Granderson: “If the power comes, great”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jun 02, 2012 
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Curtis Granderson said it again last night. He said he’s not a home run hitter.
“He’s going to hit a lot of home runs for a guy not being a home run hitter,” Joe Girardi said. “I was not a home run hitter.”
That part is true, Girardi was not a home run hitter. He wasn’t a home run hitter when he came to the Yankees, and he never became a home run hitter. But Granderson has changed during his time in pinstripes, and whether he wants to admit it or not, he’s clearly become a home run hitter. If he doesn’t notice it, certainly other people do.
Joe Girardi
“He’s figured it out. I know before he got to us he’d had some struggles against left-handers at times, and he made an adjustment about August 1, 2010 and he’s been a completely different player. … (He’s come) a long, long way. He’s a guy that you don’t move against left-handers. You leave him where he’s at because you know you’re going to get production. He’s going to hit the ball hard and he’s going to give you a great at-bat. He’s come a long way.”
CC Sabathia
“As far as hitting lefties, he stays on the ball. He covers everything pretty much in the strike zone, and I think that’s the biggest adjustment he’s made is being able to cover pitches away, hit them to left field, left-center and being able to turn on pitches in. … He chased a little more (years ago), but he’s been able to make adjustments to lay off pitches and be able to cover pitches in the zone really well.”
Curtis Granderson
“It was never a talk about we’ve got to increase the power numbers or anything. The main thing was, when we made the change a couple of years back, was just to get consistent against them like we can against righties. If the power comes, great, but it’s definitely not the mindset or the reason we’re making the changes. The fact Kevin Long (who’s left-handed) throws batting practice and I’m able to see live results off him on the field, I think that helps out a lot. He’s able to throw it consistently, so throughout the course of the week there’s a good chance, even if we’re not facing a lefty, I’ll face him a couple of times and it gets me ready.”
Associated Press photo
It was reported over the winter rhe Yankees very much like Soler. This will be a definitive test of where the team is going. They desperately need outfield prospects.
I will not be happy if they make some low ball offer. By the way, Chapman would have been nice, but this group of Yankee management sign the older, marginal players and will not take risks on chancy, but high upside players. Considering where they pick in the draft, it is idiocy not to take a risk on Soler.
I will be shocked if they are even in the picture. Darvish, Cespedes, and Chapman show that.
JonHeymanCBS
Soler has major advantage, no signing limit yet. teams: phils, cubs, orioles, bluejays, redsox. also #mystery teams
Austinmac,
I would like Soler as long as it is on a minor league contract. It doesn’t matter if they pay him an MLB equivalent salary. They need payroll flexibility going forward.
Baseball Prospectus says the Yankees have amid interest in Soler. They will make a ridiculously mild bid. Why do they do that when they know it won’t work? To show the fans they are trying? They’re not with respect to international players. The team is very ready, however, to scoop up every released player.
“a mild interest”
Mac-
I think the Cubs were the early favorites to sign Soler.
I think they may even have had an agreement in principle.
If the Yanks could get him on a MiLB deal they’d be crazy no to do it.
Like Blake said, sign him before the rules change.
edit: not
GO JAYS!!!!!
Dat’s all folks!
Later.
He will sign before the rules change. After that his negotiating power largely goes away.
I’m not sure I fully understand the MLB vs. MILB contract issue. Is the difference simply the contract counts toward the cap while an MILB contract does not until the player reaches the majors?
If that is correct and one thinks he can make it in 2014-15, their isn’t that much difference.
austinmac June 2nd, 2012 at 1:13 pm
He will sign before the rules change. After that his negotiating power largely goes away.
I’m not sure I fully understand the MLB vs. MILB contract issue. Is the difference simply the contract counts toward the cap while an MILB contract does not until the player reaches the majors?
If that is correct and one thinks he can make it in 2014-15, their isn’t that much difference.
================================================
It does, if you want to go below the soft cap. Plus the added years of control by doing the MiLB contract instead of the MLB contract. Another reason is that he is far from a sure thing, do you want another bust to be counted on your payroll like Igawa or Brackman?
Drabek up today – how many Yankee fans want Toronto to win vs Bos. ? Nice play by Escobar that maybe Jeter could not get to but,………….you have been so blessed with Derek. I would prefer if Rivera were healthy . I don’t want a balanced schedule – give me you guys 18x any day . You have to beat the best to be the best – simple logic. In fact I would live in the old American league East of the eighties when only Cleveland struggled and at the end of the day you knew you had won something in that division. If Toronto are pretenders, they can bloody well go back to next year! I want a team for real!!! Have a superfluous day Yankee fans
j
I have come to believe there are no superfluous days, jmills.
