It will be a sight for sore eyes when Curtis Granderson returns to the New York Yankees on Friday. Not only did we miss Curtis’s affable nature and good charm, but we missed his baseball skills even more.
The first thing his return does is send someone off of the active roster. There are a few ways this can be played. Option number one is, well, quite literally an option. That is, Kevin Russo gets a pat on the backside and rides the shuttle back to Scranton. If I had to be on it, I’d say this is what’s going to happen. The second choice, one that some of you may be hoping for, is that Randy Winn gets Designated for Assignment and Kevin Russo and Ramiro Pena get to stick around as the bench guys. I wouldn’t count on this happening for a while. Winn definitely hasn’t done well, but as a veteran, he’ll likely get the benefit of the doubt and get at least one more chance to succeed or fail.
The second thing is that it recircularizes the lineup. While the lineup will still be lacking without Nick Johnson at DH or Jorge Posada at catcher, getting Grandy back in centerfield and back in the lineup makes the lineup one batter deeper than it has been in the recent past. Hopefully Granderson’s return coincides with Brett Gardner being dropped in the lineup. The only negative about Gardner being dropped and Swisher moving into the two spot is that the 5-7 batters (Cano and some order of Granderson/Miranda) would be left handed and I’m not sure Joe Girardi wants to do that. Either way, with Curtis Granderson in and one of Russo or Winn out, the Yankees lineup will certainly get a boost. They could sure use it.
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One Response to What Granderson's Return Means for the Lineup
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TIQ IQ
Winn should go, he adds zero.At least Thames can hit lefties and can DH along with Miranda.
I’d much rather see what a motivated Russo can do (he’s hit everywhere he’s ever been) than what an over the hill Winn has to offer.
As Yogi once said when talking about a recently acquired veteran he didn’t work out, “He’s wasn’t good, when he was good.”