Could Granderson get an encore in New York after all?
Curtis Granderson turned down the Yankees' qualifying offer earlier this month, but the team still considers him a serious target, Brian Cashman told the New York Post. The Yankees have obvious holes in their outfield with Granderson hitting free agency and Vernon Wells and Ichiro Suzuki no longer representing starting-caliber players. Though they have been more vocally connected to the likes of Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Beltran to fill that void, Cashman maintains that the Yankees are interested in a reunion with Granderson, who isn't merely a Plan B for them.
The 2013 season was a disaster for Granderson after an errant pitch in spring training sidelined him for a good chunk of the beginning of the season, only to find himself back on the DL shortly after returning to baseball after another errant pitch broke his pinky. Assuming that that kind of bad luck can only be attributed to the fact that the 2013 season was cursed for nearly every Yankee, there is reason to hope that he will rebound in a big way from his disappointing .229/.317/.407 batting line in 61 games. Granderson will only be a couple seasons removed from putting up consecutive 40+ home run seasons in 2012 and 2013, with his lefty swing fitting in nicely for Yankee Stadium's short porch. Re-signing Granderson isn't without risk, however. The strikeouts do pile up with alarming frequency at times and he hasn't been the threat on the bases he was back in 2011 when he stole 25 bases. His curious defensive routes may be minimized now that Brett Gardner seems to be the one tapped to patrol center field, but he can still make you shake your head when he runs forward on a ball hit well over his head.
With Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury, among others, still set to receive a much higher payday this offseason than Granderson, the Yankees may see him as a way to get a player capable of producing at a high level while saving the extra money to put toward other areas of need. If they are serious about bringing in Brian McCann for the complete offensive and defensive abyss at catcher, they may consider pinching a few pennies elsewhere. Still, it seems as though they might rather have Choo than Granderson, even with each one presenting their own downsides. Granderson has carried himself in New York as well as anyone, and if history holds, that could mean something to the front office when it comes right down to it.
Is there a price you'd be okay the Yankees paying to bring Granderson back, or do you hope they move on completely while they have the chance?