Well there is a sentence I never thought I would have to type ever, or speak or even really think. But yes Robinson Cano signed a ten year $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners and I am really expecting that there will not be any Jay-Z concerts at Yankee stadium anytime soon. The Yankees offered Cano a 7 year $175 million deal which has a higher per year pay but obviously not the years or total money and Cano took it. I never blame players for leaving in free agency and I do not blame Cano for taking the money, really I see it simply as Cano wanted money more than he wanted to be a Yankee. I am not bashing Cano with that statement or making any kind of slash at his character but it is simply that he wanted to maximize his earning potential and who are we to judge him for that? Anyways I hope that Cano is happy in Seattle and that he never gets a hit against the Yankees. Also it is really weird to be outbid by the Mariners for an elite homegrown Yankee player, I don't know the last time the Yankees were outbid trying to retain one of their own or if its really ever happened.
On another note the Mets signed Curtis Granderson to a 4-year $60 million deal and I wish Granderson all the luck in Queens. I have to bring up that I think I may have preferred Granderson 4/60 to Ellsbury 7/153 but they are different players and we will have to see what happens. The Yankees also resigned Hiroki Kuroda to a one year deal and are very likely to make several more moves as they have all of there Cano money left to use. We will have to wait and see what happens here on out and I know personally I hope the Yankees go hard after Tanaka if he is indeed posted.
Showing posts with label Curtis Granderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curtis Granderson. Show all posts
Friday, December 6, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Yankees make qualifying offer to Cano, Kuroda and Granderson
The Yankees have officially extended qualifying offers to Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, and Curtis Granderson, the team announced. Qualifying offers are worth $14.1M this offseason. If they reject and sign with another team, the Yankees will receive a
supplemental first round pick as compensation regardless of whether
their new team has a protected first rounder.Players have until next Monday to accept or decline and I expect all three to decline the offers.Apparently the Yankees were worried about offering one to Granderson because they thought he might accept, which seems like an odd worry.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Curtis Granderson injured in hit by pitch......again
In yesterdays game against the Rays Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch from Cesar Ramos and suffered a broken knuckle on the pinky finger of his left hand. The Yankees placed him on the 15 day DL and recalled Brennan Boesch from Triple A. The timetable is at least four weeks and Granderson will see a hand specialist on Monday in New York. Obviously this hurts the Yankees, but its especially annoying considering that Granderson has only played 11 games since coming back from his broken forearm suffered in the spring. Granderson had this to say following the game (via Mark Feinsand):
“I bounced back from [the forearm injury], I’ll bounce back from this.The hand is still on, it didn’t fall off. You can take a look at all the positives from everything. It’s a better break than the previous one, that’s a good thing, it should be back sooner than the last time so that’s a good thing. The team is playing well. Hopefully we come back and the team is right where we need it to be and continue to help this team move forward until the end.”
The Yankees really needed Grandersons bat, but Youkilis and Teixeira are starting rehab assignments soon so they can hopefully survive the loss. One idea pitched by River Ave Blues is that the Yankees should see if Overbay can handle playing the outfield, its not ideal but if he can be passable then the Yankees could keep his bat in the lineup. Overbay did play some outfield in the minors but that was ten years ago at this point, so the Yankees would definitely want to see how he handles it before they put him there in a game. Either way hopefully Granderson can return soon.
“I bounced back from [the forearm injury], I’ll bounce back from this.The hand is still on, it didn’t fall off. You can take a look at all the positives from everything. It’s a better break than the previous one, that’s a good thing, it should be back sooner than the last time so that’s a good thing. The team is playing well. Hopefully we come back and the team is right where we need it to be and continue to help this team move forward until the end.”
