Bill Madden looks at the Yankees moves to pick up Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson, and Javy Vazquez while letting Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera and Arodys Vizcaino go. Some snips:
We start with the Yankees and a grand remodeling of the 2009 world champions by Brian Cashman that ultimately did not include Damon. After restoring the Yankees to championship status after a nine-year hiatus by spending mightily in the free agent market on three players last winter, Cashman clearly set about tweaking the roster through trades, the centerpiece of his game plan being Curtis Granderson.
In the process, however, he has tampered with team chemistry in jettisoning Damon and the popular and productive Hideki Matsui.
Much depends on Granderson, who hit 30 home runs for the Detroit Tigers in spacious Comerica Park last year – which, with his lefthanded bat tailor-made for Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field, Cashman hopes will translate into 40-plus for the Yankees. But as much as Granderson figures to be a significant upgrade in power, defense and age over Damon, he would also seem to defy the Yankees’ philosophy of utilizing high on-base percentage players (.325 last year), and it will be the task of hitting coach Kevin Long to rectify his alarming vulnerability to lefthanded pitching (.183, 9 RBI in 180 at-bats last year). In addition, Granderson’s average of one strikeout every fifth plate appearance, while high, would not have led the Yankees last year – Nick Swisher held that dubious distinction at 1/4.8.
On the other hand, Nick Johnson (career .402 OBP), who replaces Matsui as the DH and Damon as the No. 2 hitter, epitomizes the Yankee philosophy. But just because he gets on base a lot, it often takes two hits to get him all the way around the bases. And all the injuries he’s incurred through the years have seemingly sapped his power.
So is Johnson an upgrade at DH? The Yankees justified their decision based on the internal concern that Matsui is a blown-out knee waiting to happen, and the belief that Johnson, too, will benefit from the Yankee Stadium right field homer alley. If Matsui’s knee holds up and he has a typical (25-homer, 90-100 RBI) year with the Angels, Cashman had better hope Johnson avoids the injuries that have plagued him just about every year of his career and is able to score 90-100 runs out of the No. 2 hole.
As for the Melky Cabrera-for-Javy Vazquez deal with the Atlanta Braves, this, on the surface, was a no-brainer for Cashman, even if there are lingering questions about Vazquez’s ability to pitch pressure games in New York. Anytime you can get a 200-inning, 200-strikeout starting pitcher – who is only going to be asked to fill the No. 4 starter role – in exchange for an outfielder with a career one-season high of 13 home runs, you have to make that deal. And Cashman is banking on the fact that Vazquez’s up-and-down 2004 season with the Yankees was largely the product of a sore arm the second half and that he’ll more than provide needed depth to the 2010 rotation. It would seem the only way this turns out to be a bad deal is if Arodys Vizcaino, the highly regarded “throw-in” righthander who’s said to have one of those electric arms, winds up a force in the Braves’ rotation in the next couple of years.
I’m really not that nervous about losing Arodys Vizcaino. Yes, I know, before the trade, many considered him to be the Yankees best pitching prospect. But, he’s just (now) 19-years old and has never played above Short-Season A-Ball. There’s so much that can happen, for him, over the next three years (or so) that’s both good and bad. No one, at this point, knows what’s going to happen with him – for sure.
Javy Vazquez? Hey, even if he only matches his worst non-Expos’ big league season to date – which will either be the last time he pitched in New York (2004) or the last he pitched in the American League (2008) – you’re still going to get 200 IP and 12-14 wins out of him. And, if CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte do what’s expected from them, then getting that from Vazquez in the fourth slot is not terrible.
For me, the big thing to watch this season will be Curtis Granderson/Nick Johnson compared to Johnny Damon/Hideki Matsui.
Both Matsui and Johnson, in their free agent walk years, stayed on the field last season. Will they both repeat that in 2010? Or, will only one of them do it – and which one? Or, will they both be MIA for most of the season and then this becomes a push?
And, there’s got to be some concern with Curtis Granderson. His OPS+ has gone down three years in a row (135 to 123 to 100). Granted, his OPS on the road, over his career, has been over 860. And, you would think that the new Yankee Stadium would help him the way it helped Johnny Damon in 2009 (as his 17 “home” long-balls compared to 7 “road” taters suggest). But, we just have to wait and see what happens with Curtis this year to be sure.
In the end, it might just be players like Nick Swisher, Robbie Cano, Jorge Posada and A.J. Burnett who “make or break” the Yankees 2010 season – more so than Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson, and Javy Vazquez. Again, only time will tell.
Hello, my name is MJ and I’m new here. Well, not really new. See, I’ve been commenting here since Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS and I’ve even slapped together a few columns and did a few live blogs during the latter part of the 2009 season so I figure you probably know me by now… Anyway, this’ll just take a minute…
