Looking Back At The Granderson Trade Again

We are about two-thirds of the way through the season at this point and it seems like a good time to look back on that trade which sent Granderson to the Yankees and how it worked out for all teams involved.  Looking back, Great trade by Cashman!

You Can Read My Prior Posts About this Trade by Clicking on The Links Below. 

Part I

Part II

Part III

Yanks Received

Curtis Granderson:  Although Grandersons average has dropped to .266, he is still an offensive powerhouse with a .361 on base percentage and .569 slugging percentage.  He leads the AL with 91 Runs, 8 Triples has the 2^nd most homers in the AL behind Bautista with 28.  The Grandy Man is nearing his 2010 total hits of 115 already as he just hit 100 yesterday.  His only real problem is striking out too much these days as he has 111 strikeouts on the season already.

Detroit Received

Phil Coke:  Coke isn’t having a great season and is having a difficult time getting used to being a starting pitcher.  Over his 14 starts this season, he has a 4.57 ERA with a 1.4 WHIP.  Coke isn’t overwhelming the batters as his K/9IP ratio is a mere 4.5K/9IP, with a 3.5BB/9IP. 

Austin Jackson:  Action Jackson was probably the biggest acquisition that Detroit had in this trade but he looks to be slowly fizzling.  Not only does he have 114 strikeouts on the season already, he is only hitting .247/.317/.363.  On the bright side, Jackson has some real speed & has 16 stolen bases with 7 triples (2^nd in AL)

Max Scherzer:  Not bad numbers for Scherzer, but not great either.  He is 11-6 as a starter with a 4.28 ERA and 1.38 WHIP.  Scherzer is striking out batters at a solid rate of 7.8K/9IP and keeping his walks minimal 2.9BB/9IP.

Daniel Schlereth:  Does Mike & Mike always have to mention this kid is Marc Schlereth’s son everytime they say a word about him?  Schlereth is a mediocre middle reliever who has only pitched 25 innings on the season allowing 22 hits.  Although he has 24 strikeouts in those 25 innings, he also has 19 walks making him a less than desirable reliever.  Forget his ERA as his WHIP is up at 1.6 with a 6.7BB/9IP ratio.  Im guessing that Arizona isn’t missing him.

Diamondbacks Received

Ian Kennedy:  Although Kennedy was never projected to be better than a #3 starter, he is doing a great job down in Arizona. Not only does he best the NL with games started at 22, he is 12-3 on the season with a 3.22 ERA and 1.11 WHIP.  He has pitched one full game shutout this season and ranks 9^th in the NL for strikeouts with 127.   Wouldn’t it be nice to have Kennedy in the Yanks starting rotation … I will still take the Grandy Man though.

Edwin Jackson:  Jackson was traded just yesterday to the Cardinals in another three team trade. He started off rocky this season but seems to be trying to redeem himself over the second half.  He is now 7-7 with a 3.92 ERA and 1.42 WHIP.  His strikeout rate is 7.2K/9IP and walk rate is 2.9 BB/9IP.  I had heard that the Yanks were looking at Jackson prior to the trade deadline but chances are they didn’t like what they saw and realized he’s not worth trading away a prospect.

Looking Back at the Granderson Trade, Part III (with updates)

THE GRANDY MAN CAN!

I waited to write “Part III” of this series as long as I could to see if Curtis Granderson could continue his strong start to the season.  We are now past a quarter of the way of the season and Granderson is still on fire!  In fact, Granderson is off to such a strong start that he has the highest slugging percentage of any member of the power hitting New York Yankees at .625%!  (I never would have imagined that when the Yanks traded for him)  So far this season, he is Mr. Consistent and he has yet to get into a slump and has dominated the American League offensive charts.

Looking back at this trade, the Yankees scored a great deal for themselves, although Granderson’s 2010 numbers left something to be desired.  The Grandy man only hit .247 in 2010 with a .324 on base percentage.  Once known for his speed and ability to hit triples, Granderson only hit 7 triples and stole 12 bases.  It was not until August that he worked with Kevin Long to improve his swing that everything has seemed to fall into place.  As much confidence I have in Kevin Long, I also believe that playing for the Yankees in New York takes some getting used to, and that is why his 2011 numbers have skyrocketed.  It’s kind of like a one year curve before a player can become a star in New York.  It takes some players even longer!

Nowadays, Granderson is topping the Yankees and the AL East with his production.  His batting average is .280 which is 2^nd highest on the Yanks. (Arod has the highest with .287)  Granderson’s on base percentage has improved to .353 and as I previously said, his slugging percentage is the 3^rd highest in the American League at .625%  He already has 16 home runs on the season which is nearly as many as he hit in 2010 with 24.  Even the rate he is walking has improved as he already has 20 walks on the season.  His highest was 72 in 2009.  He is tied with Cano for the most hits on the Yankees with 51.  Granderson has improved in nearly every hitting category including triples as he hit 4 triples on the season already. 

