In a deal agged to on Tuesday the Tigers will send Edwin Jackson 9right) to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Curtis Granderson (middle) to the New York Yankees, and will recieve Daniel Schlereth (right) and other prospects in retrun. Photo/US Presswire
On the second day of the MLB Winter Meetings three teams pulled off a blockbuster trade that shows three different organizations, trying to accomplish very different things.
While the trade is not final, as players are taking physicals, and teams are crossing their T’s and dotting their I’s, they have agreed to terms, and here is a look at what each team will get:
• Detroit Tigers- Get CF Prospect Austin Jackson, and left handed Relief Pitcher Phil Coke from the Yankees, and Pitching Prospects Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth
• New York Yankees- Get CF Curtis Granderson from the Tigers
• Arizona Diamondbacks- Get SP Edwin Jackson from the Tigers, along with RHP Ian Kennedy from the Yankees
Now let us look at what each team accomplished.
The Yankees have their man in Center Field, and since Derek Jeter is their leadoff man, they get a solid number 2 hitter for their lineup. They also have a guy that hit 30 home runs in spacious Comerica Park. Granderson will surely be bale to duplicate that playing in the small confines of New Yankee Stadium. Joe Girardi is also a more aggressive manger on the base paths so look for the Yankees to have Granderson improve on his 20 stolen bases from 2009.
The Tigers on the other hand get to dump a little salary. They were on the hook to Granderson for 23.75 million dollars over the next three years. Since the Tigers have a number of bad contracts, they have to cut salary wherever they can, and Granderson was a good enough talent to facilitate a trade. With 30 million coming off the books in each of the next two years the Tigers are putting themselves in a position to rebuild with younger prospects, and resign Ace Justin Verlander when his deal expires.
That is not to say this may be a terrible deal for the Tigers. They got Arizona’s 2008 and 2009 first round draft picks, a reliever in Coke who can help their bullpen immediately, and Granderson’s CF replacement in Austin Jackson. While it will be several years before we can call this trade a success or a failure, it certainly looks ok in the short term.
Arizona on the other hand seems to be the clear loser in this deal. They get Jackson who can help their starting rotation, but Jackson has collapsed in the second half of each of the past two seasons, so his help may not be enough.
They also get Kennedy a starting pitch without much experience; he was a first round pick by the New York Yankees in 2006 so he may not have developed into a Major league talent yet.
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