During the next few weeks we’ll be running a series of individual season reviews for the members of the 2010 Yankees, somewhat similar to what I did with the season reviews last November only more comprehensive and probably more granular. Last year I did five group posts for the infield, outfield, starting pitching, bullpen and bench and designated hitter; this year we’re going to give each member of the starting lineup and rotation their own posts, while grouping the Yankees three DHs, the bullpen and the bench into respective posts of their own.
Our first season in review candidate is Curtis Granderson (mind you, these are being written in no particular order whatsoever). As you know, Granderson was acquired via a multi-player trade last December, and was penciled in as the Yankees’ starting center fielder, despite many feeling as though Brett Gardner was likely a superior fielder and that the two should perhaps switch positions, as well as the fact that there were growing concerns over Granderson’s seemingly deteriorating ability to hit lefthanded pitching.
As we touched on in last week’s Positive Storylines post, the Granderson deal ultimately turned out to be a solid trade for the Yankees. Here’s what he did in 2010:
While the season wOBA is a touch low (it’s never a great sign when a player hypothetically in the prime of their career underperforms their career wOBA), considering the depths of where Curtis started out from, it’s tough to quibble with his .346 mark.
Curtis kicked his Yankee career off in style, torching the Red Sox to the tune of a .515 wOBA after the season’s inaugural three-game set, but things quickly went downhill, as Granderson closed out the season’s first month with a lowly .314 wOBA. Adding insult to (soon-to-be) injury was the fact that Austin Jackson announced his arrival to MLB in rather unexpected fashion, putting up an eye-popping .410 wOBA in April, though that number was primarily fueled by an insane and ridiculously unsustainable .530 BABIP. Regardless, second-guessing abounded, and Curtis didn’t help matters much after coming up lame in the May 1 game against the White Sox, which would end up shelving him for just under a month.
Grandy’s return to the lineup was much-needed, but he — like the rest of the team — struggled offensively in June, and managed another disappointing .323 monthly wOBA. After a slightly improved July, things came to a head for Curtis while the team was in Texas in mid-August. To that point in the season Granderson’s struggles off lefthanded pitching had continued right where they’d left off the year before, and the Yankees were determined to finally fix Curtis. After a two-day session with Kevin Long, Granderson returned to the lineup a new man, not only hitting lefties with far more authority than he’d been, but hitting everyone better than he’d been.
Though Curtis only wOBA’d .324 in August, he hit .248/.347/.515 in the 19 August games post-Long-reinvention, and he carried that newfound swagger into September, where he put up a molten-hot .411 wOBA, tied with Alex Rodriguez for the top monthly mark on the team.
Granderson went on to be the Yankees’ second-best offensive weapon in the postseason — not to mention the only hitter besides Robinson Cano that even showed up in the ALCS — and hit to an absurd .476 wOBA.
Though Curtis’ wOBA was once again under .300 against lefties in 2010 (.289), it was a vast improvement from 2009′s .223. His .363 mark against righties is a solid showing, and one hopes he can maintain the strides he’s made against lefties while driving that RHP wOBA back up to somewhere around its 2007/2008/2009 level of .425/.389/.382.
Curtis unsurprisingly hit better at home (.370 wOBA) than on the road (.323), but I’m going to guess nearly everyone in the starting lineup did so, given how much more potent the Yankees were at home than on the road this season. Then again, so was just about everyone else, as all of Major League Baseball hit to a .783 OPS at Yankee Stadium — the highest such mark in the American League, and 2nd-highest in MLB after Coors Field.
The other major aspect of Curtis’ game is his defense, which was by most accounts — at least anecdotally — pretty excellent. Though it seems he occasionally gets poor reads on fly balls, he more than makes up for any bad jumps with his speed. Per Fangraphs, he put up 5.3 UZR (5th-best in the AL) and 6.6 UZR/150 (3rd-best in the AL). B-Ref wasn’t in love with his defense (-0.4 dWAR), though for what it’s worth B-Ref had A-Jax at the same dWAR, so I’m not really sure what to make of that.
In addition to being fast — a Fangraphs speed score of 6.7, 9th-best in the American League; along with an 86% SB rate — Granderson also runs the bases extremely well. Who could forget his scoring the go-ahead run on a money slide just underneath Russell Martin‘s tag in the epic comeback against the Dodgers at the end of June? However, despite being one of the better baserunners in the league, Granderson posted a relatively meager 40% XBT percentage (exactly league average), down from 48% in 2009. Perhaps with such a well-stocked offense Curtis didn’t feel the need to take as many chances on the basepaths, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more aggression from Grandy (and especially Brett Gardner) next season.
Overall, I think Granderson had a decent-enough first season in pinstripes — his 3.6 fWAR was worth $14.3 million according to
Fangraphs, a very nice value for a player who made $5.5 million this past season — but I certainly expect him to perform even better in 2011. A second straight .346 wOBA campaign might be enough for even the most patient Yankee fans to start getting the pitchforks out, though if he wOBAs near .500 again in the postseason his regular season will likely be a moot point.
