I've had people talking to me about this since Tuesday afternoon wanting my 2 cents on the deal. I even had inside information from a friend on Tuesday afternoon whose brother's roommate was good buddies with Curtis Granderson's cousin (as ludicrous as that sounds, it's actually true). But I didn't want to start blabbing away at what a great deal this was for the Yanks until I knew it was going through. And now that the Granderson trade is officially official, I'll take the time to discuss it.
When I first heard about the rumors of the trade a few weeks ago I thought it was a great move, when the "agreement in principle" was made on Tuesday I thought it was a great move, and now that it's a done deal I still think it's a great move for the Yankees. Any way you look at it, there was really no downside to this trade.
First, a quick look at what the Yankees gave up:
- Ian Kennedy: a young starting pitching prospect who bombed big time in his first Major League test and spent the better part of last season in the minors dealing with an aneurysm. He had once been considered a blue-chip prospect in the same regard as Joba and Phil Hughes but his Major League experiences and performance to this point shows him to be a 4th or 5th-starter in the Majors at best. Considering the bevy of talent that the Yanks still have in the minors at SP, no big loss. Except that I lose my chance to do the
"MISTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...KENNEDY!!!!!.........Kennedy!!"-
jokes next season.
- Phil Coke: another young pitcher who burst onto the scene and established himself as the Yankees' main lefty reliever last season after Damaso Marte was hurt for pretty much the entire regular season. Showed flashes of brilliance and better than average stuff, but battled bouts of inconsistency and did have the tendency to give up the long ball more often than you'd like to see from a lefty specialist type. With Marte's resurgence in the playoffs, the Yanks managing to keep Michael Dunn from being part of this trade, and the fact that teams change lefty relievers like people change socks, giving up Coke is another acceptable loss.
-Austin Jackson: the #1 positional prospect in the Yankees farm system, Jackson was being looked at as a potential replacement for Johnny Damon on next year's roster should he have decided to go elsewhere, but the belief in the organization was that A-Jax still needed a year in Triple-A to refine his skills. While widely regarded as having All-Star potential, questions about Jackson's power, high strikeout rate, and outfield play still made him a bit of a question mark. While it sucks to have to give him up, when there are as many questions as answers about what a prospect will become and the player you're getting back for him is an established star at the same position, it takes the sting out of the loss quite a bit.
When you really break it down, the Yankees actually gave away less with 3 guys than the D-Backs did with 2. Arizona dumped a potential #1/#2-in-the-rotation starter and a reliever with big-time stuff that could have translated into a closer role down the road. The Yanks gave up one major contributor from last year's World Series-winning club that is easily replaced and 2 guys who are still unknowns. And in what the Yankees got back in return for what they gave up, you have to look at them as big winners in this deal.
In Curtis Granderson you have a guy with 30-30 potential (maybe 40-40 thanks to the short porch in right) because of his blazing speed and great lefty power who is a prototypical centerfielder with better range and a better arm than what the Yankees already had out there, and at 28 is entering the prime of his career. By all accounts he is a great guy with a personality that should fit like a glove in the Big Apple, and he already has relationships with Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher which means he should fit seamlessly into the clubhouse. Oh, and did I mention he has a more than reasonable contract for the next couple years? You couldn't ask for a better piece to add to the fold.
Sure he strikes out a lot (141 last season), but so does Mark Teixeira, and he only finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting this past year. Sure he doesn't hit lefties well (.183 last season in 180 at-bats), but the Yankees are chock full of guys who punish lefty pitching and can surely teach him a few things. The Yankees already ruled out the possibility that his eyes are shit, so all the dude needs is a few sessions in the cage with Cano and Kevin Long and he'll be money. The bottom line is, Curtis Granderson makes the Yankees just as explosive offensively as they were last season while making them much better defensively and even more dangerous on the basepaths than they were last season.
Granderson's better range and arm than Melky makes him the obvious choice at center and allows Melky to move to left, where his range and arm is a great improvement over Johnny Damon. Factor in that Swish is a more than capable outfielder in right and suddenly the Yankees become a much younger, faster, more dangerous outfield in terms of covering ground in the gaps to take away extra base hits and throwing guys out who try to stretch balls hit into the gaps. Think A.J. Burnett won't like having Granderson out there next year when he makes a diving catch in left center that saves 2 runs in what could have turned into a classic A.J. Burnett Meltdown-inning?
On the basepaths he should be an big threat to pitchers and an even bigger asset to those hitting behind him as pitchers will be forced to pay more attention to him than they did to Damon last year, and Damon was no slouch himself. Plop Grandy into Damon's spot in the 2-hole and guys are going to have to decide how they want to get beat; by focusing on Granderson and risking walking or serving up meatballs to Teix and the A-Horse or by focusing on the batters and letting Granderson run around the bases like a kid on Family Day at the park and constantly set up RISP situations for the big boppers. Granderson scored 91 runs last year on a team that was 10th in the AL in runs scored and in the bottom half of almost every offensive category. How many can he score with Teix, A-Hud, Jorge, Cano, and Swish hitting behind him? 120? 130?
And not only will Granderson help the Yankees on the field next year, he's already helping them off the field this year. Having him in the fold gives the Yankees leverage over both Damon and Matsui. Now if they don't want to come back on the Yankees' terms then they can go their merry ways and the Yankees are no weaker for it. If they decide they want to win more titles and come back for reasonably-priced, single-year contracts, the Yankees are suddenly stocked with bats and have all kinds of lineup flexibility for any situation, be it lefty starters, off-days, injuries, you name it.
So there you have it. Curtis Granderson was a great pickup and the Yankees were able to do it without giving up what I believe are still their 3 best pieces of trade bait in Joba, Hughes, and Montero. They also stuck to the trend they started last offseason by getting a younger guy heading into the prime of his career instead of the twilight. Between this trade and the Pettitte signing, Cash looks like he style has his Midas Touch from last year and it's now officially 3 great moves in less than a week.
Next up on the list...bringing Damon back for $10 mil next year with a player option for 2011 to be the DH/4th outfielder.
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