Heyman: Yanks, DBacks and Tigers Reach Agreement

Cashman said the priorities this offseason were pitching, pitching, pitching...and then left field. So naturally he goes out and gets a center fielder. It appears (pending medicals) that Curtis Granderson is coming to the Bronx. The price is Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy and Phil Coke.

Now Cashman just has to deal with that pitching, pitching, pitching...and left field.

h/t mlbtraderumors.com

Comments

[attackgerbil]

gerbil's (irrationally) favorite non-Yankee is now a Yankee. mrs. gerbil and her dad are both Tigers fans. This is fantastic for me on multiple levels.

[Lar]

I don't like the trade. It seems to be a bit on the expensive side.. Coke, Kennedy _and_ Jackson? What? I rather take Edwin Jackson or a Scherzer. Bah.

[Jeff]

A no-brainer deal. The Yanks get a very solid CF, and a lefty bat, for little in the way of prospects. Jackson is tough to give up, but like Kepner just said if the hope is that Jackson will someday be Granderson, what difference does it make? Ian Kennedy would have been fighting too many other folks for a shot and so he was easily expendable.

Really it comes down to Ajax for Grandy. That's a very easy trade to make. Even as Ajax may one day be an All-Star, Grandy already is.

[walein]

Detroit did very well in this trade I have to say.
But the Yanks get control over Granderson thru 13 (option in 2013). His price his really good too. I think this spells the end of Matsui and Damon as Yankees, unless Matsui or Damon are willing to sign the deal the Yanks want them to sign--2 years tops.

[attackgerbil]

> expensive

Granderson is $5.5M for '10, $8.25M for '11, $10M for '12, $13M club option w/$2M buyout for '13

[Nick-YF]

The only downside to this deal for the Yanks is if Granderson's two-season decline is the beginning of a drop off a cliff. Otherwise, this is the sort of deal a very wealthy team like the Yanks should make every time they're offered it.

[Jeff]

The absolutely amazing thing about the Yankee farm is they still have the pieces for Halladay. How times have changed.

I also don't love the deal. But that's a good sign it was a fair deal. And Grandy's contract means they could sign Holliday/Bay this winter and still cut payroll relative to Damon/Matsui. That's some pretty fly Cashman jiujitsu.

[Lar]

Okay, I probably did speak in haste. Haha, I would love some homegrown option (AJax) to come up big, and I am still an irrational fan of Kennedy. If only we traded Igawa instead..

Now if Granderson can hit lefties..

[attackgerbil]

The thought of Granderson rattling rocket line drives into the RF corner standing at third base less than 10 seconds later makes me very comfortable. The thought of finally having a decent-hitting and ++ fielding player in CF makes me very very comfortable.

[Jeff]

"The only downside to this deal for the Yanks is if Granderson's two-season decline is the beginning of a drop off a cliff."

He gets crushed by his home park (career .780 OPS). I think he'll recover just fine in his new park. Still, I worry that they should be sitting him against southpaws.

[walein]

I think this is a great thing for Ian Kennedy. The American League, and especially the East, was not going to give him a chance of becoming the potential decent number 3/4 starter he can probably be.
Lar,
The only way the Yanks will be able to trade Igawa is if it's to Tiger Woods and because they have the antidote to his problems right now. (ouch. I. went. there.).

[Jeff]

It's trades like these that make me very happy to be a Yankee fan. They win a Series and they go out and get the best position player available on the trade market. And if they stick him at #2, he's going to get a lot of pitches to hit...if he's patient.

[IronHorse (YF)]

Very happy. He is exactly the kind of player I like to watch - strong defensively, good with the bat and great on the basepads. We feel so far removed from betting huge sums of money on the station-to-station Jason Giambis of the world I couldn't be happier. Our best slugger is still fast enough to steal double digit bases.

The bells may be tolling for Damon, but as already pointed out, he is primarily a LF/DH. This deal frees them up to put Melky on the trade block as part of a package for - let's say - a pitcher from the north, though in and of himself, he doesn't get the Yanks much.

