Yankees: The 10 most disappointing, underperforming Yankees teams

The 10 most disappointing, underperforming Yankees teams

By Ryan Morik | May 24, 2020

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 06: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Alex Avila #13 of the Detroit Tigers celebrates after Alex Rodriguez #13 of the New York Yankees struck out to end Game Five of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on October 6, 2011 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Tigers defeated the Yankees 3-2 to win the best of five series 3 games to 2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

4 of 11

CHICAGO – UNDATED 1982: Dave Winfield of the New York Yankees poses before a MLB game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. Winfield played with the Yankees from 1981-1990. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Yankees disappointment No. 8: 1982

First of all, shoutout to my dad for the assist on this one.

Little did the Yankees know that this would be the start of a 14-year postseason drought, making 1982 that much worse.

This team had a solid pitching staff — Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and Dave Righetti each tossed at least 183 innings, while all posting an ERA of under 3.81. Goose Gossage led the Yankees in WAR (4.5) as a closer.

But pitching was all this team had. Dave Winfield was by far the team’s best offensive player, belting 37 homers and driving in 106 runs, but Roy Smalley’s 20 homers were the second-most on the team.

The Yankees had brought in Ken Griffey, but he underperformed. He was a career .307 hitter in his first nine years, with an .812 OPS. But in his first year as a Yankee, his .277 batting average and .736 OPS were both the second-lowest marks of his career.

Lou Piniella and Bucky Dent also missed ample time, 60 and 103 games, respectively.

Surely, expectations had died down after the Yankees decided not to bring back Reggie Jackson, but winning just 79 games after making the World Series was certainly disappointing.

Home/New York Yankees