Joel Sherman chimes in with a good column on Curtis Granderson’s struggles:
Curtis Granderson hasn’t been very good this year. But he just might be the luckiest player in the majors.
If he were playing for the old owner in his prime or in the old stadium or for a team that did not have the majors’ best record, Granderson would know what hell in baseball feels like. Instead, the highest-profile Yankee acquisition of the offseason has essentially skirted criticism and boos despite having the kind of season that once made Steve Kemp’s stint as a Yankee short and bitter…..“I haven’t been able to be the guy, but at the same time, on this team, we don’t necessarily need that type of guy,” Granderson said.
Maybe. But Granderson was brought here to be more than an observer to the excellence of others, certainly more than a ninth-place-hitting detriment. He has sidestepped the boos and criticism. But the biggest games are still to come. Granderson will either rise up and prove an asset or learn that even with the old Stadium and the old Boss gone that this is not the place you want to debut as an abject failure.
While Curtis has been very good in the field thus far and missing a month hurt him in the counting stat department, it is difficult to deny that he has been a major disappointment. He has been as bad as ever against lefties, is not showing as much power as he did in the past, and has yet to put together any sort of substantial hot streak at the plate. His numbers have now trended downward for three straight seasons, and I have a hard time finding evidence that suggests a turnaround is imminent.
Additionally, while Granderson’s bat actually grades out about league average for center field, that is less relevant for a team that has another center fielder on the roster who is actually a better defender. Essentially, Granderson’s value to the Yankees this season has been the defensive value Gardner provides relative to your average leftfielder. While the leftfielder he replaced, Johnny Damon, is not having a great season and his loss should not be a source of angst, Austin Jackson has put together a solid season in Detroit at a lower cost. While I liked it at the time and Curtis still has 2 seasons and 2 months to turn things around, the Granderson trade looks like a bit of a disaster.
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11 Responses to Granderson's Poor Season
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TIQ IQ
I’m gonna be That Guy Who Is A Douchebag With 20/20 Hindsight
Before we traded for him (and to be fair I liked the trade, stupidly thinking he could bounceback and hit 40HR with the short porch), I was telling everyone I could that the Yankees should trade for Josh Willingham. I was told “Nooo, he had a fluke career year!! His defense!!!!!!” This despite he would still be an upgrade over The Adventures of Johnny Damon, and “Left Field Defense” is kind of an oxymoron. Now he’s for real, and Granderson doesn’t even look all that great vs. RHP.
There’s some rumblings that the Mets are down on Beltran and are stupid enough to dump him on waivers like the Blue Jays did for Rios. If he gets to the Yankees, Cashman should grab him and do whatever with Granderson. Trade him to the Royals, they love veterans with bad contracts.
The only good thing about this trade at this point is it may slow them down from pulling the trigger on trading prospects in the future. Looking at AJax and Tabata vs. what we are getting from those trades isn’t a happy picture.
They were going to trade Jesus Montero and 2-3 good trade chips for 2 months of Cliff Lee and no discount or extension window. It didn’t do a thing.
Also Tabata has crashed and is like 25 so whatever
Tabata is hitting .306 w/11 steals in 50 games for the Pirates. I think we sent him over for Nady and Marte. How’s that working out?
I agree the trade has been bad … but a disaster ? I dont know if I would call it a disaster yet. ian kennedy isnt looking too hot in the NL west, and jackson has a ridiculous BABIP … not too mention the ridiculous strike our rate and high K rate. Now, he is a young cheap CF but still, wouldn’t call it a disaster. just not looking so hot right now.
It is a disaster from the standpoint that they should have used those trade pieces for someone better
Such as? What other player of Granderson’s caliber was available? How about we stop judging a trade after less than one season of play?
I think it’s fair to check in on the trade. Give me a reason to believe Granderson will bounceback,and I’ll admit to being hasty, but I think it’s fair to say that at this point this move is a clear loss. And just because we don’t know who was available does not mean that no one was, or is, available for AJax and Kennedy. Also, having Ajax allows you to spend more elsewhere.
To me the worst part about the trade is not giving up Austin Jackson or Ian Kennedy. I’m not broken up about that in the least bit. The worst part of the trade to me is the fact that we’re locked into paying his salary for the next 2 years after this season.
I don’t see anything approaching a disaster yet. He’s still young enough to hope for a rebound. As far as Ajax and Tabata, I think I’ll hold off on calling the former a good MLB player for a while-there’s been plenty of guys who’ve done what he’s done so far only to turn into decent 4th OF or worse.
As far as Tabata’s concerned, he wasn’t going to stay in the yank’s organization anyway, and when that trade went down, we were glad to get anything at all for him.
Not sure you’ve been watching but Granderson has sucked defensively as well. He doesn’t track balls very well and it’s been noted on Yes network and even Paul O’neal without mentioning Grandy’s name right after Grandy took a bad route to a ball that should have been caught and dropped in for a double, O’neal noted that playing outfield was more instinctive and less about speed.
Grandy is a bust and is getting a free pass. The way Arod and others are booed like Tex when he first struggled in his first season, Grandy should be as well. I know he’s a good guy with a good image but let’s be fair here. He has sucked. Maybe if he shows no improvement we can trade him for a few prospects and sign Crawford.