Since I was typing yesterday from the catacombs of the Civic Center, it only seems appropriate that I do this entry today in the 20 minutes before Rhode Island's game tonight. I'm busy eating some macaroni and cheese as I type this though, preparing for the game, so again, please excuse me if my thoughts are disheveled somewhat.Anywho. The big news of the day in sports was the Yankees trade for Curtis Granderson, which, as a Red Sox fan, made me groan. Granderson isn't still projected to be a mega-superstar, like he was as a minor league prospect coming up, but he is a serviceable center fielder.
This would be an improvement on what the Yankees were probably planning to parade out there this year, some combination of Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardiner and maybe Austin Jackson. According to ESPN, the Yankees would give up Ian Kennedy, Phil Coke and Jackson.
Of those players, only Jackson has real potential as a plus-contributor on a playoff team. After his repeated shellings in the rotation the past few years, I'm shocked Kennedy still has value to another team. At best, I think he's a fourth or fifth starter, which is normally something you promote from within or sign on the cheap on the free agent market. Coke is a nice arm for the pen, and Jackson might grow up to be Granderson, so I'm surprised the Yankees had to give up so little to end up with Granderson in this trade.
I have no idea why the Diamondbacks did this trade. They ended up with Kennedy and Tigers' starter Edwin Jackson, who regressed badly after a hot start, and gave up the past prospects, who the Tigers picked up in the deal.
Granderson photo taken from this blog.
Boston's move. Jason Bay? Matt Holliday? Roy Halladay? Interesting times...
ReplyDeleteHm, I'm not sure if this really effects Boston's plans that much; they don't really act that reactionary to me. For example, after they lost Tex last year, they mostly went ahead with the same core. I still think the Sox make a lukewarm effort to get Bay or Holliday, and if they don't get either, they'll patch the hole for a year with some combination of Cameron (or some other free agent veteran OF), Hermedia, Reddick and others.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees were able to give up so little because they can still afford to pay players. Granderson will cost $5.5 million next year (a bargain), $8.25 million in 2011 (still not too bad), $10 million in 2012 (this is getting steep-ish), and a $13-15 million option in 2013. Still, Granderson isn't much of an upgrade over Melky Cabrera, who earned less than $2 million last year and will probably stay at that level in the near future.
ReplyDeleteGranderson 2009: .249/.327/.453, 30 HR, 71 RBI, and 20 SB.
Cabrera 2009: .274/.336/.385, 13 HR, 68 RBI, and 10 SB in 170 less plate appearances.
It is worth noting that Melky Cabrera is 24 while Granderson will be 29 on opening day.
Is this good news for the Red Sox in the near future? No. But I don't think they're in a great position to do much next year unless they are comfortable to part with some young talent and blow up some over-the-hill veterans. I would rather give it a year and have a good young core for 2011. By that time, the Yankees will have a little bit more burden in terms of contracts, their premiere free agent signings from the last few years will be aging, and the Sox will have some money to play around with. This move is puzzling--it's overkill for the Yankees to get Granderson considering they were probably going to win the East anyway and he is much more helpful in the short-term. They didn't give up in terms of prospects, but they did lose salary flexibility for when the Sox start getting better.
Eh, I see your points Bob, but the thing about the Yankees is that they don't have to worry about payroll at all. For example, for all the moaning about how they didn't sell out their stadium every night, I'm positive they still turned a significant profit - probably on the YES Network rights alone. (For the record, I also think the Red Sox are more flush than people realize, and could probably support a $200 million payroll.)
ReplyDeleteGranderson is a little overrated, yes, and I didn't even realize that Cabrera was THAT young still. But even in a "bad" year like last year, Granderson flashes more power than Cabrera, and that was playing half his games in the cavernous Comerica Park. And also, the Yankees gave up so little to get Granderson, that I think this is a great trade even if he falls flat on his face in New York.