2002 New York Yankees season

The 2002 New York Yankees season was the 100th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 103–58 finishing 10.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe Torre. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. 2002 was a transition year for the Yankees, as they soldiered on without Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch, main pieces in the 1990s dynasty. In the playoffs, they lost in the ALDS in 4 games to the Anaheim Angels, marking the 2002 Yankees season a failure as they did not advance to a World Series for the first time since 1997; failing to win their fifth straight pennant; they did not win a World Championship, giving the team a 2-year title drought.

Offseason

December 7, 2001: David Justice was traded by the Yankees to the New York Mets for Robin Ventura.
December 13, 2001: John Vander Wal was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Yankees for Jay Witasick.
December 13, 2001: Jason Giambi, a free agent, signed a 7-year $120-million deal with the Yankees.
January 8, 2002: Luis Sojo was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
January 11, 2002: David Wells was signed as a free agent with the Yankees.
January 17, 2002: Clay Bellinger was released by the Yankees.
January 28, 2002: Ron Coomer was signed as a free agent with the Yankees.
March 27, 2002: Bobby Estalella was released by the Yankees.

Broadcasting changes

Beginning this season, the newly launched YES Network began airing regular season games, taking over from MSG Network, cable rights holder for these games until the 2001 season. The on-air team of Ken Singleton and Jim Kaat was moved from MSG to YES beginning this season, while Michael Kay joined as play-by-play commentator beginning this season in addition to radio duties, and they also added retired right fielder Paul O'Neill and former Yankees pitcher David Cone as color commentators; in addition, the over-the-air Yankees games were moved from Fox owned and operated station WNYW to CBS owned and operated station WCBS-TV; Bobby Murcer remained as a play-by-play announcer for the games on over-the-air television. Also beginning this season, the radio broadcasts of Yankees games moved from WABC-AM to CBS Radio-owned AM station WCBS-AM which was a sibling to TV over-the-air rights holder WCBS-TV.

Regular season

Notable transactions

April 8, 2002: Bill Pulsipher was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
May 23, 2002: Bill Pulsipher was released by the New York Yankees.
July 1, 2002: Raúl Mondesí was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Yankees for Scott Wiggins.
July 5, 2002: Ted Lilly was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the New York Yankees with Jason Arnold and John-Ford Griffin to the Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Athletics sent a player to be named later, Carlos Peña, and Franklyn Germán to the Detroit Tigers. The Detroit Tigers sent Jeff Weaver to the New York Yankees. The Detroit Tigers sent cash to the Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Athletics sent Jeremy Bonderman to the Detroit Tigers to complete the trade.

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Jorge Posada	143	511	137	.268	20	99
1B	Jason Giambi	155	560	176	.314	41	122
2B	Alfonso Soriano	156	696	209	.300	39	102
SS	Derek Jeter	157	644	191	.297	18	75
3B	Robin Ventura	141	465	115	.247	27	93
LF	Rondell White	126	455	109	.240	14	62
CF	Bernie Williams	154	612	204	.333	19	102
RF	Raúl Mondesí	71	270	65	.241	11	43
DH	Nick Johnson	129	378	92	.243	15	58

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Shane Spencer	94	288	71	.247	6	34
John Vander Wal	84	219	57	.260	6	20
Ron Coomer	55	148	39	.264	3	17
Enrique Wilson	60	105	19	.181	2	11
Juan Rivera	28	83	22	.265	1	6
Chris Widger	21	64	19	.297	0	5
Alberto Castillo	15	37	5	.135	0	4
Gerald Williams	33	17	0	.000	0	0
Marcus Thames	7	13	3	.231	1	2
Alex Arias	6	7	0	.000	0	0
Karim García	2	5	1	.200	0	0
Drew Henson	3	1	0	.000	0	0

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games, IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Mussina	33	215.2	18	10	4.05	182
David Wells	31	206.1	19	7	3.75	137
Roger Clemens	29	180.0	13	6	4.35	192
Orlando Hernández	24	146.0	8	5	3.64	113
Andy Pettitte	22	134.2	13	5	3.27	97
Ted Lilly	16	76.2	3	6	3.40	59

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Jeff Weaver	15	78.0	5	3	4.04	57
Mike Thurman	12	33.0	1	0	5.18	23
Adrián Hernández	2	6.0	0	1	12.00	9

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Mariano Rivera	45	1	4	28	2.74	41
Ramiro Mendoza	62	8	4	4	3.44	61
Mike Stanton	79	7	1	6	3.00	44
Steve Karsay	78	6	4	12	3.26	65
Sterling Hitchcock	20	1	2	0	5.49	31
Randy Choate	18	0	0	0	6.04	17
Brandon Knight	7	0	0	0	11.42	7
Jay Tessmer	2	0	0	0	6.75	0

Postseason

ALDS

Anaheim's victory secured their place in the American League Championship Series, where they defeated the Minnesota Twins, and subsequently the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series.
This was the first time since 1997 that the Yankees failed to win the American League pennant and advance to the World Series.

Awards and records

Jason Giambi, Silver Slugger Award
Alfonso Soriano, Most home runs in one season by an American League second baseman

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Norwich, Staten Island