[Atheose - SF]

It's trades like these that make me very happy to be a Yankee fan. They win a Series and they go out and get the best position player available on the trade market. And if they stick him at #2, he's going to get a lot of pitches to hit...if he's patient.

1. I wouldn't call him the best position player available on the trade market. The hot stove season still has a long way to go.
2. It seems like common sense to have him bat lead-off (which he has done his entire career), and move Jeter back to #2 in the lineup.

[Jeff]

A few more notes:

Grandy had a .275 BABIP in 2009 versus .321 in his career.

In his 13 plate appearances in the new Yankee Stadium, he had a .818 SLG (1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR).

[Jeff]

"I wouldn't call him the best position player available on the trade market. The hot stove season still has a long way to go."

Who's better that's been realistically mentioned? A-Gon ain't going anywhere.

"It seems like common sense to have him bat lead-off (which he has done his entire career), and move Jeter back to #2 in the lineup."

Except that Jeter thrived there. And the lefty splits up the righties.

[Jeff]

Fangraphs gives the Yanks an A+:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-big-trade/

[AndrewYF]

Jeter's definitely leading off. Granderson leading off is a waste. He belongs in the middle of the lineup where he can drive many guys in with his very good power.

[walein]

The right field porch should help his power numbers as well.

[AndrewYF]

Peter Gammons leaving ESPN to pursue other opportunities.

[IronHorse (YF)]

"Peter Gammons leaving ESPN to pursue other opportunities."

Wonder if he'll retain his consultancy as the Sox' PR manager.

[AndrewYF]

Heh, maybe that's why he left, it was too hard to hold two jobs.

[krueg]

I'm pumped and my fellow YF's pumpitude makes me even more pumped being that all of you know more about baseball than I do...

[krueg]

I don't really understand baseball people and the obsession with certain stats...

They were talking about C. Grand's OBP as being among the worst in the AL for leadoff men, which:

1) might not matter because you would think he will be hitting 2nd...

and

2) The first guy on the list was Ian KInsler and the third was BJ Upton???

Who in their right mind wouldn't want one of these three players leading off for their team? Even in spite of the low OBP???

Weird.

[Jeff]

"Wonder if he'll retain his consultancy as the Sox' PR manager."

Yup.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2009/12/gammons_to_leav.html

[Atheose - SF]

Who's better that's been realistically mentioned? A-Gon ain't going anywhere.

I was thinking of Milton Bradley. But I guess I'm just squabbling on a minor point; this is a great move for the Yanks.

Except that Jeter thrived there. And the lefty splits up the righties.

Ahh good point, I didn't think about the lefty/righty switch in the lineup.

[Jeff]

The more digging I've done the more excited I am. Turns out Granderson has a .731 OPS on the road against lefthanders. That's the Yankee CFs of the last three years. It really is Comerica that kills him. Now imagine him in Yankee Stadium 2. I can't wait. What a fantastic trade and for almost nothing. They trade surplus pitching and a guy who at his very, very best (which he's shown in half of one minor league season) could be...Granderson (but from the wrong side of the plate). And they still have the pieces/money to get Halladay AND Holliday!

I know they're not in on him, but the Yankees should absolutely make a run at Bay. With Melky and Gardner, Bay would be a great DH/LF and they'd hurt the Sox at the same time. Worst case they drive up the cost for the Sox. Or they re-sign Damon and Granderson slots into the number 9 hole...slugging .500 there.

[Atheose - SF]

Also interesting: supposedly the Tigers asked for Ellsbury or Buchholz in exchange for Granderson. It would have been nice to have Granderson, but not at that price.

[Atheose - SF]

And they still have the pieces/money to get Halladay AND Holliday!

