Granderson Available?

[TheNext44]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/0...randerson.html

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News wonders if the Tigers will consider offers for Curtis Granderson after the season. Though he has 27 homers and 20 steals, Granderson has struggled at the plate this year, particularly against lefties. He has a batting average on balls in play below .300 for the first time in his career, and it has factored in to a .248/.331/.457 line that's solid, but below Granderson's standard. (He's hitting more fly balls than usual, which could explain the BABIP dip and rise in homers.)

I think he could be a solid 4-5 win player in GABP. Check out his road stats:

284 .355 .519 .874

Never could hit lefties, but could platoon with Stubbs if necessary.

Very solid defense, especially considering the size of CF where he plays.

Makes a lot of money:

10:$5.5M, 11:$8.25M, 12:$10M, 13:$13M club option ($2M buyout)

But would be underpaid if he put up numbers like this year's.

Not sure what it would take to get him, or if the Reds have it, but I sure hope Jocketty calls to at least find out.

[Scrap Irony]

Stubbs and a bunch more, is my guess. Detroit might be willing to swap Bailey straight up.

Would you?

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Stubbs and a bunch more, is my guess. Detroit might be willing to swap Bailey straight up.

Would you?

No. I don't think you can trade any of the starting pitchers right now with Volquez out.

[traderumor]

That's an awful lot of money for a platooner, not to mention the swap of talent it would take.

[nate]

Seems a bit rich.

[jojo]

Granderson had a break out uber year in '07 where he was a 7 win player but I think his true skill is captured by what he's done three out of the last four seasons where he is basically a 4 win player.

That's just the kind of thing the Reds need to add-above average players. However, they also need to do it without subtracting any talent from the 25 man roster. Assuming Granderson is available (I kind of doubt that he is), it may not be possible to add him without taking a ding to the 25 man roster (which would essentially subtract from the impact of adding him).

As it happens, there is another CFer available who has been a 4 win player in 3 of the last 4 seasons. Mike Cameron. He'd likely cost comp picks but he's also likely to sign for a short term, relatively cost-controlled contract (his last one was for 1 yr/$7M plus and option year) but his addition wouldn't be associated with a loss of something useful from the 25 man roster.

If CF is to be addressed from outside the org, then I'd suggest Cameron would have to head the list of potential routes to take.

[Sea Ray]

If only I had a nickel for every time I read a RZ thread on the Reds picking up a high salaried player...

This team cannot afford to commit itself to those kind of $$ figures. Sorry folks. That's the way it is.

[Guacarock]

Your 2010 Reds CF -- Juan Pierre. Here's a blockbuster trade for the off-season that makes some sense: Reds trade Phillips and Taveras to the Dodgers for Pierre, SS Chin Ling Hu and SP Josh Lindblom.

We take a big hit losing Phillips, but in return, we get rid of an albatross (Taveras), we finally get a decent lead-off batter (Pierre), we get someone young and cheap who can hold down SS for the next 3-4 years and we get a decent fourth-fifth starter candidate in Lindblom who can help tide us over while Volquez heals and might just stick afterwards. Lindblom is from Lafayette, Ind, as well, which is kinda nice as far as having hometown appeal.

Pierre makes $10 million, but we actually shed a little salary under this scenario, given that Phillips is scheduled to make $6.75 million in 2010 and Taveras $4 million.

Hu has decent range and handles the glove fairly slickly, and can actually hit well enough to bat 2nd ahead of Votto, pushing Janish back to the bench where he belongs.

The only question mark this poses: Who replaces Phillips at 2B? Maybe Francisco could. Or maybe we grab a serviceable free-agent on the cheap, say someone like Belliard or Iwamura. Food for thought.

I do think the team would improve considerably on offense, without sacrificing much defense, if we go into 2010 with this lineup:

1 Pierre CF
2 Hu SS
3 Votto 1B
4 Rolen 3B
5 Bruce RF
6 Gomez LF
7 Belliard or Iwamura 2B
8 Hanigan and free-agent on par with Olivo C

Bench
Dickerson
Francisco
Janish
Stubbs, Balentien or Heisey
Backup catcher

[PuffyPig]

Originally Posted by Guacarock

...we finally get a decent lead-off batter (Pierre

Pierre is not a decent lead off hitter, can not play CF (nor any other position to speak of) and has what is really an albaross contract.

If we trade Phillips, we need to get back premium talent.

You don't take Pierre unless you get rid of th esame amount of ugly salary. And even then I wouldn't do it. Taveras is just as bad but for quite a bit less.

And then come 2011, and Pierre is still yours. You need to look at contract commitments for more than 1 year.

[OnBaseMachine]

I love Curtis Granderson. He's one of my favorite players in the game, so I'd love to have him on the Reds, however, I wouldn't trade Homer Bailey for him. If Stubbs/Dickerson/Heisey + another prospect could get the deal done, I'd do it, but not for Bailey.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

I love Curtis Granderson. He's one of my favorite players in the game, so I'd love to have him on the Reds, however, I wouldn't trade Homer Bailey for him. If Stubbs/Dickerson/Heisey + another prospect could get the deal done, I'd do it, but not for Bailey.

You would be a lucky guy having two of your favorites on the Reds, Rolen and Granderson.

[Guacarock]

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

Pierre is not a decent lead off hitter, can not play CF (nor any other position to speak of) and has what is really an albaross contract.

Pierre's OBP of .374 is decent enough for a leadoff hitter, especially considering his 26 stolen bases and Taveras' comparatively anemic OBP of .273 this season.

I agree that Pierre might not be the best option for CF, but we could always play him in LF, plug a platoon of Dickerson/Stubbs into CF, and Bruce in RF -- with Gomez providing muscle off the bench.

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

If we trade Phillips, we need to get back premium talent.

I see the trade as being a split-level deal, essentially, Taveras for Pierre, and Phillips for the young premium talent (SS Hu and SP Lindblom).

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

You don't take Pierre unless you get rid of th esame amount of ugly salary. And even then I wouldn't do it. Taveras is just as bad but for quite a bit less.

You might have a point there. Maybe we add Lincoln to the package to help balance out the "ugliness" quotient, making it Phillips-Taveras-Lincoln for Pierre-Hu-Lindblom.

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

And then come 2011, and Pierre is still yours. You need to look at contract commitments for more than 1 year.

True, Pierre is signed for 2011, but his salary does taper off then from $10 million to $8.5 million.

[PuffyPig]

Originally Posted by Guacarock

I agree that Pierre might not be the best option for CF, but we could always play him in LF, plug a platoon of Dickerson/Stubbs into CF, and Bruce in RF -- with Gomez providing muscle off the bench.

The only thing worse than Pierre in CF is Pierre in LF.

We need a hitter in LF. Gomes would be twice the player Pierre is in LF and at about 10% of the price. And most want an upgrade over Gomes.

[Scrap Irony]

Stubbs/Dickerson/Heisey + Alonso?

Would that work?

For Cincinnati, I'm assuming the need to add salary to the deal to make it manageable. Would adding Taveras work for all involved?

[redsmetz]

I'm glad I have a brick wall by me because I can pound my head against it for the talking of having other teams back their trucks up to the Reds dock and walk away with our best prospects. Yes, I know eventually some prospects get packaged in deals, but why do we always throw out Bailey first and then Alonso, etc.? Yikes!