The bottom line is that the'll be a great deal of money to spend during the off season. Lets see how it's spent.
I'm not so sure they let Granderson walk, he's got flaws but is a difference maker with his bat, offers great protection in the lineup, and stays healthy, also they let Jackson go for him so I say keep the guy if the deal is within reason.
If difference maker you mean strikeout machine, then yes, I agree... 2010 (116 in 136 games) = 0.853 K/game, 2011 (169 in 156 games) = 1.083 k/game, 2012 (195 in 160 games) = 1.219 k/game, and 2013 (61 in 55 games) = 1.109 k/game. including those numbers, his career average is 0.981 k/game. Take out those years, his numbers are 0.917 k/game. 7 HR this year which if you were to calculate out to a full season would be just under 21 HR which is half the average of the previous 2 years. He's batting .234 this year, batted .232 last year (160 games), .262 in 2011 (156 games) and .247 in 2010 (136 games).
yeah... but 0.438 K/game (16 games) in 2012, 0.585 K/game (159 games) in 2011, 0.673 K/game (150 games) in 2010, 0.241 K/game (108 games) in 2009, 0.714 K/game (42 games) in 2008. Career average of 0.642 K/game... so in Gardner's worst year (this year by far) he's basically the same as Granderson's best year in pinstripes... Gardner also has 24 steals this year on a down year while Granderson has 7 (comes out to about 21 if it were a full season) on a better year in that sense... so Gardner's having a worse year and for everything other than HR & SLG, Gardner's seem better. I'm not saying there's a better option out there... but how can you expect so much in someone who strikes out so much?
Everything other than HR and SLG.... the two things that really matter for an OF IMO, Gardner was around all year while the Yankees couldn't do a thing to score runs, and yet Granderson returns to help NY get back on track to winning, mostly because he was able to protect Cano. Fans need to get off Gardners jock, the guy is a decent player, but not a difference maker, steals are arguably meaningless in most spots, but a HR threat always changes an opposing pitchers game plan, if both players were FA's this winter one would be getting lots of interest for a nice contract (Granderson) and the other would be looking a small deals (Gardner) why is that? because Granderson is by far the more productive player because of the effect he has on an entire lineup.
u greatly overrated homeruns. getting on base is what matters. unless u r stuck in the 80s and dont know that teams now hire people to find players that get on base then i dont understand your argument. gardner's career on base percentage is almost 15 points higher than grandersons and grandersons defense sucks. if you want only home runs then granderson fits. thats what hes good at. i wouldnt want the yanks to pay granderson 10 million more a season over gardner. not anyone with a brain would either
...but the point was that Granderson is a higher OPS guy while Gardner is a slap hitting leadoff man and should not be striking out so often.
yea that is his biggest problem right now i agree. as long as he doesnt cost over 5 million then i think hes a good deal. his on base percentage was well over league average this year and he is the yanks rock in the outfield. if it came to a point where he wants something like 10 million then no way. u have to cut him loose at that kind of contract imo
...ricky, the thing that mystifies me the most about Gardner is why so many people point to him seeing a lot of pitches as such a plus...working the count is fine when facing some pitchers but it does generally work in your favor as much when facing elite pitching. I don't care who you are, when a good pitcher gets ahead of you in the count, you're in trouble. Pitchers don't want to walk him for obvious reasons, and so Gardner needs to be looking for that first FB right down the middle and swinging instead of always taking it and being down 0-1 in the count. ...here's a little tidbit for you concerning Gardner in particular...when Gardner is down 0-2 his career BA is .170 ...when down 1-2 his BA is .207 ...when the count is 2-2 his BA is .208...........................but, on the first pitch his career BA is ........................ .379 ...yup. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=gardnbr01&year=Career&t=b#count
im in that camp with you. i think the only time seeing a lot of pitches has benefits is the first time up for a leadoff hitter. the guy on deck and players in the dugout can get a feel for the velocity, rhythm of the pitcher and sometimes the break on his pitches if he doesnt come with all fastballs. to me that has some importance. but after that i dont see it being real important the second, third and fourth time thru. he seems like a selective hitter that looks for something outer half more than inside. i dont think hes a great player but i think he has a place on the team as a cheap contract that produces pretty good especially compared to some of the crazy contracts on the yanks
...^^^not sure if they'll offer arbitration or simply ink him to a longer term deal...I'd think the longer deal is more likely...but since he's now on the other side of 30, I'm thinking 4 years, with maybe at most, a TEAM option/buyout for a 5th year. I say this because Gardner's wheels are what makes him what he is...and I would think that by age 34-35 he'll lose a good bit of his speed and will be more prone to injury.
I HAVE NO TRUST IN YANKEE MANAGEMENT, from the owners down. They will continue to do patch work on this team.....it is bad enough they do not know talent, but to spend unwisely on 'dreck' is ludicrous.
