There are some interesting similarities between the 2009 and 2025 Yankees teams. If the current team can match the intensity and desire of that 2009 bunch, then Yankees history will repeat itself.

It’s been since 2009 that the Yankees won the World Series. That’s in large part because so much significant money came off the books after 2008 that they were able to add several high-end players to their still-potent homegrown mix. That’s always the plan but the plan doesn’t always work.

But it certainly did then. Jason Giambi, Ivan Rodriguez, and Mike Mussina were all gone after 2008, along with their roughly forty-five million in payroll. The Yankees used that money to bring in two top pitchers–CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett (in an apparent belief that initials instead of first names made them better players)–along with first baseman Mark Teixeira. Those three joined The Core Four of Jeter, Posada, Rivera, and Pettitte, as well as powerhouse hitter and steroid user Alex Rodriguez. The additions turned the Yankees into the best team in the American League and put them back in the World Series. Once there, they beat the defending World Series Champs, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 2025 season looks like it could be a repeat based on the eerie similarities.

Follow the Yankees Money

Once again, the Yankees had significant money come off the books after 2024. But in this case, that meant Anthony Rizzo, Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, and Alex Verdugo and their almost seventy-two million in combined salaries. It really shows how much baseball salaries have gone up in the interim, but I digress.

The same was true this offseason. The Yankees reinvested that money in both elite pitching and powerful hitting. In this case, that means ace Max Fried and best-in-the-biz closer Devin Williams. They’ve also deepened their lineup by adding two former MVPs in Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger. They join budding homegrown stars such as Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, and Clarke Schmidt. They’re not exactly the Core Four, but they still might be great. And then there’s Jasson Dominguez. He might just be the next big Bomber the Yankees need. We still need the season to play out before evaluating this mix, but the Yankees look once again like one of the best teams in the American League. 

But the parallels don’t end there.

The Yankees lost ace Gerrit Cole, one of the best pitchers in the MLB. Back in 2009, however, they lost the best pitcher in the AL, perhaps in all of baseball, when they lost Chien-Ming Wang. Remember that he was the winningest pitcher in baseball from 2006 to 2007. He was so good that even though he missed the majority of the 2008 season, he still ended that three-year period with the third most wins in the American League (46). 

Of course, the circumstances are entirely different. Cole didn’t go down until Spring Training, while Wang went down early in 2008 with an injury, never to return to form. The Yankees, however, thought he would be back to his old self at some point in 2009, so the expectational loss is still the same. And if the Yankees do go on to win it all this year, they are likely to play the Dodgers again. That would mean they’d defeat the reigning World Series champions, just as they did in 2009. It’s slightly different since the Yankees hadn’t lost to the Phillies in 2008, but they were still the champs. 

Everyone Line Up

Which brings us to another interesting comparison. The 2024 lineup was very similar to the 2009 Phillies lineup, while this lineup looks a lot more like those 2009 Yankees hitters.

Back then, New York had a deeper lineup, while Philly had a more powerful middle-of-the-order. Philadelphia had four players with 30+ home runs that season: Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. It was Howard who hit the most on either team with 45. And even though Jimmy Rollins hit 21 home runs, the rest of the order was poor, at best. Not one other player had more than twelve.

Compare that to the 2009 Yankees. 

Teixeira was their biggest home run hitter with 39, in part because Alex Rodriguez missed the first few weeks of the season. He still managed to just touch 30, though, when his last at-bat of the season ended the same as his first, with a home run. But it was their depth that made the difference. The Yankees had seven players with 20+ home runs: Teixeira, A-Rod, Posada, Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui, Robby Cano, and Johnny Damon. Jeter, meanwhile, added eighteen and Melky Cabrera thirteen. 

This year’s team has a real shot of being closer to that 2009 Yankees team. There are at least six players that should all hit 20+ homers this season: Austin Wells, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Jasson Dominguez, Jazz Chisolm, and, of course, Aaron Judge. I would also bet on Anthony Volpe reaching that mark since he should have more power naturally here in his age 24 season. That list might also include Giancarlo Stanton if he gets back early enough. But even if he just makes it back for the playoffs, he’ll be counted on the list of their best home run hitters. If, on the other hand, he never makes it back, then it seems likely that those who fill the DH role will be able to hit at least 20 home runs. That would be a deep and balanced lineup, something the Yankees were missing in 2024. 

Last year’s team looked more like the 2009 Phillies, and they ended up with the same fate.

Speaking of Stanton brings up yet another parallel. That 2009 team lost its biggest hitter to start the season, Alex Rodriguez. He returned in May to have a significant impact on the team. Judge is the biggest hitter on the current team, but Stanton still swings a might bat. If the Yankees predictions hold out, Giancarlo will be also be back in May, and could also have a significant impact. 

The Will to Power

There is another similarity, although it’s not quite as on the nose. That 2009 team was highly motivated because they missed the playoffs in 2008. The 2024 Yankees not only made the playoffs but made it to the World Series. But they did miss them in 2023, and that–along with their ignominious loss in the Series last year–is definitely driving this team. 

This last point is by far the most significant, though. The Yankees started Spring Training as the clear favorite to win the American League pennant. Now, there have been players lost and doubts raised. But they still have more than enough talent to win it all…if they have as much drive and determination as that 2009 group did. With it, they can ride down the Canyon of Heroes, shouts and cheers ringing through lower Manhattan. Without it, it’ll be just another lost season of dashed hopes and dreams. 

Now, we are all left to wait to see what 2025 will bring. And if history does repeat itself, let’s hope it’s another 2009 and not another 2024.

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