Thursday, September 19, 2019

Yankees Clinch 1st AL East Title Since 2012

The New York Yankees have defeated the Los Angeles Angels 9-1 to win their first AL East title since 2012. The Yankees have made the post-season thrice since by way of an AL Wild Card berth in 2015, 2017 & 2018 when winning 100 games wasn't good enough to win the division. This year 100 wins was exactly enough.

What is remarkable about this team is that they dominated without the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Luis Severino and Dellin Betances. Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez also missed significant portions of the season. They instead found unexpected solace in the likes of D.J. LeMahieu, Gio Urshela, Mike Tauchman and Mike Ford. After battling with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees took over top spot for good on June 15th and never looked back.

The question now is whether the Yankees can earn the best record in the AL to get home field advantage in the post-season. As of this writing, the Yankees are a half game behind the Houston Astros in that quest.

Given the sheer number of injuries, Aaron Boone must be strongly considered for AL Manager of the Year. Although I think he'd prefer the franchise's 28th World Series title.

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