The Yankees acquired centerfielder Curtis Granderson yesterday in a three team, block-rumbling trade: to call this a block-”buster” may be a little bit of a stretch. The Yankees buried any hope of resigning World Series MVP Hideki Matsui under only if they don’t resign Jonny Damon dirt. The Yankees have made many decisions with this one transaction and, as per usual, it has raised a lot of questions.

The first being: why go after a centerfielder now? The Yankees would like to improve at their centerfield position eventually but according to yesterday’s interview with Yankee GM Brian Cashman the Yankees were going to concentrate on “pitching, pitching, pitching and then left field.” I guess he lied. With rumors that Andy Pettitte is willing to resign, even just a one-year contract, I guess the pressure of getting another pitcher was relieved by the hopes of a trusty veteran’s return. I personally would have preferred they went after a middle of the pack starter for little money or nobody at all, but that’s why I watch the games from home in Queens instead of a luxury box with my name on the door.

Next you have to wonder if giving up Austin Jackson (or more like the fantasy of Austin Jackson’s future) was worth getting a centerfielder whose numbers have tapered in more categories than they’ve grown? I am a fan of developing your own prospects and watching them mature and have therefore been waiting for Austin Jackson for a few years. He had great numbers in AAA last year despite falling off slightly towards the end of their season. His power numbers may never be where the Yankees want them but after all the anticipatory hype that the Yankees doused his name in can you blame me for actually believing it? I guess you can; chalk it up to naivety.

Before I continue I should probably say I see no problem with giving up Ian Kennedy or Phil Coke. I could care less about Mr. Coke and I could take or leave Ian Kennedy who missed all of last season with an aneurysm on his armpit. Those two guys were easy to get rid of without anyone’s back losing skin. But you can obviously see I’m having trouble understanding giving up Jackson for Granderson. Some would say why keep the gamble when you could get a sure thing? But my question is: just how much of a sure thing is Granderson?

Mr. Granderson doesn’t have anything that pops out of his numbers sheet except for his 2007 season, which was no question, his best. That was the only year he hit over .300 (.302) he led the league in triples with 23 and had the same number of home runs, which complimented his career high in RBI’s (74) very nicely. That’s it. That is why the Yankees traded for him and if I were to stop writing you’d have lots of trouble trying to figure out why I’m so against it. But I’m not done writing.

While Granderson has led the league in triples twice (2007, 2008) he has also led the league in strikeouts with 174 in 2006. Since then he has consistently struck out at a 140+ rate per 162 games. In case those numbers don’t mean anything to you I’ll do some comparisons. Nick Swisher, who seemed to have struck out every other bat last season, recorded 126 strikeouts in’09 and led the team. Nick Swisher also finished the season with the same batting average as Granderson with .249. They had similar power numbers: Swisher had 29 HR and 82 RBI, Granderson had 30 HR and 71 RBIs). But what Swisher had that Granderson didn’t was 25 more walks and almost 50 more points on his OBP. Meaning what you could be getting in Granderson is a Nick Swisher who doesn’t get on base as much or produce as many runs and strikes out more; as for the triples Granderson only had 8 last year.

Yes. I am suggesting that Granderson peaked already. His eye popping numbers are over and I have little confidence that he knows what his is doing switching from Detroit’s baseball market to New York’s. Look, Granderson could come in here and impress every fan in the seats and at home. He could look like the 2006 Granderson of the WS Tigers. On the other hand Austin Jackson could have been the next great Yankee centerfielder. The hype could be real and the Yankees could have just blown it. I guess we won’t know until it happens, but what I do know is that we’ve given up a homegrown player with limitless potential for a guy who’s hit under .250 twice as much as he’s hit over .300.

This trade puts a lot of pressure on Damon and his people. With an already stacked outfield, the Yankees signed one more player making Damon less of a necessity. I want him back and wouldn’t waste much time saying sayonara to Matsui (not worth keeping now if you can keep Damon) considering Damon was arguably the most valuable 2-hitter in the majors last year. That being said he’s not worth what Scott Boras thinks he’s worth. I’m hoping this encourages Damon to sign with the Yankees quickly but I know Scott Boras will do what Scott Boras does and make this take twice as long. Damon’s bat is one of the more valuable on the open market lets hope it stays here.

Team/Player Photos: New York Yankees v Cleveland Indians on Jul 27, 2010

The offseason has officially started in New York and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings. I’m hoping it’s a signed contract by Andy Pettitte but we’ll wait and see.