Once known for his problems against lefties, Granderson’s ability to hit lefties has dramatically improved since that day in August he worked with Kevin Long.  Last year he hit a mere .231 against lefties and that takes into account his impressive September.  This season he is 16 for 54 against lefty pitching, bringing his average to lefties at .296.  He has even hit half of his total home runs against lefties this season.  (8)

The only areas he could use a little work would be the rate of strikeouts.  Right now Granderson leads the team with 45 strikeouts.  It’s obvious that since he is hot that he swings at a lot of bad pitches just to make contact.  It’s not the worst thing in the world as he is destroying opposing pitchers, but it could catch up to him later in the season.  I would also like to see him use his speed a bit more, although he does have 6 steals on the season which is the second highest on the Yankees to Gardner’s 8.  That being said, he is still a force to be reckoned with at the plate.

If you had told me that Curtis Granderson would be the Yankee slugger when the Yanks traded for him, I would have thought you were crazy, but this trade worked out tremendously well for the Yankees.  Looking back at what we had given up to get Granderson I think Cashman made the right decision. 

YOU CAN READ PART I OF THIS GRANDERSON TRADE SERIES HERE

PART II OF THIS SERIES IS HERE

Just as an update to the first and second installment of this post, I have done a little follow up on the other 6 players involved with the trade.

2011 Numbers

Austin Jackson- Jackson is only batting .225, with a .278 on base percentage.  Even with his impressive speed, he has only stolen 6 bases.  His strikeouts are among the highest in the AL again at 59!  He showed a lot of potential in the minors, but may be sputtering out now.

Phil Coke- Coke was just placed on the DL with a bone bruise in his foot, but has been doing OK with Detroit this year.  He has only pitched in 11 games, but has pitched 52 innings allowing 48 hits and 30 strikeouts, leaving him with a 3.81 ERA.

Max Scherzer- Scherzer has been doing great for the Tigers this season and has the 2^nd highest win total in the American League.  He is 6-1 with a 2.98 ERA over his 10 starts.  Scherzer has pitched 63 innings, striking out 60 batters.  His strikeout ratio is a whopping 8.5K/9Inn.  In case you don’t remember him, he pitched against the Yankees a couple weeks back and went 8 solid innings shutting out the Yankees and striking out 9!  This was a big acquisition by the Tigers and tremendous loss for the D-Backs

Daniel Schlereth- Schlereth was the 4^th player the Tigers received and he has been doing a so-so job for them in the bullpen.  So far he has pitched 16.1 innings in 19 games and has a 2.76 ERA with 9 strikeouts. 

Ian Kennedy- Kennedy was a rising prospect for the Yankees, but for some reason nobody thought he was going to be bigger than a #3 starter for the Yanks.  The Diamondbacks obviously have seen something different in him as he is their #1 starter and having a great season.  Kennedy is 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA (11^th in NL) over 11 games.  He has even thrown one full game shutout.  Over the 74 innings pitched he has struck out 59 batters and has an impressive WHIP of 1.045.  Kennedy was the biggest loss for the Yankees in the trade, but they had to give up something worthwhile for the Grandy Man.  Hindsight is 20-20 but the Yankees though Hughes was the biggest treasure of those 2007 pitchers, but now Kennedy is killing it and Hughes’ arm is dead.

Edwin Jackson – Jackson is struggling this season as he is 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA over 10 starts.  He has only pitched 60 innings but allowed 70 hits and 24 walks.  On the bright side he has a 7.6K/9in ratio with 52 strikeouts on the season.  Although he is starting out slow, he has big potential and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a better second half from Jackson.

Struggling Sox Come To The Bronx

The Yankees come back to the Bronx today and begin a 7 Day Homestand.  The first games are against the struggling White Sox before the Blue Jays come to town this weekend.  The Yankees are on a three game winning streak.

The White Sox have lost 10 of their last 11 games, and are in last place in the AL Central.  During these past 11 games, the Sox are batting only .193.  They were just swept in a three game series in Detroit and are now 8-14 on the year.

The Yankees have won 18 of the past 26 games against the White Sox (going back to 2001)

The Yankees won 4 of the 6 games they played the White Sox in 2010.

Here are the pitching matchups

Monday Night

AJ Burnett (3-0, 4.37 ERA) vs.  Phil Humber (1-2, 4.42 ERA)

Humber began the season in the bullpen for the Sox and will be making his 4^th start tonight.

Humber’s last outing was at Tropicana Field last week against the Rays where he allowed 4 runs over 5 1/3 innings.  He pitched well except for allowing a home run.

Humber has never started against the Yankees before.

Humber has pitched a total of 21 innings this year in 5 games allowing 9 earned runs and 19 hits.

Humber has a 7.36 Career ERA in Road Games

AJ would be 4-0 if it wasn’t for Mo’s blown save last week.  (As I read this back to myself, I almost started laughing as it sounds so bizarre)

AJ still hasn’t pitched beyond 6 1/3 innings.