The Yankees really needed Grandersons bat, but Youkilis and Teixeira are starting rehab assignments soon so they can hopefully survive the loss. One idea pitched by River Ave Blues is that the Yankees should see if Overbay can handle playing the outfield, its not ideal but if he can be passable then the Yankees could keep his bat in the lineup. Overbay did play some outfield in the minors but that was ten years ago at this point, so the Yankees would definitely want to see how he handles it before they put him there in a game. Either way hopefully Granderson can return soon.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Granderson activated from DL
The Yankees activated Curtis Granderson from the disabled list and optioned Vidal Nuno to AAA Scranton. Curtis will start tonight in Left Field and batting 4th hopefully with his much needed power on display against the Mariners Ace, Felix Hernandez. In case you don't remember Granderson was hit by a pitch two pitches into spring training by Blue Jays pitcher J.A Happ. Granderson had a mixed season last year, his Batting average and Slugging percentage were suprisingly low considering his 43 Home runs, but he still walked a lot and I would hope that he will improve on his contact rate. Some people think that Granderson is absolutely worthless because he struck out 195 times last year, but honestly I subscribe to the idea that most players make 300-450 outs a year, so does it really matter how they are made? Some people have actually suggested that the Yankees are better off without Granderson, which is completely absurd; Ichiro has a sub .300 OBP and an OPS of .650 and if you ask some people that's apparently better because Granderson strikes out a lot.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Now is the spring training of our discontent
Well Mark Teixeira is going to miss 8-10 weeks with a tendon sprain in his wrist and he will join Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez as the Yankees on the Disabled list to start the year. The Yankees lineup was already going to be lacking the power that we have been accustomed to and now the Yankees opening day lineup will feature only three men who qualify as "power bats"; Youkilis, Cano and Hafner. That is putting a lot of pressure on the remaining hitters and especially on the pitching staff to try and carry the team through the first month as at this point the Yankees are unlikely to acquire an impact bat at this point. The biggest issue is that traditionally the Yankees have had great benches, with lots of depth and then this year they have a bad bench with poor depth and it has hurt them.
Some people have decided to write off the season, despite the fact that the season has not even started yet. The Yankees probably will look to acquire a piece, but Brian Cashman stated that he would like to acquire a piece that can display some versatility and so he wants a guy who can continue to play after the return of Teixeira or someone that they can potentially drop. Justin Morneau's name has been thrown around, but Cashman indirectly disputed this rumor, by saying that the player would need to be versatile and his $14 million salary wouldn't be cut or moved easily. That being said Morneau may be the best option as we do not know if this injury could keep Tex out longer than his current timetable suggested as Jose Bautista suffered a similar injury in mid July and it kept him out for the rest of the season. Remember Gardner was only supposed to miss two weeks and he didn't return until September, I'm not trying to say that that's what will happen with Tex but you just don't know what will happen as the season progresses. The Yankees will likely acquire a player to try and fill the void, but as of now we don't know the quality of the player, but it will need to be somebody better than Dan Johnson.
Some people have decided to write off the season, despite the fact that the season has not even started yet. The Yankees probably will look to acquire a piece, but Brian Cashman stated that he would like to acquire a piece that can display some versatility and so he wants a guy who can continue to play after the return of Teixeira or someone that they can potentially drop. Justin Morneau's name has been thrown around, but Cashman indirectly disputed this rumor, by saying that the player would need to be versatile and his $14 million salary wouldn't be cut or moved easily. That being said Morneau may be the best option as we do not know if this injury could keep Tex out longer than his current timetable suggested as Jose Bautista suffered a similar injury in mid July and it kept him out for the rest of the season. Remember Gardner was only supposed to miss two weeks and he didn't return until September, I'm not trying to say that that's what will happen with Tex but you just don't know what will happen as the season progresses. The Yankees will likely acquire a player to try and fill the void, but as of now we don't know the quality of the player, but it will need to be somebody better than Dan Johnson.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Granderson out 10 weeks with broken forearm
Well the first televised Spring training game resulted in Curtis Granderson fracturing his right forearm on a pitch from Blue Jays left-hander J.A Happ.
Granderson spoke to Mark Feinsand after suffering the injury stating: “I was excited, my body was feeling good, mind was feeling good and I was ready to go. Five pitches in we have a little setback. They said it could be worse. Now we rest, recover, get it back and get ready to play whenever that day comes … Mentally, you understand it’s part of it. At the same time, there’s not much I can do about it except for doing the best things I can to not make it worse but yet keep myself ready to go.”
Granderson played 160 games with last years team and hit 43 home runs, with him down the Yankees are losing their best power hitter for the last two years and are looking at a very light hitting outfield to start the year. Look for the Yankees to monitor the waiver wire and possibly look to trade for a player, but its not like there was a player out there before that the Yankees were looking at. It also makes it really stink that the Yankees did not sign Scott Harriston or trade for Mike Morse as they could easily have just used him in a full time role until Granderson came back. Its not going to be good if the Yankees have to start the year with what they have and they cannot do what they did last year and just ignore the issue.
