“And in centerfield for the Yankees, Curtis Granderson”

Curtis Granderson is set to become a Yankees, pending physicals and things of that matter. So, what did the Yankees give up? Well, in this deal they are losing Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy, and most importantly Austin Jackson. This was a three team deal involving the Yankees, Tigers, and Diamondbacks. Let me break this down in an organized manner:

Heading to the Yankees: Curtis Granderson

Heading to the Tigers: Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Max Scherzer, and Dan Schlereth

Heading to the Diamondbacks: Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson

So is it a good deal? Well, the Yankees are acquiring a pretty good center fielder in Granderson. He is fast, plays good defense, can hit righties pretty well, though lefties have been a different story, but that can change. So overall its clear the Yankees are getting a very good player, but did they give up too much. Well, Phil Coke was pretty expendable especially since he has a knack to give up big homeruns. I feel Ian Kennedy still has a good chance to become a good starter, so so that stings a bit in my opinion, but he was expendable. So those two aren’t huge losses. But, what about Austin Jackson. Going into 2009 Jackson was the Yankees number 1 prospect, and he had a pretty good season, he hit .300 with 65 RBI’s, but what stands out was his drop in power. He only hit 4 home runs in 2009, and this was a cause for concern. Despite the drop in power, Jackson is still considered a pretty good player, who probably would have seen a good amount of playing time in 2010 with the Yankees. But, it is really too early to tell what he will end up to be. Curtis Granderson is more of a guardsmen, and that is why I feel this a good move by the Yankees.

Another thing that makes this move a good deal, is that it gives the Yankees great leverage with Johnny Damon. Right now the Yankees could go into 2010 with Melky in left, Granderson in center, and Swisher in right. And I think that would be a pretty good outfield. So the Yankees don’t really need Damon, which brings his price way down. Now the Yankees can take their focus completely off of Damon, and shift to only foccusing on Andy Pettitte and other pitchers.

However, this deal does represent the end of an era. What era am I talking about you say? Well, I mean the era of silly fans coming up with insane trade proposals that usually went like this “Let’s trade Melky and Ian Kennedy for player X”. Oh well, we still have Melky so we just have to find out who to substitute for Ian Kennedy. Maybe Anthony Claggett?

Bruney traded to the Nationals

Brian Bruney has been traded to the Washington Nationals for their rule 5 draft pick . In the last year Bruney has really declined as a pitcher, and I don’t blame the Yankees for this move. This way the Yankees won’t have to pay him about 2 million (which he about was set to get), and they can save that money for other purposes. Considering the Nationals had the first pick in the rule 5 draft, and now the Yankees do, I really like this move.

Bob Sheppard Officially Retires

Although it had already been pretty clear, Bob Sheppard recently officially announced he is not coming back. Sheppard told Bryan Hoch, “I have no plans of coming back. Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don’t think, at my age, I’m going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well.” He certainly had a good run for it. The first game he announced at Yankee Stadium was on April 17, 1951. He announced every game from that day until 2007, when he fell ill. That’s about 4,500 games, pretty impressive. Well, he sure had a great career, and he definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I hope he continues to recover from his sickness, and hopefully he can enjoy what is left of his life. It would also be great if he could visit the new stadium for a day, and the Yankees could hold a “Bob Sheppard Appreciation Day”, even though they did that back in 2000. Anyway, I wish all the best for Mr. Sheppard and I’m really going to miss hear his voice. Here’s a video from the tribute in 2000:

Hot Stove Musings (Volume 1)

A number of small stories have popped up around baseball within the past few days, I’ll just sum them up quickly right now…

• The Red Sox signed signed shortstop Marco Scutaro (formely of the Blue Jays) to a two year deal. I think it’s a good move by them, Scutaro’s a pretty good player who should help the Red Sox a lot, and maybe he will finally shore up that shortstop spot that they have been lacking in for years. Let’s hope he doesn’t, don’t forget 161st Street is run by a Yankee fan!
• The Mariners signed Chone Figgins to a four year deal worth 36 million. Why is this important to the Yankees, well Figgins may set the market a bit for Johnny Damon. 36 million spread out over four years is 9 million annually. I would expect Damon to get a little more money than that, maybe in the 12 million range. Would you take Damon back on a one year 12 million dollar contract, or even a two year 24 million dollar contract (he probably wants at least two years)? I’m pretty sure I would.
• The Yankees plan to cut their payroll this year, big shocker. They said that last year too if you recall. Anyway, according to Buster Olney the budget is around 190-200 million, but it is not a “hard ceiling”. Of course it’s not a hard ceiling, but the Yankees do have a hard ceiling, however its probably are 250 million. Don’t think they are going to spend anyway near 250 million though, it’s just hypothetical.
• According to Mark Feinsand, the Yankees first priority is Andy Pettitte. This clearly makes a lot of sense. If they can get him back, then they can worry about Johnny Damon who most likely won’t sign with another team until Jason Bay and Matt Holliday sign, so the Yankees have time on their side with Damon.
• For those of you that can’t stop thinking about trading for Roy Halladay (I’m not one of them, I would be extremely angry if Hughes, Joba, or Montero are moved), it is official that Yankees will be in the contest for him. This isn’t really news, of course they will be in the bidding for him, if only to drive up the price. By the way here’s a little advice on Jon Heyman (the guy who reported this): Take his reports with a grain of salt, he usually will just involve the Yankees in every rumor, just to generate attention. I’m not saying he’s wrong that the Yankees will be in on Halladay, that is obviously true, I’m just saying in general make sure you don’t his reports to literally.
• Matt Holliday and Jason Bay are not in the Yankees plans according to Buster Olney via River Ave Blues. Supposedly Johnny Damon is plan A, and Mike Cameron is plan B. Over at River Ave Blues, most people are in favor of signing Cameron, which I don’t get. Sure, his defense is very good, but it doesn’t make up for his not-so-good offense.
• According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees are interested in several free agent starters. These include Rich Harden, Ben Sheets, Joel Pineiro, and Randy Wolf. In my opinion this is how I would rank the free agent class of starters in order of who I feel would best help the team. Andy Pettitte would be my first choice, he is almost a guarantee to give you 200 quality innings. After that I would choose Ben Sheets, if he’s healthy he is Cy Young material, and it looks like he may just be healthy. After Sheets, I would choose Chien-Ming Wang, I feel he has more of a chance to be healthy than my next choice, Rich Harden. After Harden, I don’t think I would touch any other free agent starters. I can’t see how Joel Pineiro or Randy Wolf could help the Yankees, and a guy not mentioned is Erik Berdard, but I wouldn’t touch him either with his desire to stay out of the limelight on top of his injury history. Before going any of these guys I  wouldn’t touch, I would go to the AAA guys.

Yankees offer arbitration to no one

As expected, the Yankees declined to offer arbitration to any of their eligible players. That includes Pettitte, Damon, Matsui, Hinske, Molina, Nady, and Wang. Share your thoughts in the comments.