The rumored three-way deal between the Yankees, Tigers and Diamondbacks finally happened this afternoon:
NYY gets: Curtis Granderson from DET
DET gets: Austin Jackson and Phil Coke from NYY; Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from ARI
ARI gets: Edwin Jackson from DET; Ian Kennedy from NYY
Where to begin? Do the Yankees play him in center, or keep the platoon there and move Curtis to left? I suppose they can move the platoon to left as well. Grandeson’s defense suffered the last two years, so he may indeed end up in left. He’s under the Yankees control through at least 2013 at an average salary of about $10 million a year. At age 29, he also helps the Yankees get younger.
So the Yankees trade potential in Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy for a proven good player in Granderson, very likely a better player than Damon at a lower price. Seems like a good deal. He should also be a good #2 behind Jeter.
The Diamondbacks seem to be taking the most risk. Edwin Jackson lowered his ERA for two straight seasons, finally getting his strikeout rate up to a good level in 2009. He’s prone to home runs, however, something that playing half your games in Arizona doesn’t help. Kennedy is recovering from circulatory surgery, so he’s a big questions mark.
The Tigers get a good prospect in Jackson, and free up money to pay for Dontrelle Willis’s contract. I like Scherzer a lot. He strikes out batters, doesn’t walk too many. He and Verlander should turn into a nice 1-2 punch.
So the Yankees fill their outfield hole, the Tigers restock with some good youngsters, and the Diamondbacks get two starters for their rotation. I think the Arizona players are high risk, high reward, but time will tell how this plays out. I really like this deal for the Yankees however, as they get younger at a long term low cost.
I would suspect that this removes all doubt about the Yankees staying away from Bay and Holliday.
Do you think the Yanks pursue signing Damon and/or Matsui after this deal? I like Cabrera more than those two in left and Matsui’s departure could help ease Posada into the DH role and Cervelli into the C role.
@Jesse R: Sam Borden at LoHud thinks the Yankees are still more interested in Damon than Matsui. Damon gives them more fleixbility since he can still play the outfield.
As a confirmed Yankee hater I like this trade a lot. Granderson may be the most overrated player in baseball. His OPS track over the last three years: .913-.859-.780. He’ll be 29 next year and I look for the skid to continue. He’s particularly helpless against lefties but he’s doing less and less against righties, too. If this acquisition gets the Yankees off far better hitters like Holliday and Bay, yippee!
The big winner looks to be Arizona, getting a very cheap and improving Edwin Jackson. His ERA track over the past three years: 5.76-4.42-3.62. Just the opposite of Granderson, and he’s 26 next year, moving into his prime. A really nice upgrade in Arizona’s rotation.
The Yankees gave up Austin Jackson…wow. I saw him play a couple times this year and he impressed me… catching a couple balls I thought would fall in, and hitting the ball solid. He’s only 22… the Tigers GOT A DEAL HERE. He’s going to develop into a big piece of somebody’s puzzle even if not in Detroit (but I’d be surprised if the Tigers send him elsewhere).
Looks to me like the Yankees are working to win more World Series while Jeter’s still playing… as they’re not setting themself up for keepin’ the championship days going for long. They just think they can do the free agent built thing all the time… but it really hasn’t worked out that often for them since ’81.
Granderson’s defense isn’t the only thing that’s declined. His offense has been dropping swiftly since he peaked at 26 in 2007, and he was league-average in 2009.
This was a bad move by the Yanks. Their outfield was fine.
I’m with David P. on this one. Granderson is likely to be a player with a WAR of about 4. That’s very good — better than Jason Bay.
Comerica is very tough on lefties; YS2 is very kind to them. And Granderson walks a whole lot — his problem last year was a weak AVG. So it’s quite possible that Granderson will add to his WAR over the next few years. I think he’s a good pickup, and the only real cost was Austin Jackson (the two pitchers are highly replaceable). Of course, Jackson might develop into an All Star. But for now, I agree with David that it’s a good move by the Yankees.
Great deal for the Yanks. Yes they are trying to win 1 or 2 more in the next 2 years with the Old core+Arod. Yes A. Jackson was a big chip to move. We can now try to sign both Damon and Matsui to 1 year deals. Sign them both Melky goes back to 4th OF. Damon is LF for 100 or so games and Matsui DHs. Matsui signs and Damon walks-Melky plays LF. Damon signs and Matsui doesn’t Damon is primary DH. They got a very good player with a good contract, they improved their defense, got younger and gave themselves leverage in negotiations.
Sure, it’s quite possible that Granderson reverses a 130-point OPS decline over the last three years when he’s on the wrong side of his peak age. But it ain’t the way to bet. The Yankees will platoon him, of course. He’s horrible against lefties. Against righties he’s stil useful, but that usefulness will also decline as he gets past 30.
The Yankees bought into an aging, declining player living off his reputation from a career year three years ago. Like I said, I like this deal.
As a Tiger fan it’s hard to watch a player with Granderson’s class depart– I know that in places like NY it’s all about results and character don’t count for much. That said, while it’s always fun to watch him cover ground in Comerica’s huge outfield, it drove you nuts to see him frequently look overmatched against average lefties. What we needed from him last year was about 15 homers, lots of doubles and a high OBP instead of a low average and 30 hrs. If I were the Yanks, I’d move him down to 6th or 7th and let him swing for the fences like he did last year.
Granderson’s decline this year seems mostly due to a propensity to hit a lot more balls into the air. which dropped his already less than stellar average. still, the K/BB and LD rate looked fine, and it’s hard to seriously argue that he’s in a full blown decline phase at age 28.
it seems more likely that this is a similar situation to Nick Swisher . where a combination of bad luck and enviornment got to him. and even then, it’s not like his 09 was a total disaster .
Big platoon splits aren’t exactly the biggest issue in the world. some players have fixed such issues in the past. (see Paul O’neil before and after his trade to the Yankees) and the Yankees have a reasonable candidate in Melky Cabrera to platoon him anyway if the situation can’t be fixed. he also moves from one of the worest park for Lefties in the AL to one of the best.
it makes a ton of sense for the Yankees, the D-back’s side of the deal is more questionable. the Tigers got a good deal but is still dogged by the albatross contracts of D-train / Magglio etc.
25 million for 3 years! Younger and a better fielder with a better arm than Damon. Honestly, if they resign Pettite, Damon and Matsui-this is a big upgrade and gives us payroll flexibility after next year. If they sign Matsui and not Damon still an upgrade.
@RollingWave: I agree.
And do look at our host’s Day By Day Database to help assess the rather exaggerated “horrible against lefties” claim.
Here is Granderson’s line against lefties, career, *at home*:
.179/.231/.259
And here’s is career against lefties, away:
.239/.306/.425
So when Casey says Granderson is “horrible against lefties”, he’s kind of missed what’s going on. Granderson is horrible against lefties *at Comerica*. Which makes him a much better hitter all of a sudden, now that he doesn’t have to play in Comerica.