courtesy Grand Kids Foundation www.grandkidsfoundation.com
Yankee fans are going to love Curtis Granderson. I say that fully aware that if he hits .167 in April their patience will be tested. Though it’s becoming more evident that the Tigers gave up on his potential for stardom more than his salary, I think he’ll be a great fit in the Yankees outfield and lineup.
More than that, he’s someone who really gets it.
Here is good piece by Bryan Hoch and Alden Gonzalez on MLB.com about Granderson’s efforts to fight obesity as part of a MLB program. Granderson was the one who last off-season went to Europe with a group from the International Baseball Federation to pitch baseball’s 2016 Olympic bid, and he’s been lauded in Detroit for his Grand Kids Foundation and other charitable endeavors.
Right now it looks like Granderson has a spot, at least against all righthanders, probably in center field, where he’s played nearly every one of his almost 700 Major League games, but possibly in left depending on how the other outfield slots shake out. The knock on Granderson, besides his high strikeout total, is his low production against southpaws. That was the knock on Paul O’Neill when he came to New York, but the difference was that O’Neill was regularly benched against lefties, whereas Granderson has played against both sides for the past four years, mostly out of necessity in Detroit.
With the Yankees signing Randy Winn, claiming Jamie Hoffmann on Rule 5 and bringing in slugger Marcus Thames as a non-roster invitee, it seems the Yankees see Granderson playing in the 120 or so games in which the Yanks will face a righty, and maybe pinch hitting or running or coming in for outfield defense in the rest.
My pre-Spring Training Yankees lineup thoughts:
vs. RHP
- Jeter ss
- Johnson dh
- Teixeira 1b
- Rodriguez 3b
- Posada c
- Cano 2b
- Swisher rf
- Granderson cf
- Gardner lf
vs. LHP
- Jeter ss
- Johnson dh
- Teixeira 1b
- Rodriguez 3b
- Posada c
- Cano 2b
- Swisher rf
- Winn/Hoffmann lf
- Gardner cf
That’s pretty much the same both ways, with left/center field the wild cards. Thames has even played some right field, though he’s played four times as many games in left, and Winn has played about a third of his 1500-plus career games in right, so unless there’s an injury, Swisher will probably match or exceed the 130 games he played there last year.
More on the Yankees roster after pitchers, catchers and PR guys report next week.
With the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Tigers reportedly