New York Daily News suggests Yankees trade Granderson to Phillies for Ruf
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New York Daily News suggests Yankees trade Granderson to Phillies for Ruf
Matt Mullin
The dust hasn't quite settled in New York after the Yankees were swept out of the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers.
One media outlet is suggesting that the Yankees make a deal with the Phillies, trading Curtis Granderson, a power hitting center fielder who would fill a need for the Phillies, for Darin Ruf, the reigning double-A MVP.
Granderson has a $13M option for 2013, making him affordable for the Phillies, while Ruf is a 26-year-old career minor-leaguer with no real position on the Phillies. In winter ball, Ruf is hitting .276 with four home runs in eight games.
Here is what John Harper of the New York Daily News wrote over the weekend:
It's not that Granderson can't cut down on his strikeouts and get back to being something closer to the player that finished fourth in the 2011 MVP voting. It's just that I don't believe the Yankees are going to commit to a long-term, highly-expensive deal to keep him after 2013, so the time is right to trade him.
Granderson makes a lot of sense for the Phillies, who desperately need power, as well as a center fielder, and they're still very much in a win-now mode, trying to cash in before their high-priced starting rotation gets too old.
...
At age 26, Ruf is not really a phenom, having developed his power gradually after being a 20th-round pick out of Creighton. The Phillies are converting him from first base to the outfield, and scouts believe he can play a serviceable left field.
His bat could be valuable to the Yankees in a part-time role in 2013, if he proves ready, and eventually he could become a mainstay in the lineup.
The Phillies might be reluctant to deal one of their few highly-touted prospects, but some scouts, pointing to his high strikeout total (102 K's in Double-A) aren't sold that Ruf will be able to put up big numbers against major league pitching. And Granderson could be a long-term answer in center for the Phillies if they're willing to commit financially.
So what do you think? Would you make the deal?
- You can play the 20/20 hindsight game all you want but RAJ had no business giving Howard that contract at that time. It was met with heavy criticism THEN and the signing is providing proof NOW.
— dsh129 - You don't trade someone with a high upside for a rent-a-player. And the Phils are already too left-handed. Better to offer Howard to the Yanks where he could DH & move Ruf to 1B.— princeton22
Comment removed.- Granderson would be good in center field but he is another left handed hitter that strikes out to much. We need a right handed bat with some power to bat either 5th or between Utly and Howard. I would make a deal with the Yankees for Granderson nbut not trading Ruff. Possibly some pitchers from the minors or Worley as the Yankees really don't have a solid 5 man rotation and who knows if Pettit is coming back and if he does how much is left in the tank.— carltonlakes
- Sure, put Granderson in the same lineup with Howard and every strikeout record by 2 players on the same team will be zapped. And a 5 year $100 million contract starting in 2014 will tie up whatever small amount of cash s left under the cap. And what about getting younger? STUPID IDEA! So count on Ruben to strongly consider it if the Yankees put it on the table.— gentian
- A's, Cards, Giants, Tigers have shown the way to win...Yanks, Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, the way NOT to win. No way I take anyone of Yankees' high priced castaways.— JBP
- hahahahahahahahahahaha!
no.— Jerome99RIP - I like Granderson but don't like his strikeouts and don't like another LH bat in the lineup instead of a RH bat. And I agree with the poster(s) who said if the Yankees are going to trade Granderson, Ruf isn't going to be the best they can get.
I'm not entirely opposed to trading Ruf while his value is high for the right piece(s) in return but I lean toward not doing that. I like his swing and I would get a better look at him before doing anything we might regret later.— s - Granderson, the power hitter. Take him out of Yankee Stadium and how many home runs will he hit ? Probably about half as many. The Rangers could really use him if the lose Hamilton.
As for Ruf, I hope he does not become another Dave Kingman. Can hit home runs but is incompetent in all other areas of the game.
Ruf looks very likely to end up in the American League as a DH. I am amazed how slow a runner that the guy is - looks like he has concrete in his shoes.
I would be willing to trade Ruf for Olt in a minute.— candidly - This sounds exactly like something RAJ would do...unfortunately.— fhs77
- Ridiculous. We've made moves like that too much in the past couple years, that's why we're old and expensive. Need to keep young guys. And much as we'd like to be in "win-now mode", we're not one Curtis Granderson away from being World Series-caliber right now, in my opinion.— Nutburgers
- NFW— jimmymack
- No— rwolffd12
- This is the type of trade a fan might make or a fantasy baseball owner but it makes no sense for the Phils from a baseball standpoint. Granderson has hit .247 over his last 4 seasons (think left-handed hitting version of BJ Upton). The guy used to be so multi-dimensional once hitting 38 doubles, 23 triples and 23 homers to go with 26 steals in the same season back in 2007. He's become a completely feast or famine one-dimensional hitter these days. He hit 43 homers this year but only 18 doubles, 4 triples, struck out 195 times, paltry .319 OBP and only 10 stolen bases. He's 31 so his best days are behind him, only signed through next season and he's a left-handed hitter. We absolutely do NOT need another left-handed hitter. The ONLY way a deal like this would make sense is if some other team was in love with Granderson and they could flip him in a 3 way deal that would net a quality starter like a Chase Headley or David Wright or a RH hitting guy with some power to play left-field.— JimG
- wait, ny writers dont suggest signing johnny gomes, scott hairston and company?
yanks cant keep cano and grandy, so grandy is naturally the odd man out, but this is just a guy with nothing else to write about with the yanks season over.— jim715