I suppose its good that this happened so early in spring training and I would be even more concerned about a hand injury, but any arm area injuries are concerning especially for a guy who was having issues with his swing.
Just a note Chris Dickerson would be great to have right now, but hind sight is always 20-20.
Granderson spoke to Mark Feinsand after suffering the injury stating: “I was excited, my body was feeling good, mind was feeling good and I was ready to go. Five pitches in we have a little setback. They said it could be worse. Now we rest, recover, get it back and get ready to play whenever that day comes … Mentally, you understand it’s part of it. At the same time, there’s not much I can do about it except for doing the best things I can to not make it worse but yet keep myself ready to go.”
Granderson played 160 games with last years team and hit 43 home runs, with him down the Yankees are losing their best power hitter for the last two years and are looking at a very light hitting outfield to start the year. Look for the Yankees to monitor the waiver wire and possibly look to trade for a player, but its not like there was a player out there before that the Yankees were looking at. It also makes it really stink that the Yankees did not sign Scott Harriston or trade for Mike Morse as they could easily have just used him in a full time role until Granderson came back. Its not going to be good if the Yankees have to start the year with what they have and they cannot do what they did last year and just ignore the issue.
I suppose its good that this happened so early in spring training and I would be even more concerned about a hand injury, but any arm area injuries are concerning especially for a guy who was having issues with his swing.
Just a note Chris Dickerson would be great to have right now, but hind sight is always 20-20.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Predicting the AL and NL Award winners
Predicting who wins the silver sluggers and Golden gloves can always be a little difficult especially the golden gloves as they seem to be just picked based on who is the biggest name. Ive put who the likely winner will be and then other possibilities bellow in parenthesis. The people who statistically should win are italicized.
American League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Curtis Grandson, Jose Bautisa, Jacoby Ellsbury
( Adam Jones, Alex Gordon, Nick Swisher)
These three should be pretty straight forward, but if one slips up in September don't be surprised if Gordon get the award.
1st- Adrian Gonzalez
(Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixiera, Paul Konkerko)
Its Gonzalez's award plain and simple
2nd- Robinson Cano
(Dustin Pedroia)
This one is tough because the national media worship Pedroia and they could give him the award for that reason. And despite cano being better in nearly every category they could decide that Pedroia's scrappiness deserves the award, they did give him the 2008 MVP for it.
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera
(JJ Hardy, Yunel Escobar, Jhonny Peralta)
Peralta deserves it more but people are enamored with Asdrubal this year
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(A-Rod, Kevin Youkillis)
I really can't tell you who deserves it this year because everybody has missed significant amounts of time this year and whomever wins it will be the one with the best September
C- Alex Avila
(Matt Weiters, Russel Martin)
Avila deserves it he has been the best catcher in a weak hitting field. Technically Napoli has been better but he has only caught 42 games this year.
DH- David Ortiz
(Michael Young)
Power numbers win this award and Ortiz has had the power.
Gold Gloves
These are always hard to predict because it seems that people just pick these at random sometimes. Because every stat last year (sabermatics and standard) screamed that Gardner was the best defender in baseball and he didn't win. What also surprised me is how high Nick Swisher ranks in terms of defense and how much Granderson's defense has fluctuated.
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Jones, Peter Bourjis
(Alex Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson)
Outfield is always the hardest because it seems to be picked by whomever is seen the most on sport center. Jones is a perfect example of that.
1st- Mark Teixiera
(Adrian Gonzalaez, Mark Trumbo)
Tex deserves it but they could end up just deciding Gonzalaez deserves it.
2nd- Dustin Pedroia
(Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano)
Pedroia is a good defensive 2nd baseman and will win the award
SS- Asdrubal Cabrera
(Alexei Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, Yunel Escobar)
Cabrera actually ranks as one of the worst defensive shortstops right now but that hasn't stopped voters before.
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(Evan Longoria, A-Rod)
A-rod deserves it more than you think and if he had played more games than he has i would say him but Beltre will win it.
C-Matt Weiters
(Russel Martin, Miguel Olivo, Alex Avila)
I would not be surprised at all if they give it to martin or Avila but Weiters should win it this year.
P- Mark Burhlee
(Felix Hernandez, Brad Penny, Jeff Francis)
This is just awarded to whomever makes the best sport center play
AL MVP - Curtis Granderson (Jose Bautista, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez)
Granderson is a close second and could surpass Bautista in September but the only reason Bautista wont win is that he plays for the Jays.
AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander ( CC Sabathia, Jered Weaver)
Verllander has surpassed everybody else no question.
AL ROY- Dustin Ackley (Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Mark Trumbo)
Sorry to all you Trumbo fans but he has a sub .300 OBP.
National League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman
(Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, Matt Holiday, Mike Stanton, Jay Bruce)
No doubt that Kemp and Braun will each win one the third is Berkman's to lose.
1st- Prince Fielder
(Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Michael Morse)
Votto wont win because the reds aren't in it, but he does deserve it more than anybody else.
2nd- Rickie Weeks
(Dan Uggla)
Its Weeks unless he missed the rest of the season
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes, Starlin Castro)
people seem to have fallen off the Reyes train but a stellar September and he could win it.
3rd- Aramis Ramirez
(Ryan Roberts)
only quality 3rd baseman to go the full year in both leagues.
C- Brain McCann
(Miguel Montero)
McCann will win in hands down
P-Daniel Hudson
(Carlos Zambrano, Dontrelle Willis)
I don't think baseball want to acknowledge Big Z right now and Willis hasn't played enough.
Gold Gloves
OF-Shane Victorino, Andre Ethier, Justin Upton
(Drew Stubbs, Ryan Braun, Gerrado Parra, Chris Young)
Its surprising how good everybody in the D-Backs outfield is but names come first which s why Braun is on the list.
1st-Joey Votto
(Todd Helton, Carlos Pena, Albert Pujols)
Votto deserves it but they could pick Pujols out of the blue
2nd- Brandon Philips
(Rickie Weeks, Darwin Barney)
Philips by far but Barney and Weeks are names that people like too
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes)
same argument as the silver slugger
3rd-Placido Polanco
(Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez)
Polanco does deserve it but its been a poor year for 3rd baseman overall
C- Yadier Molina
(Carlos Ruiz, Chris Iannetta, Miguel Montero)
Montero has been the best defensively in every category but they will give it to Molina.
P-Roy Halladay
(John Lannan, Hiroki Kuroda)
Kuroda has started 4 DP and has a perfect fielding pecentage with no errors but Halliaday has to win something.
NL MVP- Matt Kemp (Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Troy Tulowitzki)
Votto deserves his second MVP but Kemp will win
NL Cy Young- Clayton Kershaw (LeeHallidayHamels, Ian kennedy)
Kershaw is so good that I think he will win but any of the three headed ace could win.
NL ROY- Craig Kimbrel (Danny Espinosa, Freddie Freeman)
Espinosa deserves it by far but they will give it to Kimbrel.
American League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Curtis Grandson, Jose Bautisa, Jacoby Ellsbury
( Adam Jones, Alex Gordon, Nick Swisher)
These three should be pretty straight forward, but if one slips up in September don't be surprised if Gordon get the award.
1st- Adrian Gonzalez
(Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixiera, Paul Konkerko)
Its Gonzalez's award plain and simple
2nd- Robinson Cano
(Dustin Pedroia)
This one is tough because the national media worship Pedroia and they could give him the award for that reason. And despite cano being better in nearly every category they could decide that Pedroia's scrappiness deserves the award, they did give him the 2008 MVP for it.
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera
(JJ Hardy, Yunel Escobar, Jhonny Peralta)
Peralta deserves it more but people are enamored with Asdrubal this year
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(A-Rod, Kevin Youkillis)
I really can't tell you who deserves it this year because everybody has missed significant amounts of time this year and whomever wins it will be the one with the best September
C- Alex Avila
(Matt Weiters, Russel Martin)
Avila deserves it he has been the best catcher in a weak hitting field. Technically Napoli has been better but he has only caught 42 games this year.
DH- David Ortiz
(Michael Young)
Power numbers win this award and Ortiz has had the power.
Gold Gloves
These are always hard to predict because it seems that people just pick these at random sometimes. Because every stat last year (sabermatics and standard) screamed that Gardner was the best defender in baseball and he didn't win. What also surprised me is how high Nick Swisher ranks in terms of defense and how much Granderson's defense has fluctuated.
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Jones, Peter Bourjis
(Alex Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson)
Outfield is always the hardest because it seems to be picked by whomever is seen the most on sport center. Jones is a perfect example of that.