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0 Responses to 2010 Season in Review: Curtis Granderson
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TIQ IQ
Are you crazy? I hope they don't pay you for this drool.This was a terrible trade for the NYY. Kennedy made 32 starts with a 3.80 ERA and 194 inninngs. Jackson hit .293 with a .345 OBP and 103 runs. Whereas Granderson hit .247 with a .324 OBP. Either alone would have been more valuable to the Yanks. You throw a lot of stats around, but it's clear you're more impressed by a few episodes than anything else. Offensively Granderson is below average, and this trade is a terrible turd of a deal. Just remember this deal while the Yanks overpay for pitching while Kennedy puts up solid numbers. This one could haunt the team for years.
Hi Tanned Tom,
Nowhere in this post did I make a statement on the trade itself — this was merely a summation of what Granderson did this season.
However, in a post from last week I did in fact declare that I felt the trade worked out well for the Yankees. If you truly believe that the Yankees are going to miss Ian Kennedy of all people going forward, then I really don't have an answer for that, other than that there's less than zero chance Kennedy would've put up anything close to a 3.80 ERA in the AL East.
If you actually read my final paragraph, I wrote that while I didn't think Granderson had the worst season ever, I do think he needs to significantly pick things up for next year — if he repeats his sub-par (for him) 2010 season, then I might be willing to reconsider this trade.
I really don't understand your beef with Granderson. Back at the end of September you were griping about Curtis as well, a viewpoint I understood even less considering the man had produced a .442 wOBA on the month at the time of your comment.
He then went on to be one of two Yankees who hit in the postseason, and yet somehow this trade is still terrible? Jackson likely wouldn't have even sniffed the Majors with the Yankees this season, Phil Coke is the most replaceable reliever ever and Ian Kennedy's stuff just doesn't play in the American League. I am truly baffled that there are still some people who think this was a bad deal.
And you know what? Even if you inexplicably remain unconvinced about Granderson's usefulness, you'd better get used to him, because Jackson, Coke and Kennedy aren't coming back.
In any event, next time we disagree I'd appreciate not being randomly insulted. You clearly have a different viewpoint than I do, and there's no reason we can't have a cogent back-and-forth without it devolving into name-calling.
Gotta agree with Tom this trade was a dog. But you are correct Jackson, Coke and Kennedy aren't coming back and Grandy isn't going anywhere owed the better part of $25 million as he declines.
He hit .249 last season and .247 this season. All your playoff stats mean little as sub .250 hitters may not make the playoffs on 2011.
Here's the thing gentlemen that you need understand. This trade made sense for the Yankees back when it was made, and probably still does now. Larry is absolutely right. Consider the following:
1. Ian Kennedy is not an acceptable answer (to any Yankee problems). We saw him at the Big League level (multiple times!) and it wasn't pretty. The Yankees have other young pitchers coming up through the ranks (the Killer B's for example) that are all more promising.
2. Phil Coke is a completely replaceable reliever. Don't get fooled into thinking otherwise.
3. At the time of the trade, most scouts thought A-Jax would essentially turn into another Curtis Granderson if he were lucky. All indications suggested that he’d be a pretty good player at the Big League level, although nothing extraordinary. Given the likeness of the two players raw abilities (and general lack of plate discipline), you take the proven commodity. A-Jax had an extremely hot start which of course shadowed the trade. However, should Jackson have a rough go in 2011 as the league adjusts to him, don't be surprised…at all. If anyone in the organization legitimately thought that Austin would turn into an elite outfielder they wouldn’t have traded him quite so willingly. Oh and guess what; that regression is bound to happen. The dude led the league in SO while having a ridiculously high BABIP. In other words, it'll be very unsurprising if A-Jax has difficulty duplicating his break-out numbers. Furthermore, Granderson ultimately won out in terms of OPS. The guy has shown an ability to make adjustments and has already delivered in some big moments. Give him a chance. Don't get me wrong, I was/am a big fan of A-Jax. But to look back on that trade as a bust after one year's worth of hindsight is absurd.
On a side note, Tom – we do not get paid for writing. However, we invest A LOT of time into these posts. We put even more time into the research. You certainly don’t have to agree with our conclusions, but there is absolutely no reason for the personal attacks.
Um..okay but dude he hit .249 last season and .247 this season. Ajax hit what about .300 most of the season? He's on rookie money as Grandy declines on a fat multiyear contract. When does it not become absurd? A year ? Two?
Well Anon- All I can say is don't get overly fixated on the batting averages just yet. As I noted above, A-Jax led the AL in SO and he also had a very high BABIP. Those two factors don't exactly bode well for him in terms of sustaining 2010 production. Plus as I noted above, Curtis did ultimately win out in OPS.
As for the money and duration, you're right. Curtis is not dirt cheap and under team control like A-Jax. However, he has a reasonable salary (2010 was approximately $5.5M) and is only on the line through 2012. The team has a club option for 2013. So at the very worst, you only have two more seasons.
Speaking purely anecdotally, I'd be willing to guess that during next season we'll see the two guys post much closer batting averages (.260ish for Grandy / .270ish for A-Jax) – except unlike the Tigers, the Yankees will get 20 additional HR out of the deal.
I know the outfield is a popular point of scrutiny. However, Gardy, Granderson, and Swish make up an excellent outfield and that's really the least of the team's concerns (at least in my eyes).