The 2016 New York Yankees season was the 114th season for the New York Yankees. Throughout the season, the Yankees wore a #8 patch on their left sleeve in memory of Hall of Famer Yogi Berra who died in September 2015.[2] It was the final season for Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. For the third time in four years, the Yankees failed to make the playoffs, finishing in fourth place in the American League East with an 84–78 record. The 2016 season was notable in that it marked the first time since 1989 that the Yankees were sellers at the trade deadline, dealing away valuable pieces to gain minor league prospects for the future.[3] Rookie catcher Gary Sánchez made headlines by hitting 20 home runs in his first 53 games, representing the Yankees youth movement known as the "Baby Bombers". This was the last time the Yankees would miss the playoffs until 2023.
On November 2, it was announced that Alan Cockrell who was hired as the assistant the season before; will assume the role as hitting coach, with Marcus Thames as his assistant.[5]
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
Aaron Hicks threw a record breaking throw from the outfield to the infield on April 20.
After the Yankees opening day was rained out, the Yankees played it a day later on April 5, losing 3–5 to the Houston Astros.[14] The Yankees would go on to win their opening series two games to one against Houston. The next series, the Yankees went to Detroit to face the Detroit Tigers, taking one game and losing one game before having the final game postponed for an eventual make-up. The Yankees would go on to lose their next three series against the Blue Jays, Mariners, and the Oakland Athletics (a series in which they were swept). The Yankees would take two games in a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at home. They finished April poorly with four game losing streak against the Texas Rangers and rival Red Sox. The Yankees finished April with a record of 8–14.
On April 12, Starlin Castro recorded his 1000th career hit.[15] On April 20, Aaron Hicks recorded the fastest recorded throw tracked by Statcast in a 2–5 loss to Oakland, throwing out runner Danny Valencia at home plate. The throw was recorded at 105.5 miles per hour (169.8 km/h).[16] On April 22, Jacoby Ellsbury recorded a straight steal of home, the first such occurrence for the Yankees since Derek Jeter did so against the Baltimore Orioles on May 5, 2001.[17] The next day, Brett Gardner hit a walk-off home run against the Rays.[18]
May
May saw a better overall month for the Yankees. The month opened with a loss to the Red Sox and a losing series against the Baltimore Orioles as the Yankees' reached the lowest point of their season at 9–17, eight games below .500. After that, the Yankees won three straight home series against Boston, the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox. Then, they travelled to the west coast for interleague play, dropping two of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks, including the first game in the series, which was the major league debut for starting pitcher Chad Green, then sweeping a four-game series against the Athletics to end the road trip at 21–22.
The Yankees crawled back to .500 (22-22) by winning the first game in the series against Toronto. However, they would lose five of the next seven games against the Blue Jays and the Rays to end the month of May at 24–27. The Yankees finished May with a record of 16–13.
On May 9, closer Aroldis Chapman made his Yankees debut, pitching one inning and allowing one earned run on two hits.[19] The vaunted bullpen trio of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Chapman became known in the media as "No-Runs DMC", a nod to the Queens hip-hop group Run–D.M.C.[20] On May 16, Carlos Beltrán recorded his 400th career home run.[21] On May 29, the Yankees beat the Rays 2–1 with only one hit, a Starlin Castro 2-run home run, the first time the Yankees won with only hit since 1914.[22]
June
June saw similar results to May, as the Yankees finished with one less win for the month than they achieved in May. The Yankees swept the Angels in a four-game home series and took three of four from a road series with the Twins; however, struggles against the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers killed the Yankees' momentum. The Yankees finished June with an impressive home record of 10–6, which was neutralized by an ineffective 5–6 record on the road. The Yankees went 15–12 in the month of June.
On June 17, Alex Rodriguez achieved his 3100th hit. On June 22, Starlin Castro hit a walk-off homer against the Rockies.
July
The Yankees finished July with 13 wins and 13 losses. The Yankees sent three players to the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game: Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran. Mark Teixeira recorded his 400th career home run away against the San Diego Padres on July 3, becoming just the fifth switch hitter to do so in Major League history.[23] Carlos Beltrán recorded his 1500th career run batted in on July 16.
The Yankees became sellers towards the trade deadline, cutting a massive amount of salary shipping away various players. The Yankees dealt closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs in return for shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, minor league outfielders Rashad Crawford and Billy McKinney, as well as right-handed pitcher Adam Warren who previously played for the Yankees the season before.[24] The Yankees traded lefty pitcher Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians for minor league outfielder Clint Frazier, minor league left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield, and minor league right-handed pitchers J. P. Feyereisen and Ben Heller.[25] Pitcher Iván Nova was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for two players to be named later.[26] The Yankees also traded veteran outfielder Carlos Beltrán to the Texas Rangers for pitchers Dillon Tate, Erik Swanson, and Nick Green.[27]
In early August, both Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez announced their retirement from the team. Mark Teixeira announced on August 5 that he would retire following the conclusion of the season.[28] Alex Rodriguez days later announced he would play his final game Friday, August 12, four homers short of 700. Rodriguez would become a titular assistant to the team following his final game.[29] The Yankees acquired Blake Parker in early August as well. The day after Rodriguez's release by the organization, Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge were called up and made their major-league debuts, hitting back-to-back homers in their first big league at-bats. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Austin and Judge became the first teammates to go back-to-back in their first-ever at-bats in MLB history.[30][31] Young Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez became the fastest player to record 11 home runs, accomplishing so in just twenty-three days.[32] The Yankees finished the month of August with a 17–10 record.
September and October
The Yankees started September off on a hot start. After dropping the first two games of the month, they won seven straight games. Afterward, however, they lost 11 of their next 15, including a 3–8 road trip where they were swept in a four-game series versus the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park for the first time since 1990 and losing three of four to the Blue Jays in Toronto. They closed the season with a six-game homestead where they swept the Red Sox (in the second game, Mark Teixeira hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, his last home run of his career, to lift the Yankees to a 5–3 win) and losing two of three to the Orioles. On September 27, Gary Sánchez tied a major league record for the fastest player to reach 20 career home runs when he went deep in only his 51st career game. The Yankees would be eliminated from playoff contention on September 29, after the Orioles defeated the Blue Jays. This makes it the third time in 4 seasons the Yankees would miss the playoffs.
^Adams, Steve (July 31, 2016). "Indians Acquire Andrew Miller". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved August 11, 2016. The Indians have dramatically fortified their bullpen as they look to further pad their lead on the American League Central, announcing on Sunday morning the acquisition of left-hander Andrew Miller from the Yankees in exchange for outfield prospect Clint Frazier, minor league left-hander Justus Sheffield and minor league right-handers Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen.
