Closer Look: Curtis Granderson
November 18th, 2009 | by bronxb225 |As I mentioned before, there is some buzz surrounding the availability of Curtis Granderson and the perceived involvement of the New York Yankees. Granderson was an all-star in 2009 but has seen his production slip over the past couple of seasons. Joseph at River Avenue Blues has a good piece looking into what may have played into his decline. Let’s take a deeper look into some of the factors that would go into acquiring the Tiger’s All-Star and how he would fit into our 2010 World Series plans.
Offense
Despite the drop in production, Granderson has shown throughout much of his career that he is capable of posting good on-base and slugging percentages – even while his batting average waivers (which, as we know, tends to happen from time to time in many players’ career). In over 2500 career at-bats, Granderson has posted a slash line of .272/.344/.484. In Detroit, he was expected to carry a substantial portion of the load. In New York, he would simply be another guy on the assembly line. The five hole is in the neighborhood of where we would slot him. Keep in mind that these were posted over a small sample size in 2009 (59 AB’s) but out of the five-hole, he posted a line of .339/.412/.559. Does a stat like this have significance or is it just random? I don’t know but it is certainly something to look into. Ultimately, it will be up to the Yankees Front Office to decide how much stock goes into a small sample like that. More important than this sample is what the Yankees think of Granderson as an overall hitter and that is surely what they are going to be evaluating.
Defense
Granderson is regarded as a quality center fielder by multiple defensive criteria. Defensive metrics have not been taken to in the same way that offensive ones have over the past few years. However, you don’t need a statistic to show you that he has the physical gifts to excel defensively. Disregarding defensive statistics, it is pretty clear that Granderson would be an upgrade over Melky – who I consider a decent defensive player. Other off season moves would determine whether Melky would assume left field duties or if he would be relegated to part-time play. Either way, Granderson’s presence would improve our outfield defense as a whole.
Intangibles
I don’t spend a lot of time following the Tigers but, everything I hear about Granderson is positive. People rave about his positive impact in the community and his positive contributions to Major League Baseball. Those don’t NECESSARILY translate into being a positive addition to team chemistry but I, and I’m sure many others, would take those chances.
Trade Package
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to go through a number of trade scenarios and player packages at this point. We don’t even know how serious we are about pursuing Granderson. What we can do, though, is safely assume that Austin Jackson would be a key piece in a deal that brought the Tiger over. This is where the question comes up on whether or not to keep your prospects arises. In the right package, I think it is easy to deal the talented but raw Jackson for the established Granderson – who also happens to the be the player that Jackson is compared to. Another thing that I wonder about is if the Tigers would give us a discount on a player package if we took one of their bad contracts – Dontrelle Willis or Nate Robertson. The Yankees could be serious about lowering payroll over the next couple of seasons but would still have no problem absorbing a one-year commitment of $12 or $10 million to take Willis or Robertson, respectively, off of the Tigers’ books.
Granderson’s dynamic offensive game, quality center field defense and highly regarded personal character would make him a great addition to the squad in our defense of the World Series title. His age and reasonable contract mean that he would not only make sense in future plans but he would make sense financially as well. Obviously, a trade has to make sense for the Tigers as well and it remains to be seen if both teams can come to an agreement. Until then, enjoy the rumors and speculation.
