Via Dan Martin: Matt Brown, agent for Curtis Granderson, confirmed his client wants to return to the Yankees next season. “That’s his first choice. He absolutely wants to stay there,” said Brown. “It looks like we’re probably headed down that [qualifying offer] road, but I think people remember what he did the previous two years.”
Granderson, 32, hit .229/.317/.407 (97 wRC+) with seven homers and eight steals in 245 plate appearances. His power (.178 ISO and 11.3% HR/FB) slipped quite a bit, which could easily stem from the fractured right forearm and fractured left hand he suffered. Brown said Granderson was not bothered by changing positions (first to left field, then to DH) this year, but he would “rather play center or certainly the outfield every day.” Martin hears the Rangers and Red Sox are potential landing spots.
The Yankees should definitely make Granderson the ~$14M qualifying offer, which would be a slight pay cut from his $15M salary this season. Missing more than a hundred games in your walk year really sucks — “There’s no getting around [it], missing 100 games the year you’re becoming a free agent isn’t great,” said Brown — but I still think teams will make multi-year offers this winter. Power is hard to find these days, even if you only project Granderson as a 25-30 homer guy going forward and not a 40+ homer guy.
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