Tuesday Night

Ivan Nova (1-2, 7.63 ERA) vs. Gavin Floyd (2-1, 4.00 ERA)

Floyd won his last start against the Rays at Tropicana Field striking out 7 batters.

Brett Gardner has a .600 batting average against Floyd in 6 appearances.

Nova is making his 4^th start of the season and hoping that his fastball can stay down in the zone.  If he can keep his fastball down, he may actually make it into the 6^th or 7^th inning.

Nova has not started a game since April 15.  He was called for one inning of relief work last week.

Wednesday Night

Bartolo Colon (1-1, 3.50 ERA) vs. Mark Buehrle (1-2, 5.40 ERA)

Buehrle is the only lefty the Yankees will see this series

Buehrle is attempting for the 5th time, to get his 150^th win.  He has not gotten a win since Opening Day.

Buehrle’s last game was Friday in Detroit where he took the loss allowing 6 runs over 5 2/3 innings.  He allowed 8 hits and struck out 5.

Robinson Cano’s batting average is .455 against Buerhle over 11 at bats.

Bartolo Colon is still high from his first start last week allowing only 2 runs over 6 2/3 innings.  Colon looked great in his last start and is again trying to claim a spot in the rotation.

Colon has already struck out 20 batters in 18 innings.

Thursday Night

CC Sabathia  (1-1, 2.73 ERA) vs. Edwin Jackson (2-2, 4.48 ERA)

Jackson is not having a good year and has already given up 39 hits over 31 innings, but he has struck out 30 batters.

Jackson has given up 23 hits in his previous two starts.

Sabathia finally got his first win of the season on Saturday after pitching 8 innings and allowing only 3 runs. 

SIDE NOTES:

Robinson Cano has a 13 game hitting streak and is batting .345 in that period.

Adam Dunn is struggling this season.  He has only two hits in his last 30 at bats with 15 strikeouts!

Curtis Granderson has an 8 game hitting streak and is hitting .424 in that period with 9 RBI’s.  Granderson has 4 home runs in the last 5 games!

Hughes threw a bullpen session today before batting practice began and was shut down early.  This doesn't look good for Hughes.

Rafael Soriano was not available yesterday due to a sore back.  No word yet as to whether he is available today.  All we know is that it’s not considered serious.

Countdown to 3000

Derek Jeter now has 2945 hits and needs only 55!  Jeter had 4 hits Sunday against the Orioles.

Jeter is batting .519 in his last 7 home games against the White Sox.

LOOKING BACK AT THE GRANDERSON TRADE... PART II

The Diamondbacks Received 

The Diamondbacks received the up and comer, Ian Kennedy from the Yankees in this deal.  At one point, Kennedy was hyped within the Yankees organization as he came up through the minor league system with Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.  After an impressive minor league season in 2007, he was given an opportunity to start in 2008, but went 0-4 with an ugly 8.17 ERA.  During the 2008 season he was sent back down to the minors and recalled back by the Yankees several times.  In the offseason he was traded in this deal.

In Arizona, Kennedy had a much better season in 2010:

• Going 9-10 with a 3.80 ERA over 32 starts.
• He had a respectable WHIP at 1.20.
• He threw 168 strikeouts with 70 walks over 194 innings.

The Diamondbacks were impressed with him and named his as their #1 starter for this season.  His Opening Day on Friday was shaky as he allowed 4 runs over 6 innings against the Rockies.  I may have been caught up in that hype when Ian Kennedy was called up in 2007 & 2008, but I thought he had the makings to be a reliable starter.  Time will tell, especially since he is only 26 years old. 

Following a terrific 2009 season, Edwin Jackson was traded from the Tigers to the D-backs as part of this three-way trade.  Jackson who had bounced around between the Dodgers and Rays only throws 2 pitches: Fastball & Slider.  Both are extremely effective which prompted his appearance at the 2009 All Star Game.  In July of 2009, batters were only hitting .216 against him, which was the lowest in the AL.  He finished that season with a 13-9 record and 3.62 ERA.  2009 continues to be his standout year.

He only pitched for a couple months with the Diamondbacks when he was traded mid-season to the White Sox.  Prior to being traded he threw a no-hitter against the Rays in June.  He was traded for Dan Hudson & David Holmberg on the White Sox at the trade deadline.  He went 6-10 for the Diamondbacks with a 5/16 ERA and 1.49 WHIP.  The White Sox like him in 2011 and named him the #2 starter.  He dominated the Indians Saturday, allowing only 2 runs over 6 innings.

Overall, not a bad trade for the Diamondbacks who are trying to rebuild that team, especially for what they gave up.  Kennedy has some serious potential to be a solid starting pitcher, especially in the NL.  Kevin Towers is GM of the Diamondbacks now and they have a lot of rebuilding to do.  I  liked Towers when he worked within the Yankee organziation and hope to see his scouting abilities build a good team out in Arizona.  

Read Part I of the Granderson Trade Here