Let's Talk Some Hot Stove Baseball

Justin Upton probably won't be traded to the Yankees. Even if he does, I feel the price would be too steep after seeing the rumored Seattle deal was that nixed by Upton and his no-trade clause. The Yankees would have to give up someone big as well as prospects to make room for the payroll that Upton would bring and also still have to deal with a 3 year contract worth over $38 million. Not exactly working well with the original game plan of reducing payroll and contractual obligations.

But, either way, the analysts seem to assume the most likely trade includes Granderson. This doesn't make sense to me given the plethora of outfielders that Arizona has on their roster. To an extent in the National League, I prefer to have Upton's statistics with  .280 batting average and 121 strikeouts over Granderson's .232 average and 195 strikeouts. Yes, there is the disparity between 17 home runs from Upton and 43 home runs from Granderson, a career high and his second straight year of 40+ home run seasons. But even in a situation on the Yankees, if you have Upton slotting in behind Jeter (because you know Gardner is going to stink it up initially and Giardi will like him to be hitting 9th), then you have a pretty good shot at Upton scoring far more than 100 runs (which Granderson also did, mind you, but 43 of them he drove himself in on). If Cano can continue to hit .300 and 30 home runs for what could possibly be his last season in pin stripes, then the Yankees line up, to me, looks a lot better; even minus ARod for half the season, it still looks pretty solid to compete in the AL East. The other option is of course Ichiro and Jeter batting first/second in the line up and Upton slotting in behind Cano and pushing Teixeira down the line up. You figure the line up would project as so with last years stats as comparison:

1. Jeter, SS, .316/.362/.429 with 99 Runs/58 RBI/15 HR
2. Upton, LF, .280/.355/.430 with 107 Runs/67 RBI/17 HR
3. Cano, 2B, .313/.380/.550 with 105 Runs/94 RBI/33 HR
4. Teixeira, 1B, .251/.332/.475 with 66 Runs/84 RBI/24 HR
5. Ichiro, RF, .322/.340/.454 with 28 Runs/27 RBI/5 HR in 67 games with the Yankees
6. Youkilis 3B, .235/.336/.409 with 72 Runs/60 RBI/19 HR
7. Nunez DH, .292/.330/.393 with 14 Runs/11 RBI/ 1 HR in 38 games with the Yankees
8. Cervelli/Romine/Stewart, Any offense is a god send here
9. Gardner, CF, .259/.345/.369 with 87 Runs/36 RBI/7 HR in 2011 with the Yankees

The alternative line up that I can see is where I said you would bat Ichiro lead off and bring Jeter down to the 2 hole

1. Ichiro, RF, .322/.340/.454 with 28 Runs/27 RBI/5 HR in 67 games with the Yankees
2. Jeter, SS, .316/.362/.429 with 99 Runs/58 RBI/15 HR
3. Cano, 2B, .313/.380/.550 with 105 Runs/94 RBI/33 HR
4. Upton, LF, .280/.355/.430 with 107 Runs/67 RBI/17 HR
5. Teixeira, 1B, .251/.332/.475 with 66 Runs/84 RBI/24 HR
6. Youkilis 3B, .235/.336/.409 with 72 Runs/60 RBI/19 HR
7. Nunez DH, .292/.330/.393 with 14 Runs/11 RBI/ 1 HR in 38 games with the Yankees
8. Cervelli/Romine/Stewart, Any offense is a god send here
9. Gardner, CF, .259/.345/.369 with 87 Runs/36 RBI/7 HR in 2011 with the Yankees

I believe that both line ups can be effective and I honestly like them more than having Granderson's power. However, nothing is certain and Upton could continue to sputter much like his brother has or Granderson might have a career low in strike outs while still hitting 40+ home runs.

Baseball is funny like that sometimes.