Posts Tagged ‘Curtis Granderson’

It’s official. The Yankees, Tigers and Diamondbacks completed a three-way trade today that sent center fielder and center piece of the trade Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. Granderson becomes the Yankees starting center fielder and will bat in the number two spot against right-handed pitchers. It’s uncertain in what spot of the lineup he will hit against lefties. 

The Yankees like that Granderson is a professional player with a good work ethic. They also like that he hit 30 home runs in a ballpark that plays much deeper than the new Yankee Stadium does. With the wind tunnel to right, the lefty-hitting Granderson should be able to eclipse the 30 home run mark again in 2010. 

The 28 year old center fielder hit only .249 with an OBP of just .327 in 2009. Home runs aside, 2009 wasn’t Granderson’s best body of work. He has struck out over 140 times three of the last four seasons. Compare that to Johnny Damon, who has never struck out over 100 times in a season in his career. 

The Yankees are hoping they acquired the Granderson of 2008 who hit .280 with a .365 OBP and struck out 111 times. This is the second year in a row the Yankees acquired a player who had a down season the year prior. The Yankees got Nick Swisher from the White Sox before last season coming off a 2008 season in which he batted a low .219 with a .332 OBP with just 21 doubles and 69 RBIs. With the Yankees in 2009, Swisher improved in all of those categories. 

The depth of the Yankees’ lineup makes hitters better. Granderson will see better pitches to hit batting in from of Teixeira and A-Rod. The Yankees look at Granderson as the first all-around center fielder they’ve had since Bernie Williams. Pretty big shoes to fill, but Granderson’s tools give him the ability to live up to the task.

The following is the official statement released by the New York Yankees about their acquisition of Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers:

The New York Yankees today acquired outfielder Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers in a three-team, seven-player deal, sending left-handed pitcher Phil Coke and outfielder Austin Jackson to Detroit and right-handed pitcher Ian Kennedy to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Yankees’ acquisition of center fielder Curtis Granderson has an impact on some other players in baseball.

Now that the Yankees have the center fielder they’ve longed for, where does Johnny Damon fit into the equation? Granderson slides into the number two spot in the lineup between Jeter and Teixeira where Damon used to bat. Granderson is also inserted onto a team that has several outfielders already on the roster not including Damon. Damon’s days in pinstripes are just about over.

The addition of Granderson makes it unlikely that the Yankees will acquire Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays. Austin Jackson was a player the Jays wanted in a deal, but he was shipped off to Detroit in the Granderson deal. That means to get Halladay the Yankees would have to give up two players out of Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Jesus Montero. That isn’t going to happen. Of the four guys the Yankees didn’t want to part with, only one would remain with the team and there’s no way they package Hughes and Joba together in a deal. That means Montero would have to be in the trade with one of the two pitchers. You won’t be seeing Halladay in the Bronx.

Excludng pitching (which is a while different topic in itself), this is what I would do if I were Brian Cashman; Sign Matsui to DH, let Damon walk, move Melky to left field, use Brett Gardner as the fourth outfielder, and fill in the bench with young, inexpensive utility players.

This is how the Yankees lineup will look:
1. SS Derek Jeter
2. CF Curtis Granderson
3. 1B Mark Teixeira
4. 3B Alex Rodriquez
5. C Jorge Posada
6. DH Hideki Matsui
7. 2B Robinson Cano
8. RF Nick Swisher
9. LF Melky Cabrera

Not a bad lineup if you ask me. If the Yankees were to re-sign Damon, where would he bat in the lineup? Ninth? It’s hard to picture Granderson and Damon fitting in this lineup together.

The Granderson trade to the Yankees will shakeup some things around baseball. It also gives the Yankees leverage over Damon. If Damon wants to come back to the Bronx that bad then he’ll lower his asking price because the Yankees found his replacement in the lineup and don’t need his services anymore.

Leave it to the Yankees to be the first team to make headlines this winter. The Yankees are very close to acquiring Curtis Granderson from the Tigers in a three-team trade that included the Diamondbacks. Included in the trade were Phil Coke, Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy from the Yankees.

Here are the players involved in the deal:
Yankees get CF Curtis Granderson
Diamondbacks get P Edwin Jackson and P Ian Kennedy
Tigers get P Phil Coke, P Max Scherzer, P Daniel Schlereth and OF Austin Jackson

Granderson will be 29 years in 2010 and is entering what most scouts believe are the prime years of a players career. He became the Tigers full-time center fielder in 2006.

It appears the Yankees are on the verge of acquiring center fielder Curtis Granderson from the Tigers in a three-way trade. In the trade the Diamondbacks would get Edwin Jackson from the Tigers and Ian Kennedy from the Yankees and the Tigers would get Max Scherzer from the Diamondbacks, Phil Coke from the Yankees and Austin Jackson from the Yankees.

Here are some rumors going around about the Yankees as of November 12, 2009.

The New York Post reports Scott Boras, agent of Johnny Damon, is making a case that his client deserves a contract similar to Jeter. Boras is looking to get Damon a deal for three or four years while the Yankees would like to bring him back for one or two years tops. Read the article

If Boras sticks to his guns then Damon’s days in pinstripes are over. Cashman isn’t going to dish out big bucks to Damon until he’s 40 years old. The Yankees have prospect Austin Jackson waiting in the wings and he should better ready in the next year or two. The Yankees can find a cheaper, younger alternative for left field.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has also reported that the Tigers will be taking offers for Curtis Granderson and believes the Yankees will be interested. Read the article

I’m probably in the minority but I’m not so sure I like this. Granderson started hitting for power in ’09 and his average plummeted. In ’09 he hit 30 home runs and batted .249 with a .327 OBP. His OBP was over .360 in ’07 and ’08 and he hit 23 and 22 home runs those seasons. He hit .302 in ’07 and .280 in ’08. If he stole more bases I think it would be a no-brainer (20 SB in ’09, 12 SB in ’08, 25 SB in ’07).

Brian Cashman on Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes: “I look at them as starters that can relieve.” Read the article

This could change if the Yankees add a starting pitcher or two.

SI reports that Andy Pettitte is leaning on coming back to the Yankees for one more year.

Pettitte has supposedly told some Yankees he wants to play one more year.

The Yankees, looking for another starting pitcher, have been linked to having interest in free agent John Lackey, the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay and SI thinks Derek Lowe of the Braves.

Some teams are concerned with Lackey’s durability. If the Blue Jays put Halladay out there, expect the Yankees to be bidders along with the Red Sox, Mets, and some other teams. I’d rather see the Yankees go with a young pitcher, like Hughes, Kennedy or maybe Brackman, rather than trade for Derek Lowe.