1st- Mark Teixiera
(Adrian Gonzalaez, Mark Trumbo)
Tex deserves it but they could end up just deciding Gonzalaez deserves it.
2nd- Dustin Pedroia
(Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano)
Pedroia is a good defensive 2nd baseman and will win the award
SS- Asdrubal Cabrera
(Alexei Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, Yunel Escobar)
Cabrera actually ranks as one of the worst defensive shortstops right now but that hasn't stopped voters before.
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(Evan Longoria, A-Rod)
A-rod deserves it more than you think and if he had played more games than he has i would say him but Beltre will win it.
C-Matt Weiters
(Russel Martin, Miguel Olivo, Alex Avila)
I would not be surprised at all if they give it to martin or Avila but Weiters should win it this year.
P- Mark Burhlee
(Felix Hernandez, Brad Penny, Jeff Francis)
This is just awarded to whomever makes the best sport center play
AL MVP - Curtis Granderson (Jose Bautista, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez)
Granderson is a close second and could surpass Bautista in September but the only reason Bautista wont win is that he plays for the Jays.
AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander ( CC Sabathia, Jered Weaver)
Verllander has surpassed everybody else no question.
AL ROY- Dustin Ackley (Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Mark Trumbo)
Sorry to all you Trumbo fans but he has a sub .300 OBP.
National League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman
(Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, Matt Holiday, Mike Stanton, Jay Bruce)
No doubt that Kemp and Braun will each win one the third is Berkman's to lose.
1st- Prince Fielder
(Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Michael Morse)
Votto wont win because the reds aren't in it, but he does deserve it more than anybody else.
2nd- Rickie Weeks
(Dan Uggla)
Its Weeks unless he missed the rest of the season
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes, Starlin Castro)
people seem to have fallen off the Reyes train but a stellar September and he could win it.
3rd- Aramis Ramirez
(Ryan Roberts)
only quality 3rd baseman to go the full year in both leagues.
C- Brain McCann
(Miguel Montero)
McCann will win in hands down
P-Daniel Hudson
(Carlos Zambrano, Dontrelle Willis)
I don't think baseball want to acknowledge Big Z right now and Willis hasn't played enough.
Gold Gloves
OF-Shane Victorino, Andre Ethier, Justin Upton
(Drew Stubbs, Ryan Braun, Gerrado Parra, Chris Young)
Its surprising how good everybody in the D-Backs outfield is but names come first which s why Braun is on the list.
1st-Joey Votto
(Todd Helton, Carlos Pena, Albert Pujols)
Votto deserves it but they could pick Pujols out of the blue
2nd- Brandon Philips
(Rickie Weeks, Darwin Barney)
Philips by far but Barney and Weeks are names that people like too
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes)
same argument as the silver slugger
3rd-Placido Polanco
(Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez)
Polanco does deserve it but its been a poor year for 3rd baseman overall
C- Yadier Molina
(Carlos Ruiz, Chris Iannetta, Miguel Montero)
Montero has been the best defensively in every category but they will give it to Molina.
P-Roy Halladay
(John Lannan, Hiroki Kuroda)
Kuroda has started 4 DP and has a perfect fielding pecentage with no errors but Halliaday has to win something.
NL MVP- Matt Kemp (Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Troy Tulowitzki)
Votto deserves his second MVP but Kemp will win
NL Cy Young- Clayton Kershaw (LeeHallidayHamels, Ian kennedy)
Kershaw is so good that I think he will win but any of the three headed ace could win.
NL ROY- Craig Kimbrel (Danny Espinosa, Freddie Freeman)
Espinosa deserves it by far but they will give it to Kimbrel.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Breaking down the MVP Race
 |
| Could he be the 2011 AL MVP? |
If you watched last nights game then you heard Michael Kay spending a lot of time talking about Curtis Granderson and the MVP race. I don't think that he's correct in saying that if he gets his BA to .290 then he will definitely win in, but Granderson is definitely a top MVP candidate. The Five candidates for MVP are Jose Bautisa, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson. Honestly every stat screams that Bautisa should win the MVP but for some reason the fact that he is on a non contending team, even though they are above .500 prevents people from voting for him, that is why A-Rod didn't win the 2002 MVP award and it could be why Joey Bats doesn't get an MVP trophy for his mantle.
