DOES GRANDERSON HAVE A LONG TERM FUTURE WITH THE YANKEES?

Coming off last year’s season in which Curtis Granderson hit .262/.364/.552, 42 home runs (2nd in American League), driving in 119 runs, scoring 138 more—both of which led Major League Baseball— while playing an excellent center field, and finishing 4th in the AL MVP balloting, the Grandyman has become a fan favorite, and rightfully so. But the Yankees have a plan. The Yankees have made it public; read HERE, that they want to get under the $189 million dollar threshold by 2014, and Curtis Granderson may not fit into those plans.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Why do the Yankees want to get their payroll to $189 million?” Two reasons: one being that if the Yankees go over the $189 million mark by 2014, it’ll cost them about $50 million from the luxury tax, which is simply too much. The second reason being that the Yankees brain trust believes they don’t need a $200-plus million payroll to win a World Series, which is true. The Yankees are the only team in MLB history to win a World Series (2009) in which a team had a $200-plus million payroll. Instead of blindly outspending everyone to try to win, the Yankees will try to import their homegrown resources more, though we’ve seen them do that over the recent years, but we’ll likely see a lot more of it in the coming years.The Yankees have some free agent decisions to make over the next couple of years. Once the 2012 season concludes the Yankees need to decide whether they’ll re-sign Russell Martin and Nick Swisher. The Yankees talked to Russell Martin about an extension during the off-season; read HERE, but talks have stalled and they’ll revisit the issue after the season. Nick Swisher, on the other hand, looks more and more like a goner after the season. One may end up staying while the other hits the road, or both hit the road, or maybe even both stay, who knows.Both Robinson Cano and Granderson are free agents following the 2013 season. Cano is younger (he’ll be 31 in 2014 while Granderson will be 33) and plays second base, which is a position that is tougher to replace. Unfortunately, Cano’s agent is Scott Boras. If Cano has two more big years, I can see Boras wanting Cano to be one of the highest paid players in all of baseball. He could ask for say a seven or eight year contract worth $22-$25 million a season. I don’t see the Yankees letting Cano walk via free agency even if Boras asks for an 8-year, $200 million contract considering he’s been a mainstay for the Yanks since he came up in 2005. Granderson, on the other hand, will likely get paid $20-plus million a year for say five years if he has two more seasons like he did in 2011.

With that in mind, I just don’t see both fitting into the future plans. For starters, the Yankees have a hair over $108 million to play with in salary for 21 players after Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter—assuming he picks up his player option—and CC Sabathia are accounted for on the 2014 payroll. Meanwhile, key players like Ivan Nova (1st year of arbitration), Michael Pineda (1st year of arb), Eduardo Nunez (1st year of arb), Francisco Cervelli (2nd year of arb), David Robertson (3rd year of arb), Brett Gardner (3rd year of arb), Boone Logan (Free agent), Joba Chamberlain (FA), and Phil Hughes (FA) won’t be paid in peanuts anymore, making it that much more difficult to keep both stars.
Yankees’ president Randy Levine has said that he sees both Cano and Granderson on the 2014 team. Read HERE. Now, Levine can say all he wants, but in terms of contracts, it takes two to tango. If one side doesn’t agree with the other both sides would either have to renegotiate or move on, and to be frank, I’m preparing for the latter. If this is the case, I’d much rather trade Curtis Granderson than let him walk for just a draft pick via free agency. So, when should the Yankees trade him? It wouldn’t make sense to trade him right now or even during the season because they’re setup with him to win a championship and they‘d have to find a viable replacement on the fly.

Looking to trade him after this season concludes makes the most sense. Teams like to make big splashes during the off-season normally, and it’s easier to find a quick replacement once he’s traded. If Granderson has a 2011-like year again, I can see the Yankees getting a nice haul of young prospects in return. I’m not going to sit here and throw around trade proposals, but there are a lot of teams out there that could use a player like Granderson to man center field for the years to come. If the Yanks find a good offer, I don’t see how you can refuse.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse



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