fourth consecutive Silver Slugger Award. Despite injuries to numerous stars, the Yankees were in first place as late as May 26 and remained in the postseason chase until mid-September. The club was sparked by the acquisition of Alfonso Soriano, who led the Majors with 17 homers and 50 RBIs from July 26 through the end of the season. That power was welcome as the Yankees had 75 games without hitting a home run, having just 31 such games in 2012. New York had a .988 fielding percentage, including turning a triple play on April 12 vs. Baltimore. Joe Girardi won his 557th game as Yankees manager on Sept. 11, surpassing Billy Martin for sixth place on the club's all-time list. Ichiro Suzuki logged his 4,000th career hit between the Majors and Japan on Aug. 21 vs. Toronto.
2014: The Yankees posted 84 wins and finished second in the American League East, posting their 22nd straight winning record but missing the playoffs for just the third time in the last 20 seasons. Derek Jeter played his 20th and final big league season, representing the club as an All-Star along with Masahiro Tanaka and Dellin Betances, the latter of whom finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting and recorded 135 strikeouts to shatter Mariano Rivera's 1996 club mark for a reliever. Tanaka led the Yankees in wins (13) and complete games (3) despite losing two months to injury. David Robertson converted 39 of 44 save opportunities after taking over Rivera's old role. Tino Martinez, Rich "Goose" Gossage, Paul O'Neill and Joe Torre were all honored in Monument Park, with Torre's No. 6 retired. Jacoby Ellsbury posted a 17-game hitting streak from May 26-June 13, the team's longest since Jeter had a 19-game mark in 2012. New York turned the 24th triple play in franchise history on April 17 at Tampa Bay (Yangervis Solarte to Brian Roberts to Scott Sizemore), and Brett Gardner hit the 15,000th home run in franchise history on Sept. 21. Racked by injuries, the Yankees called on the services of 58 different players, setting a franchise record.
2015: The Yankees returned to postseason play, falling to the Astros in the Wild Card game after an 87-win campaign that saw them finish second in the American League East. New York became the first AL club to reach 10,000 victories on Oct. 1, a win that clinched a playoff berth. Yankees batters returned to power, scoring 764 runs and hitting 212 homers, their highest totals in both categories since 2012. Silver Slugger Award winner Brian McCann led the club in RBIs (94), while Yankees relievers set a new single-season Major League record with 596 strikeouts, paced by Dellin Betances (131) and Andrew Miller (100). Alex Rodriguez enjoyed a solid season after being suspended for all of 2014, recording his 3,000th career hit on June 19 with a home run off the Tigers' Justin Verlander, one of 33 on the season. Mark Teixeira hit 31 homers before his season was cut short by injury, while the Yankees enjoyed encouraging big league debuts from rookies Greg Bird and Luis Severino. The Yankees retired the uniform numbers of Bernie Williams (51), Jorge Posada (20) and Andy Pettitte (46), while unveiling Monument Park plaques for Willie Randolph and Mel Stottlemyre.
2016: With an 84-78 record, the Yankees posted their 24th consecutive season with a winning record (1993-2016), the second-longest stretch in Major League history behind only the Yankees' own streak of 39 winning seasons from 1926-64. After digging an early hole with a 9-17 April, the Yanks fought until June 10 to get over the .500 mark and were prompted to make a hard pivot in late July, dealing veterans like Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran in an attempt to replenish the farm system. That created room for promising talent like power-hitting catcher Gary Sanchez, who tied an 86-year-old record set by Wally Berger of the 1930 Braves by reaching 20 home runs in his 51st career game. The only other Yankees to ever hit 20 home runs between Aug. 10 and the end of any season were Babe Ruth (1927) and Roger Maris (1961). Though the Yankees missed the playoffs for the third time in four years, finishing fourth in the American League East, they posted a 48-33 (.593) mark at home and were 40-34 after the All-Star break. Beltran was the team's best hitter before being traded to the Rangers, Didi Gregorius continued to develop into one of the club's best all-around players, and newcomer Starlin Castro adapted nicely to second base. Chase Headley recovered from a brutal start, hitting with consistency after the sixth week of the season. Alex Rodriguez hit just nine homers before playing his final game on Aug. 12, leaving him with 696 for his career, fourth all-time. Rookies Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge made history on Aug. 13, becoming the first players ever to homer back-to-back in their first at-bats. Mark Teixeira became the fifth switch-hitter in history to reach 400 home runs, finishing his career with 409. Masahiro Tanaka filled the ace role, logging a career-high 14 victories while working 199 2/3 innings. CC Sabathia had a resurgent campaign, posting his lowest ERA (3.91) since 2012 while improving his expanded repertoire. Michael Pineda had a baffling season, striking out a career-high 207 in 175 2/3 innings while finishing 6-12 with a 4.82 ERA. The vaunted relief trio of Chapman, Miller and Betances - christened "No Runs DMC" - was as good as advertised; the Yanks were 19-2 when all three pitched, combining for a 1.36 ERA and 13.70 strikeouts per nine innings in those games. Betances led Major League relievers in strikeouts (126) for the third consecutive season, helping Yankees pitchers set a franchise record with 1,393 strikeouts.