If this happens I'm going to stick my finger in an electrical socket. Ugh, That's a pretty unbeatable team:

1. Jeter
2. Granderson
3. Teixeira
4. Rodriguez
5. Holliday
6. Posada
7. Swisher
8. Cano
9. Cabrera

1. Sabathia
2. Halladay
3. Burnett
4. Chamberlain
5. Hughes or Pettitte (assuming they resign him)

[AndrewYF]

Ath, the Yankees would be giving up one of Hughes or Chamberlain if they get Halladay. They're not giving up Montero for anything other than a deal involving Hanley Ramirez, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, etc, nor should they.

That would be a pretty sweet team, but I don't see them trading for Halladay. It would go against everything Cashman has been doing since '05.

[AndrewYF]

Also I'm completely against getting Jason Bay. He's already a horrid defender, and his past three years are frighteningly similar to Richie Sexson at the same age. I'm rooting for the Red Sox to sign him for their original 4 years/60 million.

[dc]

good day all around for yankee fans...we get granderson, and get rid of gammons...yay

[Jeff]

"It would have been nice to have Granderson, but not at that price."

I don't believe this "report" one bit. What's so great about Ellsbury? Even in Granderson's worst year, he was worth twice as much as Ellsbury. Ellsbury AND Buchholz and you're right. Theo said though that they didn't have the pieces, and he's right. The Yankees had a surplus in both pitching and in the OF. The Sox do not. It was really that simple. It still amazes me though that the Yanks got an All-Star CF without giving up Hughes, Joba, or Montero. Even better that he's on a very value-friendly deal.

"Also I'm completely against getting Jason Bay."

He needn't be an everyday defender. Put him at DH most days then push him into the field when someone else gets a half day off.

Bay by himself I'm not enamored by. But even trying to sign Bay hurts the Sox. That's a plus. Worst case they can still sign Damon or Cameron. The Yankees have alot of very good options.

I don't think they'll get Halladay either, but it's fun to think about.

[krueg]

And now Pettitte is re-signed too!!! Great offseason so far...life is good!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4727385

[Atheose - SF]

I don't believe this "report" one bit. What's so great about Ellsbury? Even in Granderson's worst year, he was worth twice as much as Ellsbury.

I think the assumption is that Ellsbury or Buchholz would be the main piece, with a prospect or two rounding things out. And you should be comparing Ellsbury to AJax, not Granderson. Ellsbury is at least somewhat proven at the major-league level (league-average offense, with 70 SB's on top of that), whereas AJax still is not.

[ponch - sf]

"I don't believe this "report" one bit. What's so great about Ellsbury? Even in Granderson's worst year, he was worth twice as much as Ellsbury."

Uhm.

2009:
Player 1 - .301/.355/.415 OPS .770 SB 70/82 ZR - 10.237 8HR/60RBI/94RS $455,000
Player 2 - .249/.327/.453 OPS .780 SB 20/26 ZR - 9.56 30HR/71RBI/91RS $3,500,000

If you're a smart GM, which one do you take? Probably player 1, who gives you almost the same production, much more speed, a better average, less strikeouts, and less than 1/7th the cost, right? 'Worth twice as much as Ellsbury' might not be particularly accurate.

[Atheose - SF]

And before you say that Ellsbury had an UZR of -14 last year: Teixeira had an UZR of -0.8. So I'm not sure how much emphasis I would put on that.

[Jeff]

See fangraphs.

Ellsbury was worth 1.9 wins last year and has averaged 2.3 wins in his first three years.

Granderson was worth 3.4 wins last year and has averaged 4.6 wins in the last three years.

Those figures include defense.

But sure if you're comparing Ellsbury to Ajax, then who's the comp with Kennedy? Where Ellsbury OR Buchholz wasn't enough, I did say that Ellsbury AND Buchholz was too much. The problem is the Sox had little else to offer that's ML-ready (what the Tigers and D-Backs wanted).

[Jeff]

I also don't doubt Teixeira's UZR. He's solid and he makes nifty plays around the bag. But his range is average.