Hi tomingeorgia – after a long week, I try and suspend belief – hope you’re not too hot down there ( my furnace has been on
)
jmills,
Perfect day here, cloudless, light westerly breeze, 78 degrees, 35% humidity, A fine day to watch baseball from my veranda. No complaints at all!
If the Yankees see Soler as a legit big league outfielder with power potential, they should take a serious run at him.
He’s the last sparkling jewel in the display case and the Yanks still have the largest checkbook. Hal has said that he thinks the team can compete with young talent. Well, this is his last chance to acquire without penalty.
As far as the type of deal, the Yanks should be able to convince him to accept a MILB deal if their bid is strong enough. If he truly believes in his talent, he will be on the 40-man when he is ready and will stay there for a long time.
Hi Tom!,
So good to hear that you came out fine from the operation!…Stay away from the ribs for a while my friend.
Luis,
If they perceive he has an high upside with reasonable likelihood, yes you must take a risk. I don’t think $5-8million per year, or whatever the sum would be, would dramatically change things. Say goodbye to Martin, use Stewart and Cervelli and roll the dice a bit.
When a player has sufficient ability, such as Chapman is showing, I’m not letting the drafting of aguy who needed TJS impact my decisions. A past wrong decision cannot prevent future moves.
Got to go, Austinmac…I would do it as well as long as i can lower payroll. Later
FELIX DUBRONT IS PITCHING A NO HITTER FOR THE SUXERS
Many believe he already has a handshake agreement, likely with the Cubs so all this discussion may be moot.
Question: You’re a Cuban kid with an upside. Would you rather play for the Cubs or the Yankees, money being roughly equal?
Hey Tom:
Did your surgery go well. Is everything all right? Good to see you back here!
Good afternoon Luis.
The unbalanced schedule is without a doubt the way to go. The playoff system has finally been corrected to reward the division winners
comet,
Thanks for asking. Just a couple of days from full strength, I think. Hope all is well with you.
mr tom
depends how you look at it.
Superfluous – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluous
Superfluous means unnecessary or excessive.
mr. mick,
Maybe you have unnecessary or excessive days. Don’t think I do, even if I do little or nothing with them.
excessive could mean overflowing with joy or something, mr tom.
don’t think he would wish us a bad day…
New York Yankees?@Yankees
Yankees send OF/1B Steve Pearce to Orioles in exchange for cash considerations.
Interesting GB, Here is what Chad had to say just the other day
*******************************************************************
First base
Steve Pearce, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Signed just before the Yankees broke camp, Pearce has been the best all-around hitter in the Yankees system other than Tyler Austin (and hit batting average and on-base percentage are both better than Austin). Pearce can play a little bit of third base and the outfield corners, but he’s getting the vast majority of his time at first base where he’s leading the organization in average while hitting 11 home runs and 14 doubles as Scranton’s No. 3 hitter
why are the yanks helping a division rival for nothing? pierce could have been a great bat off the bench. do they need the cash considerations that bad?
I agree I don’t understand sending a division rival the guy, albeit not a young one, for money. Oh yes, Hal needed a new car.
BX33,
They need the cash to sign Soler……
tom tresh 15 June 2nd, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Interesting GB, Here is what Chad had to say just the other day
*******************************************************************
Tommy T.,
I assume that this is the start of promotions up and down the line. Lot of the trenton players ready to come off of the DL as well as the XST kids. I would think that Cust, Ortiz and Figeroa will be the next to be moved out from scranton.
Pearce couldn’t help the Pirates very much. Doubtful that he leads to the collapse of the farm system.
Pearce actually opted out of his contract and NY made the sale. Russell Branyon replaces Pearce.
The odds are Pearce would never play for the Yankees, but, if Teixiera got hurt, he looks to me to have been the best guy to bring up. It’s not exactly like they have a hot prospect to replace him at first. I don’t get it for, my guess, a very few hundred thousand or less.
GB, that makes sense.
Oh, the crazy Mets kids.
Joel Sherman?@Joelsherman1
Hard to believe dept: I heard Elvin Ramirez,called up yest by #Mets, hurt hamstring diving into Johan no-no pile, likely DL bound. #unreal.
GB7,
I wonder if young Elvin will ever see the bigs again. Sad.
tomingeorgia June 2nd, 2012 at 2:38 pm
GB7,
I wonder if young Elvin will ever see the bigs again. Sad.
————————————————————————————————————————-
That’s a tough way to get ML meal money, huh?
By the way, that first report was from the Yankees’ official site that it was a cash sale of Pearce. Doesn’t make a lot of difference because he wasn’t on the 40 man roster, anyway.