I sent an email out to several scout friends of mine last night asking their opinion on Curtis Granderson and whether he could succeed in New York. To a man, the consensus was a resounding yes!

There have been many people, including Paul Catalano, Howard Megdal and Mike Silva who point to Granderson’s terrible splits against lefty pitching, but the Yankees apparently are not worried about it. Our main Yankees source told us the following. “They have a lot of faith that Kevin Long will correct his flaws enough to make him a competent hitter against lefties.”

It should be noted that Long, who is considered to be one of the elite hitting coaches in the sport, does excellent work when it comes to correcting flaws in hitters swings.

On last night’s podcast, Megdal rationalized that at age 29, “the chances of Granderson developing any further are highly unlikely.” Not necessarily so, according to one scout we spoke with last night. “Curtis needs to make adjustments and work on his plate discipline and on identifying pitches better against lefties.” If he works at it, and learns to take the ball the other way more, he could easily turn his biggest negative into a positive.”

While it remains to be seen whether Long can work his magic with a player who batted just .183 against left handed pitching last season, the truth is, Granderson’s had too much of an upside for Brian Cashman to pass up on.

Passing Thoughts
Our main Yankees source also confirmed for us last night that the team is holding firm when it comes to offering Johnny Damon a two year contract. “The ball is in his court,” Is what we were told. “If Johnny decides to leave, “Cash” will have no problem going in a different direction.”

Whatever happened to NYBD poster Giuseppe Franco? A year ago, “Mr. Hair Care Products” attacked me for reporting that both Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes were no longer considered to be untouchables, sarcastically stating that both were “safe as kittens.” I wonder if Giuseppe realizes that one of the “kittens” has left the building.

Frank is a resident of East Brunswick, NJ and former radio announcer. He is a 4th generation Republican and Yankees Fan. He also enjoys listening to talk radio. His favorite announcer is Shawn Hannity of “Hannity” on FOX and enjoys reading about military history. In addition to rooting for the Yankees, he also has a passion for the New York Islanders. You can enjoy Frank’s work at The Dead Ball Era and his book “Bury My Heart at Cooperstown”. Check out his “Rants and Raves” on New York Baseball Digest.

Frank Russo

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Tags: Brian Cashman, Curtis Granderson, Ian Kennedy, Johnny Damon, Kevin Long, New York Yankees