Seattle Mariners Trade a Day: Grandy Man

Curtis “Grandy Man” Granderson is an interesting player. He spent his first six seasons as a top-of-the-order man for the Tigers with a .272/.344/.484 line. He was a regular on the Tiger’s 2006 team that went from 119 losses to an American League pennant that year. In Grandy’s Motown tenure, he showed no shortage of speed either with a combined 36 triples in 2007 and 2008.

What makes Grandy interesting is that his Tigers tenure is the longest he’s had to date. Since his Motown departure, he has been a bit of a nomad. Not as severe as Kenny Lofton but enough to call him one. He spent seven-and-a-half combined seasons with each Big Apple club, had a cup of coffee with the Dodgers, and is currently a Jay.

Grandy never got it going as a Dodger rental, posting a dismal .161/.288/.366 spread in 36 forgettable games. His .233/.342/.426 is not ideal north of the border and since the Jays are out of it, maybe they should sell him.

I’m going to stop you right there, Mariners fans. Grandy is not needed in Seattle. The current Mariners outfield situation is essentially six people trying to fit into a five-seat Sedan. Meanwhile, the sixth person is grabbing for life onto the car while it drives away. There’s just no room for him and the outfielders we have are hopefully here to stay.

In terms of exciting and young talent, don’t be worried about Guillermo Heredia. He has come down to earth at .231/.319/.317 but that’s exactly it. He’s young and can still play that card. The man also has multiple walk-off hits on his resume, so he’s clutch. Moving to right with Mitch, enough said. The throw-in to the Jean for Taijuan trade has at times played just as well as Jean with an All-Star berth.

We already have a left-handed left field (tongue-twister) with Ben Gamel and Denard Span platooning time. Jerry would be wasting his breath because Grandy would be a third Span and Gamel. Gamel’s .286/.356/.389 has been good considering his oblique injury while Denard has been a solid, clutch acquisition from Tampa.

Sorry, Curtis. The lavatory is currently occupied with outfielders a-plenty so maybe next year. Or perhaps never because your current average is barely better than most Mariners catchers, ahem. You’re also like Dee Gordon or Kenny Lofton but with more pop and a lower average.

Grandy was a young sparkplug in his early Tiger years, which makes you wonder if he ever should have left. If there’s no room for the outfield, you could play the speed card since Grandy still has that. The problem is, wouldn’t you say we’re set with Dee, Jean, and Guillermo?

Next: Mariners Trade a Day: Nick Castellanos

If Jerry defies this article, he may sadly need to make a tragic outfield sacrifice:

Mariners get: OF Curtis Granderson

Jays get: OF Guillermo Heredia