Why The Trade Makes Sense

As of today, Granderson's injury is still a question mark and he said its 50-50 that he will play on opening day.  I would imagine the Yankees are quite concerned about this injury and will play it safe by starting Granderson on the DL for the start of the season.  It's easier to deal with a small problem now, then a large problem in June/July.  With Granderson's health and Andruw Jones sub-par numbers this spring, the Yankees needed some insurance.


With Mitre being the odd man out in the rotation battle this spring, it was logical that Cashman would try to deal him.  The Brewers, like the Yankees, had an extra player but in their outfield, Chris Dickerson.  Since Zack Greinke was injured this spring, the Brewers needed a starting pitcher and the Yankees needed a fourth/fifth outfielder, it just made sense -- Trade Mitre for Dickerson.


Dickerson was having a decent spring training, batting .278.  He has quality career numbers against righties, batting .273/.363/.420.  It looks like the Yankees will start Dickerson when they are facing a righty and start Andruw Jones when facing a lefty.  Dickerson has some big league experience in the outfield, which is more than the Yankees can say about Eduardo Nunez who has been getting some starts in left field.  Nunez has looked terrible trying to track down fly balls, so he would be a defensive liability.  


The other options for the outfield spot weren't looking much better:  Golson, Curtis & Mesa.  Of that group, I like Melky Mesa the best, but he is still a long way from playing in the big leagues.  Golson who made some starts last year is having a slow offensive spring only batting .231, so the Yankees need to let him heat up in AAA if they will call him up.  Colin Curtis is the other option but he has been injured this spring and is batting .000 in six starts.  His winter ball numbers in the Mexican League weren't much better than Golson, batting only .240.  Bottom line is nobody in the Yankees system made much sense and Cashman had to get creative.  


This trade wasn't a "Big Trade" but it alleviated some of the concerns the Yankees had for the outfield.  Bringing in Dickerson for righties and starting Jones for lefties was a smart solution to a temporary problem.  It should be interesting to see what the Yankees do once Granderson is healthy, but something tells me Cashman has a few other moves up his sleeve.