The Pelican texted this to me the other day. Would the Yankees be better served right now with Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero or with Michael Pineda and Curtis Granderson?
The best hitter and the best overall player in this discussion is Curtis Granderson who won a Silver Slugger last season, hitting 40+ bombs and leading the AL in RBI. Ian Kennedy comes up right behind him with an excellent season in 2011 with 20+ wins and an ERA under 3.00, earning him 4th place in Cy Young voting. After that you're looking at a lot of youth and potential in Jackson (25), Montero (21) and Pineda (21). Jackson has been good in the leadoff role for Detroit with double digit triples and over 20 steals each full season to go with a TON of strikeouts. Montero caught fire last September in pinstripes before begin dealt for Pineda who was lights out in the first half of 2011 and eh in the second.
This season IPK and AJax are the class of this crop, with Kennedy going 2-0 with a 2.84 and almost a K per inning Jackson ripping the ball with four XBH, nine runs and an OBP of .536. Montero hasn't had any XBHs yet and Grandy just drove in his first runs with a bomb vs. Baltimore. Pineda is on the DL, expected to return in May.
IPK had a (kind of) chance to impress the Yankees and didn't so he was moved in the three-teamer that netted the Bombers Granderson. Grandy was decent in '10 and phenomenal in '11 and a great addition to the lineup and clubhouse. Kennedy is not winning 20 games (maybe he gets 12-13 W) in the AL East and AJax wouldn't have a place in the order with Jeter, Gardner likely better top of the order options than him. So for this part of the trade, the nod goes slightly to the Yankees, but you can bet that all three teams are very happy with their hauls.
The answer to Pelican's lies with Pineda. Montero is going to hit for average and power, but most likely out of the DH spot, catching 30-40 games a year, diminishing his value. If Pineda is first half Pineda for most of his time in pinstripes, this is a win for the NYY and I'd rather have the current pair of Yankees than the three amigos. However, if Pineda is oft-injured or more like second half Pineda, the Mariners stole this one and the Yankees look stupid for trading a masher for basically a high level pitching prospect when they already have two or three in the minors.
