New York Yankees First Half TGP Awards Show

Welcome to the Greedy Pinstripes First Half Awards Show! We have a jammed pack show for you this morning so let's jump right into it as we remember the Yankees best moment of the year, name the team's Comeback Player of the Year Award winner, Rookie of the Year Award winner, Cy Young Award winner and the team's MVP. We may also throw in a "most disappointing" and "biggest surprise" awards just to keep things fresh and interesting so let's get right into it, shall we?

Comeback Player of the Year Award:

We'll begin today's award show by announcing our Comeback Player of the Year Award. When we thought about this award we considered the great season by Mark Teixeira, the bounce back season of Brian McCann and the fact that Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova have all come back this season healthy but how does this not go to Alex Rodriguez? A Rod basically missed the entire 2013 season with a second hip surgery and various lower leg injuries and missed the entire 2014 season due to his Biogenesis suspension and has stepped up in 2015 like he never skipped a beat. Congratulations to Alex on the award, maybe this won't be his only one on the night.

Rookie of the Year Award:

The Yankees have had 11 players make their major league debuts this season with the club and has called up two others, Joel De La Cruz and Taylor Dugas, without getting them into a game which has flooded the field for the Rookie of the Year Award. Slade Heathcott and Mason Williams blast their way onto the scene with big home runs before injuries derailed their seasons while Robert Refsnyder came up before the All-Star break and collected his first two hits of his major league career in Fenway Park including a game-winning home run but it has been the pitching of Chasen Shreve that has really impressed. It probably helps that Shreve has been up for more time and seen more action than any other player on the roster but those are the kicks. Congrats to Shreve, keep up the good work kid and you'll go far.

Most Disappointing Yankee:

I know exactly what about 90% of readers are thinking right now, CC Sabathia is going to win an award on the TGP First Half Awards Show! Wrong! The other 10% may bring up the fact that Chase Headley has not only struggled with the bat but has really struggled defensively as well which means he has to win the award, right? Wrong again! So it has to be Masahiro Tanaka who has not pitched like an ace, Carlos Beltran or Stephen Drew who have let their 2014 struggles follow them into 2015 or Didi Gregorius in the impossible task of replacing Derek Jeter? Nope! How about Joe Girardi and his bullpen and starting pitching management? How about the fact that Girardi let Drew get 25 at bats a week while expecting Jose Pirela to hit the ball consistently with one or two at bats a week? Joe, well more your binder but who's counting, this is not the award you wanted to win this morning and you won it. Try better in the 2nd half.

Biggest Surprise Yankee:

The biggest surprise Yankee was another award that I think may had Alex Rodriguez pegged for but you guys know me by now, I like to go against the grain. I mean, who had Joe Girardi winning the biggest disappointment on the Yankees in 2015? Well I don't think anyone is going to see someone like Brett Gardner once again defy the odds and take down the likes of Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Chasen Shreve, Adam Warren and others but he did. I personally saw Gardner's 2014 season, especially in the power department, as the exception and not the rule but Gardner has found a way to not only replicate that success but maybe even found a way to improve upon it. Gardner was already honored with his first MLB All-Star Game berth this season and that doesn't stop there, he is also taking home the Biggest Surprise Yankee Award as well, congratulations.

Cy Young Award Winner:

The Yankees starting rotation has been consistently inconsistent this season making this one of the tougher awards to give out this morning. Tanaka has spent time on the disabled list and hasn't done enough to silence the critics who have questions about the health of his elbow and his UCL. Pineda has been up and down and so has Nathan Eovaldi while CC Sabathia has just been down for the most part leading me to look into the bullpen for the award winner. Really this comes down to Chasen Shreve, Justin Wilson, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances and while all four have been great Miller has been injured and Betances filled in admirably. Betances has been the glue to the Yankees bullpen this season whether it was in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning and is the only obvious choice for the award, so I gave it to Dealin' Dellin. You won the award big man now cut that hair, please?

MVP Award Winner: 

This may have been the easiest decisions to make all night and it was supposed to be the hardest one of the show. Imagine a Yankees lineup, on a consistent basis anyway, without Mark Teixeira's big gluten-free bat this season. The team's offense goes from above average to mediocre in a flash. The team could weather the losses of Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann, Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury much easier then they could if the team lost Teixeira. Teix, here is your award but I'm going to go ahead and carry it to your locker room for you... just in case. Congratulations!



That's it folks, the big awards have been handed out and so have the Derek Jeter gift baskets. I hope everyone enjoyed the show and tunes in to next year's show and to the New York Yankees in the second half. The team heads home tomorrow to Yankee Stadium to play host to Robinson Cano and the Seattle Mariners for the weekend so be sure to be there to see the early favorites for the TGP Postseason Awards coming to you this October. Have a good day everybody!