The Yankee blogosphere has been buzzing lately with the news that Curtis Granderson has agreed to move to left field if the club asks him to. This is a move that we have discussed extensively here at TYU, with most of the writers advocating the club putting the better defender, Gardner, in center field. I have been a bit more hesitant, agreeing with Rob Neyer that practical concerns and the chance of a Gardner flop make the switch a bad idea. Dave Cameron, however, has a different perspective that may be the definitive view on the subject:
Whether you have Brett Gardner in left and Granderson in center or vice versa, the overall impact on the Yankees will be so minor as to not be worth the discussion.
Gardner may actually be the better defender at this point, and we have been conditioned to believe that the best defensive outfielder should play center, as he will have more opportunities to flag down balls than either of the corner outfielders. But if you have two guys who can capably handle center field (as the Yankees now do), it isn’t all that important which one ends up in CF……
The total difference in defensive performance between the two alignments is simply the drop in value in right-center balls caught minus the rise in value in left field line balls caught. We’re talking about a marginal difference on just a handful of balls in play over a full season. We’re talking about fractions of a run.
Cameron then goes on to suggest the Yankees go with Granderson in center simply to avoid the inevitable media attention should he be moved. Quite frankly, this is a point that I made when this discussion was first raised, and I continue to believe that it is the most logical course of action. Unless Granderson shows that he has inexplicably experienced a steep decline defensively, the difference between the two players is simply too small to justify moving the better player out of his spot. I would say that there is a decent chance that Brett Gardner is not the Yankee center fielder in 2011. Why mess with Granderson simply to save “fractions of a run” in 2010?
Agree? Disagree? Chime in below.
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8 Responses to Cameron: It Makes Little Difference Who Plays Center
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TIQ IQ
I think that the actual impact of the media backlash is greatly overstated. I don’t think that a media backlash involving a relatively benign position switch for a low-maintenance new star would last more than a day.
I think that the only argument against it would be the potential for long-term impact on Granderon’s ability to play center after being moved to left. I don’t really think this should be much of a concern either. At worst, we’re looking at some stupid writer at the Post writing a few articles about it. Nothing on field will be affected.
The impacts aren’t huge, but they exist.
I used to think that playing Gardner in center and Granderson in left just made sense but then I had a thought while reading Dave’s article this morning, could Gardner in left and Granderson in right actually be more efficient? I come to this thought because of an article I read last year where Gardner was just dominating the league in arm rating despite not being a great thrower. The fact that Gardner is so amazing when charging and has an accurate arm he might be better at throwing guys out from left. Just a thought
I feel like (no empirical evidence to back this up) a center fielder makes more use of his foot speed in relation to throws than a left fielder. So often the center fielder is dealing with ground balls and preventing a runner from going from 1st to 3rd, and definitely throwing home to the plate less. Or maybe that’s just my very tired imagination talking.
Arm ratings also fluctuate though. Look at Melky – he went from an amazing arm rating to an above average one, because people stopped testing him.
I think your wrong Moshe. The numbers CLEARLY show that Gardner is the superior Centerfielder and will be for several years. I don’t understand why your so against a homegrown player like Brett Gardner. I’m willing to bet that Gardner is going to be a star in CF and Granderson is going to be a star in leftfield and you’ll continue to be an average blogger at best! To bad we can’t trade YOU !
I’m not sure what occasioned this personal attack, and am sorry that you feel that way.
I never said that Gardner isnt better, just that he is only slightly better, which makes it not worth it to make the switch. And which numbers are you referring to? Because there are no CLEAR numbers on this. If you think there are, you are using them wrong.
You can always just stop reading this blog, Kevin. No need to be nasty. Most of us think that the TYU guys are very good.
CLEARLY, Mo > Kevin
Another potential plus for moving Granderson in favor of Gardner: It sets a precedent for Derek Jeter to move off shortstop if he regresses too much. One star player moving puts pressure on another star player.