2017: The Yankees returned to postseason play for the 53rd time in franchise history, posting 91 regular season victories to secure the first American League Wild Card before defeating the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card game at Yankee Stadium.
Recovering from a 0-2 deficit in the AL Division Series, the Yankees rallied for three straight wins against the Cleveland Indians and advanced to the AL Championship Series against the Houston Astros, where they fell in seven games to the eventual World Series champions. The Yankees won all seven of their home playoff games, coming off a regular season in which they won an AL-best 51 games at home.
The emergence of "The Baby Bombers" helped the Yankees exceed expectations in what was forecast by many to be a rebuilding year, paced by Aaron Judge, who was unanimously selected as the AL's Rookie of the Year and finished second in the AL MVP race to the Astros' Jose Altuve. Judge belted an AL-leading 52 homers, shattering Mark McGwire's record (49) for the most ever by a rookie.
Judge, Dellin Betances, Starlin Castro, Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino were all selected as AL All-Stars, and Judge won the T-Mobile Home Run Derby by cracking 47 homers in 76 swings across three rounds on July 10 in Miami. Judge and Sanchez combined for 85 homers, with Sanchez's 33 round-trippers surpassing franchise records for catchers shared by Yogi Berra and Jorge Posada (30).
Severino compiled the best season by a homegrown starter since Ron Guidry, winning 14 games with a 2.98 ERA while finishing fourth in the Majors with 230 strikeouts. With Severino (23), Judge (25) and Sanchez (24), the Yankees were just the third team ever to have a 200-strikeout pitcher and two players with 30 or more homers, all under age 25.
Other notable performances included Didi Gregorius, who hit a career-high 25 homers and surpassed Derek Jeter's 1999 club mark for the most by a shortstop, and Brett Gardner, who hit 21 homers and stole 23 bases to notch the first 20-20 season by a Yankee since Curtis Granderson in 2011.
Despite finishing one win shy of the World Series, manager Joe Girardi was not offered a new contract, with Aaron Boone hired in December as the 33rd skipper in franchise history. Later that month, the Yankees traded for Marlins superstar outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, marking the first time that a reigning MVP was traded since Alex Rodriguez moved from the Rangers to the Yankees in February 2004.
2018: With rookie manager Aaron Boone piloting the club to a 100-62 record, the Yankees enjoyed their best regular season performance since 2009, securing a Wild Card. Advancing past the Athletics while in the AL Wild Card Game, the Yankees were ousted by the Red Sox in a four-game Division Series.
A lineup that slugged 267 homers, surpassing the 1997 Mariners (264 homers) for the most in Major League history, was bolstered by the acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton. The reigning NL MVP slugged 38 homers and drove in 100 runs, pacing the roster in both categories. Aaron Judge enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign despite missed 7 1/2 weeks with a right wrist injury, impacting the second-half performance of a club that won 50 of its first 77 games and was 62-33 prior to the All-Star break.
Rookies Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres began the year in the Minors but developed into integral infield pieces, finishing second and third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, respectively. Luis Severino opened the year as a legitimate Cy Young candidate before regressing in the second half, finishing with a team-leading 19 victories. Aroldis Chapman, Judge, Severino and Torres all represented the club as All-Stars.
The Yankees were the first team ever to have 12 players hit at least 10 home runs, while their pitchers recorded 1,634 strikeouts, the second-highest total in Major League history.
2019: The Yankees secured their first American League East title in seven years, finishing the regular season with a 103-59 record that marked their best showing since 2009. With Aaron Boone becoming the first big league manager to win at least 100 games in each of his first two seasons, the Bombers swept the Twins in the AL Division Series before falling to the Astros in a six-game AL Championship Series.
Two rallying cries defined the season: "Next Man Up," as the Yankees overcame a Major League record 30 players landing on the injured list (39 stints), and "Savages in the Box," pulled from Boone's July 19 tirade against a young home plate umpire. New York led the Majors with 943 runs scored and cracked 306 home runs, one fewer than the Twins. A Major League record 14 players hit at least 10 home runs and the club established a big league mark by homering in 31 straight games from May 26-June 30.
Five Yankees were selected as AL All-Stars: Aroldis Chapman, DJ LeMahieu, Gary Sánchez, Gleyber Torres and Masahiro Tanaka. LeMahieu's .327 batting average ranked second in the AL, while his 197 hits were third. Torres' 38 homers were sixth in the AL, while Chapman's 37 saves ranked second in the AL. The club joined the Red Sox in late June to participate in the inaugural London Series, marking the first Major League games played outside of North America.