INDIANAPOLIS — Curtis Granderson fits so well with where the Yankees want to take their roster.
He is in his prime, not turning 29 until March. He is affordable, making less in each of the next two seasons than Nick Swisher. He is athletic and is considered one of the gentlemen of the game. He has lefty power and provides payroll flexibility, a combination that clearly indicates the Yanks are going to offer Johnny Damon no more than a one-year, take-it-or-leave-it contract for no more than $10 million.
That is because Damon and Hideki Matsui represent so much of what the Yanks are trying to distance themselves from, namely older players with defensive deficiencies and brittle bodies on long-term, costly contracts.
But, in the end, the Yankees are about winning regardless of age, agility or temperament. And though the birth certificates of Damon and Matsui worry the Yankees, the organization never was scared when either was at bat in a big moment.
HARDBALL AT THE WINTER MEETINGS
So while the Yankees agreed in principle to a trade they had to make, Granderson’s arrival pushed Damon and Matsui closer to the door; and when they are gone so is their serenity- in-a-storm at-bats. It is one thing to win a Good Guy Award, as Granderson might, another to win the World Series MVP as Matsui did.
The Yankees have a different atmosphere, a place filled with external pressures and outsized expectations. They went 4-for-4 in imports last year with A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Swisher all enhancing their new environs rather than wilting within them. Now they will hope the seven-player deal bringing Granderson will extend that winning streak.
The trade was pending everyone signing off on medical reports, which could come today. The deal had been incubating for a month as the Yanks refused to budge when Detroit initially asked for Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes. As late as Monday night the Yanks were out unless lefty relief prospect Mike Dunn was removed from the request.
The Tigers relented yesterday morning and received Austin Jackson and Phil Coke from the Yanks plus Daniel Schlereth and Max Scherzer from Arizona. Ian Kennedy went to Arizona with Edwin Jackson.
It is a good package of cost-effective players, but one the Yanks had to surrender for Granderson, who provides lefty power that should play up even more out of Comerica Park and in Yankee Stadium. His 53 triples since 2006 are an MLB high. He is considered a good defender, but had some September issues tracking balls.
His real shortcomings, though, are striking out a lot and struggling against lefties, something Damon and, especially, Matsui did not do.
In the weeks since winning the World Series, the Yanks have come to believe that if they could obtain Granderson and re-sign Andy Pettitte (which they think will eventually happen, maybe this week) then they are well positioned to attack the rest of this offseason. That is because they would be comfortable with the roster they had, with Melky Cabrera in left and Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in the rotation, to do deals only on their terms the rest of the winter in an attempt to drive their payroll beneath $200 million.
So they would see if the prospect price fell on Roy Halladay, or good one-year deals could be signed with Rich Harden, Ben Sheets or Justin Duchscherer.
And they would play hardball with Damon, wanting him back but at their price. That probably will push him out the door. He will take his age and beat-up body and declining defense.
He will also take a guy whom you wanted up at a huge moment.
Will the Yanks ever feel that way about Granderson?
joel.sherman@nypost.com