DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Yankees knew whom they wanted to be the No. 5 starter and center fielder before they ever put spikes on the ground in Tampa this spring training.
That is why their two big questions of camp were not complicated for them. After all, questions are not complicated when you already know the answers.
They didn’t exactly rig the event as much as set the bar nice and low for Phil Hughes and for Curtis Granderson. As long as those guys just avoided losing jobs, then nobody else could win them.
So once Hughes showed the makings of a pretty good changeup and Granderson essentially did not belly-flop tracking flies in center, the pseudo-competitions were over. That Sergio Mitre outpitched Hughes did not matter nor did the fact that Brett Gardner is likely a superior center fielder to Granderson. The Yankees had both short- and long-term reasons for stacking the deck.
For example, the Yankees cannot guarantee that Mitre or Gardner will even be part of their team on July 1. Meanwhile, they envision Hughes and Granderson being vital pieces of their club into 2011 and beyond.
This is no small item. Success by prime-aged players such as Hughes and Granderson are vital to the Yanks navigating effectively away from the Core Four while being more judicious in the free-agent and trade markets. For example, if Hughes honors the Yankees’ scouting projections to evolve into, at least, a No. 3 starter on a championship contender then the organization could be more financially disciplined in wooing a free agent such as Cliff Lee.
If Granderson is not a center fielder and has to move to left, then the Yankees either have to trade him or he would be a block to pursuing Carl Crawford, a player they almost certainly will desire in the offseason.
So he has to be more than the center fielder of low standards. He was officially named the starter yesterday. But that was formality. The Post reported on March 24 that the Yankee brass already had determined Granderson was the starting center fielder because he had exceeded that initial low bar.
Granderson had committed a couple of high-profile misreads late last season as the Tigers blew the AL Central lead, and his jumps were worrisome early in this camp. But as the spring progressed, Granderson got to everything he should have reached and more, specifically in the gaps. That convinced the Yankees he was the man — at least in a competition with Gardner.
And, of course, defense is not the persistent issue involving Granderson’s game anyway. He hit just .183 against southpaws last year, and just .210 for his career.
Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long began working with Granderson in the offseason on his approach vs. lefties, wanting to move Granderson closer to the plate and make him more upright in his stance.
“It is a small sample, but he has done great down here,” Long said. “The quality of the at-bats has been real good.”
Without Granderson’s upper-body tilt, Long feels he is covering the plate better vs. lefties. Granderson drove an outside pitch for a deep fly out to center Wednesday vs. Minnesota southpaw Brian Duensing and yesterday he lashed a double to the left-center gap off a fastball away from lefty Brian Tallet; one of two hits he had off Tallet.
However, lefties in spring training are like fake competitions against Brett Gardner; it is nice to excel, but the true judgments await. Within that forum, Long said he expects Granderson to start the second game of the year against Boston’s excellent lefty Jon Lester and play against most lefties this season.
It is the right kind of optimism for this time of year. The Yankees like Granderson and not just a player with speed and power, but as the kind of smart, team-oriented person who helps the fabric of a clubhouse. But from now on, there are no more rigged events. That bar is raised. And Granderson must show he really can be part of the Yankees’ future on both sides of the ball.
joel.sherman@nypost.com