Joey Bats has a 7.6 WAR and while he likely won't have another 50 HR season he is more than likely to get 40 HR this season and if starts hitting like he did in the first half he may still win the batting title. His numbers would actually be even better if their was anyone else in the Toronto lineup that scared opposing pitchers, which speaks to his 120 walks in 113 games. If Toronto had a better lineup then he would probably have a shot at the triple crown but its doubtful he will even get 100 RBI this year. Its really unfair that Bautisa is not running away with the MVP award because he deserves it. Its very frustrating for Blue Jays Fans as some over a Blue Bird Banter wrote about. Its funny too because The Blue Jays have the capacity to turn into a true sustainable power house team, because don't forget Toronto is a big city with an ownership group with deep pockets. Mike Axis from River Ave Blues wrote more about the Blue Jays here.
I'm just going to lump Pedroia, Ellsbury and Gonzalez together because they are all the reason why they might not win the MVP. Pedria ranks #2 in WAR this year and according to ESPN talking heads he is the greatest player ever because he plays with his heart on his sleeve and has cured cancer with his smile. Honestly seeing how much the ESPN and FOX people fawn over him is disgusting, if you remember from the Yankees Red Sox series they would not shut up about how great Pedroia even after he got caught stealing. Pedroia is having a great year and despite Cano deserving it more he will probably win the 2nd Base Silver slugger. Pedroia's case is hurt by the fact that Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting the ball well, playing good defense and showing some uncharacteristic pop. Adrian Gonzalez is the guy that everybody thought would win the MVP and while he looks like he is going to win the batting title he has only hit two Home Runs since June 25th and both of those were in July, I mean this guy hit 40 HR in 2009 at Petco park, where is the power? These three guys could draw MVP votes away from each other and make it that none of them win.
Curtis Granderson is the Yankees MVP Candidate and he is having a career year and is proving all those people who felt that the Yankees should have kept Austin Jackson dead wrong. He leads baseball in Runs Scored and tied with Ryan Howard for RBI's. He also has a good shot of going 40-40 and his average is creeping up and .300 is within reach. What is really weird is that he was intentionally walked 3 times last year and hasn't been intentionally walked once this year. Honestly the only thing that is not fantastic about his year is that he has grounded into 11 Double plays which while not a large amount is as many as he had the previous 3 years. He is really heating up to because after hitting .250 in July and June he has hit .369 in august and .359 over the last 28 days.
Right now Bautisa deserves the MVP but Pedroia would probably win his second undeserved MVP award if the voting happened today. however it should be noted that Pedroia, Gonzalez and Ellsbury have all been hitting .250 or lower the last week or two and while that's a small sample size Granderson and Bautisa have been hitting the cover off the ball the last two weeks with Granderson hitting 6 HR and batting .375 over his last 11 games. The MVP voting might see a very close winner with these five splitting the most MVP votes and possibly Zobrist and Miguel Cabrera stealing some top votes. We also still have a lot of baseball left to play.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The upcoming Toronto series 4/19-4/20/11 and Notes
The Blue Jays came into the season strong with a 4-2 record, but they now stand at 7-9 with several poor performances from their starting pitching and their offense sputtered after the series opener against the Red Sox and they only managed one run in each of the three games they lost to the Red Sox. The Pitching matchup will be featuring Kyle Drabek going against A.J Burnett. Drabek is 1-0 with an 1.93 ERA in 3 starts while Burnett has a 3-0 record with a 4.67 ERA in his 3 starts. Wednesdays game will feature the very uninspring pitching duel between a Bull frog that has found his way into Pinstripes, aka Bartolo Colon who has posted a 3.97 ERA in 3 relief appearances and Brett Cecil who has a 1-1 record with a 6.19 ERA in 3 starts. There is no official word of whether or not A-Rod will play in Tuesdays game but it has been stated that he will play in Wednesdays game. A positive for the Yankees is that if they need to exhaust the bullpen they have Thursday off before heading to Baltimore for an Easter weekend series. The Blue Jays have really struggled the last 3 games and lets hope the Yankees will spoil the Blue Jays home opener.
*If you haven't heard about the J triplets tearing up the international league. Jesus Montero, Jordan Parraz and Jorge Vazquez have been absolutely destroying AAA pitching Jesus Montero is hitting .452 and Jorge Vazquez has a very impressive .340 with 7 HR and 17 RBI's in only 11 games. Jordan Parraz who I wrote about in a previous article is hitting .356 with 3 triples and 2 HR. Also if Justin Maxwell raises his BA to match his .435 OBP then I can start calling them the J Quintuplets.
