LOOKING BACK ON THE GRANDERSON TRADE Part I

Granderson was the Opening Day hero at Yankee Stadium on Thursday against his former team, the Detroit Tigers.  Opening day showed a couple other familiar faces in Austin Jackson & Phil Coke (who ironically gave up the home run to Granderson).  All three of them were traded in a 3-Team trade prior to the 2010 season.  It may be too early but let's see how it worked out for everyone.

Austin Jackson was a touted prospect in the Yankees organization when he was traded in a 3-team trade with the Yankees, Tigers & Diamondbacks.  In that trade, the Yankees sent homegrown talents Austin Jackson & Phil Coke to the Tigers and Ian Kennedy to the Diamondbacks.  In return the Yankees received Opening Day hero, Curtis Granderson. As part of the 3-way deal, the Tigers sent Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks, and in return they received Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth.  Let's break that down a bit!

The Tigers Received  

With this trade the Tigers were able to get Granderson off their payroll who was making 25 Million through 2012 with an additional 13 Million club option for 2103. They added Jackson, Coke, Schlereth who are both young and making pre-arbitration money.  Jackson and Schlereth were paid only 400K for 2010 and should receive the same this season.  Coke made 425K in 2010 and will make the same in 2011.  Neither are arbitration eligible until 2013. As far as finances go, this was a solid move for the Tigers.

The biggest gain in this deal for the Detroit Tigers was Austin Jackson.    

• In his first season, Jackson hit .293 with a .345 on base percentage and a .400 slugging percentage.  

• He showed off his speed by hitting 10 triples (2^nd in AL) and stealing 27 bases. 
• As a leadoff batter he ranked 9^th in the AL with 181 hits, with 133 singles (5^th in AL).  
• Jackson ranked 6^th in the AL scoring 103 runs for the season.  

Overall it was quite a good season for Jackson, except for his strikeouts.  He led the AL with 170 strikeouts.  His plate discipline needs some serious work, but that is expected (to some degree) for rookies.  Unfortunately it doesn't look like a "rookie issue" for him as he struck out 3 times on Opening Day!

The Tigers also received, Phil Coke who was one of the lefty’s in Girardi’s bullpen and had improved numbers from 2009 to 2010

• specifically reducing his ERA to 3.76 in 2010.  
• He struck out 53 batters and allowed 67 hits with 26 walks in 64 innings
• Leading to a 1.438 WHIP.  

He’s not great by any means, but still is a decent lefty in the pen.  He must do something about the 26 walks though, as he is giving up a walk every other inning he pitches.  Not a very desirable trait with a relief pitcher!  Coke took the loss on Opening Day for the Tigers as he allowed the home run by Granderson for the Yankees win.

The Diamondbacks who were the unusual third piece to this trade, sent Max Scherzer to the Tigers along with Daniel Schlereth.  Scherzer began the season in AAA but was shortly thereafter called up and had a pretty good season going:

• 12-11 as a starter with a 3.50 ERA in 2010
• With 184 strikeouts in 195 innings.  
• In his first 12 starts he went 6-2 with a 2.62 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 75 innings.  

If you can’t tell, Scherzer is known for his strikeouts.  He fanned 14 batters in 5 2/3 innings against the A’s on May 30!  It will be interesting to watch how he develops in 2011.
 

Daniel Schlereth who was sent with Scherzer to the Tigers began the season in the minors but was called up in July.  He finished the season with Detroit as a reliever, pitching a total of 18 innings with a 2.89 ERA striking out 19 batters. He still needs to prove himself at this point, but he was the only pitcher for Detroit on Opening Day not to allow a run when he pitched the scoreless 8th.

If the Tigers have a winning season this year, they could look back on this trade as a major factor.  The Tigers were able to get big money off their books and add four young players with serious potential!

Part II & Part III coming soon