ON THE CHEAP? Curtis Granderson will enter free agency coming off an injury-plagued season that could drive down his value, writes The Post’s Joel Sherman. (AP)
The Yankees have given up more runs than they have scored. They are pinning hopes on the returns of a geriatric left side of the infield trying to recover from two fractured ankles and a strained quad (Derek Jeter) and a second major hip surgery (Alex Rodriguez) — not to mention A-Rod’s Biogenesis entanglement.
And there is this — the Yankees open the second half with seven games in Boston and Texas. In their final seven games at home before the All-Star break against non-contenders Minnesota and Kansas City, the Yankees’ pathologies were front and center and they went 3-4.
In other words, the 2013 season is on the clock immediately and, in fact, we may be focusing on next year a lot sooner than Yankees fans are accustomed.
To that end, I was surprised at what one prominent agent and two personnel heads told me in the past few days — that Curtis Granderson’s injury-tarnished season could actually benefit the Yankees next year.
I thought that with power in such demand, Granderson would still garner a big contract this offseason as a free agent even with his injuries. After all, it is not as if a fractured forearm or broken pinkie would be looked upon as a chronic injury that threatened Granderson’s near future — they were caused by being hit by pitch.
However, the agent and executives both guaranteed Granderson would not exceed the $15 million he is making this year and would have to take less than that annually to get a multi-year deal. The proviso provided by one of the executives was “unless he comes back [off the disabled list] and goes off for the final two months.” But even in that scenario, my experts were not sure Granderson could expect a lucrative multi-year deal.
The agent, in fact, said he thought it was very possible Granderson could accept a one-year contract to rebuild his value to go back into free agency after the 2014 campaign.
Keep in mind the Yankees almost certainly will offer Granderson the one-year tender, which is expected to be about $13.8 million. That could chill his market since an outside signing team would then lose its first-round pick if it has one of the 20-best records in 2013 or a second-round pick if it has one of the 10-worst records. Clubs might not be willing to lose a selection for a player coming off an injury-plagued year, who turns 33 next March and who might no longer be able to market himself as a center fielder.
Thus, it might be in Granderson’s best interest — if he is signing a one-year deal — to do so with the Yankees, especially since he knows how his power already translates in The Bronx. In addition, it could give him a portal to negotiate a long-term deal with the Yankees, maybe something along the lines of the four-year, $48 million pact Nick Swisher signed with the Indians. As the agent said, “Granderson knows the best team for him is the Yankees.”
The Yankees are trying to get under the $189 million threshold next year. Still, at either one year, $13.8 million or $12 million annually, Granderson could fit into such a structure — especially since there was a period before these recent injuries in which it looked as if he were headed toward being an $18 million-$20 million player. And the Yankees could have a bunch more to spend than expected next year if A-Rod is indeed suspended, since the salary lost during a suspension does not count toward payroll for luxury tax purposes.
The Yankees certainly would like to have Granderson’s lefty power going forward, seeing how much they miss it right now.
Juan heck of a compliment
After watching Juan Lagares play for a few weeks, I offered a comparison to Terry Collins yesterday — Carlos Gomez, who was dressing about 15 feet away in the NL clubhouse.
Collins said: “You know a lot of people in this organization have been talking about that recently. Like Carlos, he can really run, everyone can see already what a terrific defender he is and how he can throw. And I am telling you, come watch batting practice, this kid has power.”
Lagares, though, is hitting .234 with a .596 OPS in his first 52 games. In his first Mets season, when he played 58 games, Gomez hit .232 with a .592 OPS.
Collins acknowledged that, like Gomez, this is very likely to be the last part of the game to click for Lagares — it might take 1,000 or more major league at-bats to become a strong hitter. But, Collins added, “we have an opportunity right now to give him some of those at-bats, and we have to find ways to give him more.”
Good luck catching Mo record
The two active leaders in career saves were on the AL team last night. But perhaps all you need to know about how staggering Mariano Rivera’s 638 saves are is that Texas’ Joe Nathan has had a long, marvelous career and yet has just 328 — a gap of 310 saves between No. 1 and No. 2 … or as many as Goose Gossage had in his entire Hall-of-Fame career.
So I asked Nathan if Rivera has taken his save total to a place no one else will reach.
“He has had the longevity to do this for 17-18 years and start relatively young,” said Nathan, 38. “I would have to play to 47-48 to catch him. Is anybody going to have that opportunity to get to that total? You are going to have to start young, but it is still going to be a long road. You have to stay healthy. People can get to that number, maybe someone who started young like [Atlanta’s] Craig Kimbrel. But whether it can be done or not, I really don’t know.”
Nathan said his only way to compete with Rivera would be for the all-time save percentage lead. Among pitchers with at least 100 saves, Eric Gagne (91.7 percent) is first, Nathan (90.1) is second and Rivera (89.5) is third.
By the way, third on the active save leader chart is Francisco Rodriguez (303). K-Rod has had a strong set-up year for the Brewers with a 1.19 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings in 23 games. One executive said the Tigers and Dodgers are both interested.
* One benefit the Angels would get if they feel out of the race, one scout said, is they could get Albert Pujols to go for surgery on the plantar fasciitis in his left foot sooner than later. Pujols has hobbled around all season, primarily been used as a DH and seen his average fall to .249, though he does have 15 homers and 57 RBIs.
Pujols has always been viewed as a prideful player with a high pain threshold, so it would likely take serious non-contention to get him to stop playing. The Angels are 44-49, 11 games out in the AL West and nine back in the wild card. Ten of their first 13 games of the second half are against the two teams ahead of them in the West — Oakland and Texas.