*Curtis Granderson is hitting .333 against lefties and .194 against eighties. I never thought I would have to say this but Granderson you need to start hitting RHP as well as you are hitting lefties.
*Check out CC's Commercial
*If you haven't heard about the J triplets tearing up the international league. Jesus Montero, Jordan Parraz and Jorge Vazquez have been absolutely destroying AAA pitching Jesus Montero is hitting .452 and Jorge Vazquez has a very impressive .340 with 7 HR and 17 RBI's in only 11 games. Jordan Parraz who I wrote about in a previous article is hitting .356 with 3 triples and 2 HR. Also if Justin Maxwell raises his BA to match his .435 OBP then I can start calling them the J Quintuplets.
*Curtis Granderson is hitting .333 against lefties and .194 against eighties. I never thought I would have to say this but Granderson you need to start hitting RHP as well as you are hitting lefties.
*Check out CC's Commercial
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Granderson Trade
Today Jon Heyman from Sports illustrated tweeted that Austin Jackson is looking like a future superstar and is better than Granderson, the obvious implication being that the Yankees made a mistake in trading Jackson, Ian Kennedy and Phil Coke for Curtis Granderson(who happens to be turning 30 today). Others agree, including many Yankees fans who believe that the Yankees should have kept Jackson and the other pieces of that trade instead of trading them for a center fielder who in 2010 underperformed to say the least. Phil Coke is going to be starting for the Tigers this year and Ian Kennedy was recently named the opening day starter for Arizona and so Arizona and Detroit both seemed to have benefited from the deal. As all of you likely know Austin Jackson finished second last year in the Rookie of the year voting behind Neftali Feliz and his 40 saves and it would have been very cool to have a 2/3 home grown outfield, i think people are missing a big part of this deal.
Before 2010 Austin Jackson had never played a single game in the Majors and while he was hitting .300 in AAA in 2009 that's the minors and we have no idea if those numbers will be anywhere near what a player hits in the majors, so Austin Jackson was a big question mark for the Tigers and while it was very likely that Jackson would hit nobody knew how he would react to the big stage. Another key factor in this is that Austin Jackson is very similar to Brett Gardner in that he is a contact hitter with almost no power, will be good in the outfield and will steal bases.
Austin Jackson generated a 2.9 WAR rating in 2010 and put up the following stats:
Brett Gardner in his sophomore year had a 4 WAR year in 2010 and put up these stats
As you can see while Jackson hit better, Gardner had a better on Base percentage and stole more bases and while Jackson did hit for a better average that could be relate to Gardner's drop off after his wrist injury that he never fully recovered from. Also Jackson and Gardner and Granderson generated the EXACT same fielding stats and so the outfield likely would have been just as good defensively as last year. Gardner is also a better base stealer and while they both strike out a lot Gardner generates a lot of walks while Jackson does not and all of Jackson's stats are from leading off while Gardner generated his mostly in the 9th and 2nd spots.
However Jackson was traded for Granderson and Granderson had the worst year of his career last year with a 2.1 WAR and .247 BA, also he hit 24 HR which considering that he hit 30 in detroit last year is disappointing. However Granderson has refined his swing with Kevin Long and the Yankees will need him to hit like he did in the post season because he will be very important to the Yankees in 2011.
Another part of this trade which is often forgotten in Ian Kennedy one of the Big three pitching prospects of the Yankees with Joba and Hughes was traded for Granderson as well and while he went 9-10 he had a 3.80 ERA in 194 innings and had a 2.7 WAR with a whip of 1.2. However Kennedy did give up 26 Home runs and led the league in Wild Pitches. Coke had a negative WAR season with the Yankees in 2009 and while he improved for detroit I don't particularly miss Coke that much. If you look at in based on WAR then the Yankees gave up 2.1+ .6 + 2.9= 5.6 WAR for Curtis Granderson's 2.5 WAR for $4 million dollars more than Detroit and Arizona had to spend.
