Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Three team trade
The Yankees are involved in a three team trade in which they would send Ian Kennedy to Arizona, send Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to Detroit, and they would receive Curtis Granderson in the deal. Other players are involved between Arizona and Detroit but they don't matter. Essentially the Yankees will get a new starting center fielder for a Triple A starter in Kennedy, a so-so bullpen lefty in Coke, and their top outfield prospect in Jackson. The 28 year old Granderson is a solid center fielder with great defense, some speed, and enough pop to match or exceed Damon's homerun total with the short porch in right. However, he strikes out too much and struggles against lefties at times. His struggles might force the Yanks to play Melky in center against lefties, as he is a switch hitter, and Gardner can slide into either left or right. My guess is that Granderson would bat second behind Jeter because Jeter gets on base better than Granderson and Jeter also hits into more double plays. AJax, who's 22, was a top prospect in the Yankee system so my hope is that we didn't give up our future for nothing. Only time will tell if this move was a good one or another flop.
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Sports Illustrated website says Granderson, in fact, isn't a great fielder, that he has trouble judging flyballs. Is this an experience thing that will improve? Or is it a concern? His bat will obviously be of help, especially given his hitting style, pulling the majority of his stuff to right.
ReplyDeleteI think Granderson's problem is that he doesn't always take the best routes, but that is compensated by the fact that he has some good speed. The guy is 28 so it seems unlikely that his fielding woud undergo major changes, but stranger things have happened. Our outfield isn't the best defensively as all three projected starters at this point don't track fly balls that well. They make up for that at the plate but it could lead to some interesting games.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Granderson's hitting goes, he should hit as many, if not more, homers than Damon hit last year (24) because his swing and left handed power translate well to the short porch in right field. However, he needs to make some big changes against left handed pitchers as he batted .182 against lefties last year and is a career .210 hitter against them. He should bat second behind Jeter, unless Damon resigns, and his high strikeout numbers, and lower on-base percentage compared to Damon, are a bad combination when you have Mark Texeira and A-Rod batting behind you. We'll see I guess but I hope he improves his swing as that would compensate for some of the questionable fielding we're likely to see.