Staying Grand
posted in 2007-08 offseason |Looks like the Tigers are trying to lock up Curtis Granderson, JPM reports in the Freep, another sign they want to keep their young core together past 2010.
This is obviously a great idea. While the Tigers have any number of good young players who will bring quality play to the team for years, they only have one Curtis Granderson. Maybe locking him up may not be as important as extending Miguel Cabrera, true. But from any other standpoint, adding years upon years to Granderson’s contract is a must. He has become Mr. Tiger. Heck, I bet he’s become one of the most popular athletes in Detroit sports. His charity event this week drew a full house.
But oh, from a baseball standpoint, it’s not a bad idea either. Detroit has club control through 2011, and they’re not paying him nearly close to what he’s worth because of it. Morosi mentions adding a year to Granderson’s contract, assuring they’d have him through 2012. I’d rather see a year or two past that. Detroit would get his peak years, whatever those might be. He’ll be 28 this year. He’s coming off a huge year, in which he had an OPS+ of 136 and became just the third player to have 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 homers and 20 steals. His defense in center field at Comerica Park is terrific.
A lot of people may think his peak year will be 2007 — it is hard to duplicate that kind of performance — and maybe they’re right. But I wouldn’t expect a huge dropoff, if any. A heady player who decided he had to cut his strikeouts down and did, I expect we’ll see Granderson make adjustments as need be and continue to be an upper tier player.
This is just continued confirmation the Tigers aren’t going to have a dropoff anytime soon with this management team in place.
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