Hindsight is 20/20 and overall Arizona and Detroit got the better part of the deal than the Yankees, but both Kennedy and Jackson had break out years and quite frankly neither of these players would have likely fit in New York very well and the Yankees like Granderson especially after the tweaks to his swing. Also there have been a lot of players with great rookie seasons who faltered afterward, Jackson is a great player who is going to be a star, but in the MLB superstar outfielders are guys who hit no less than 20+ Home Runs or steal 40+ Bases and Austin Jackson is not going to do either one of those. Ian Kennedy is going to be a great pitcher who will continue to give up a lot of Home runs, but he is in chase field which is ranked as the 3rd most hitter friendly park in the MLB and he likely would have been better than Javier Vazquez or he could have gotten shelled like he did in 2008. Some people believe that the Yankees lost out on Phil Coke now that he is going to be Starting in detroit, I know he is a lefty but he has only ever started 1 game in AAA and never pitched more than 65 innings in the majors. I don't know if Brian Cashman regrets trading for Granderson but Granderson was an established outfielder, while Jackson was an untested slower Brett Gardner who struck out a lot while Kennedy seemed to have no place with the Yankees in 2010 and he made the decision. Would Yankees fans have been ok with the only home run production in the outfield coming from Nick Swisher? If this trade could be done again I guarantee that the Yankees would not have given as much for Granderson, not because of a lack of production from him but because Jackson would be enough for the deal to happen.
Before 2010 Austin Jackson had never played a single game in the Majors and while he was hitting .300 in AAA in 2009 that's the minors and we have no idea if those numbers will be anywhere near what a player hits in the majors, so Austin Jackson was a big question mark for the Tigers and while it was very likely that Jackson would hit nobody knew how he would react to the big stage. Another key factor in this is that Austin Jackson is very similar to Brett Gardner in that he is a contact hitter with almost no power, will be good in the outfield and will steal bases.
Austin Jackson generated a 2.9 WAR rating in 2010 and put up the following stats:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 23 | DET | AL | 151 | 675 | 618 | 103 | 181 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 41 | 27 | 6 | 47 | 170 | .293 | .345 | .400 |
Brett Gardner in his sophomore year had a 4 WAR year in 2010 and put up these stats
| If you dont feel like following the link the important ones are a BA of .277 an OBP of .383, 47 Stolen bases and 5 Home runs. |
However Jackson was traded for Granderson and Granderson had the worst year of his career last year with a 2.1 WAR and .247 BA, also he hit 24 HR which considering that he hit 30 in detroit last year is disappointing. However Granderson has refined his swing with Kevin Long and the Yankees will need him to hit like he did in the post season because he will be very important to the Yankees in 2011.
Another part of this trade which is often forgotten in Ian Kennedy one of the Big three pitching prospects of the Yankees with Joba and Hughes was traded for Granderson as well and while he went 9-10 he had a 3.80 ERA in 194 innings and had a 2.7 WAR with a whip of 1.2. However Kennedy did give up 26 Home runs and led the league in Wild Pitches. Coke had a negative WAR season with the Yankees in 2009 and while he improved for detroit I don't particularly miss Coke that much. If you look at in based on WAR then the Yankees gave up 2.1+ .6 + 2.9= 5.6 WAR for Curtis Granderson's 2.5 WAR for $4 million dollars more than Detroit and Arizona had to spend.
Hindsight is 20/20 and overall Arizona and Detroit got the better part of the deal than the Yankees, but both Kennedy and Jackson had break out years and quite frankly neither of these players would have likely fit in New York very well and the Yankees like Granderson especially after the tweaks to his swing. Also there have been a lot of players with great rookie seasons who faltered afterward, Jackson is a great player who is going to be a star, but in the MLB superstar outfielders are guys who hit no less than 20+ Home Runs or steal 40+ Bases and Austin Jackson is not going to do either one of those. Ian Kennedy is going to be a great pitcher who will continue to give up a lot of Home runs, but he is in chase field which is ranked as the 3rd most hitter friendly park in the MLB and he likely would have been better than Javier Vazquez or he could have gotten shelled like he did in 2008. Some people believe that the Yankees lost out on Phil Coke now that he is going to be Starting in detroit, I know he is a lefty but he has only ever started 1 game in AAA and never pitched more than 65 innings in the majors. I don't know if Brian Cashman regrets trading for Granderson but Granderson was an established outfielder, while Jackson was an untested slower Brett Gardner who struck out a lot while Kennedy seemed to have no place with the Yankees in 2010 and he made the decision. Would Yankees fans have been ok with the only home run production in the outfield coming from Nick Swisher? If this trade could be done again I guarantee that the Yankees would not have given as much for Granderson, not because of a lack of production from him but because Jackson would be enough for the deal to happen.
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