My undying devotion to Curtis Granderson has been described as confusing, maddening, and misguided. And yet I keep collecting his cards anyway.
This is a guy who became a home-run smasher in the Bronx for four seasons, giving his all and hitting 40 once or twice, before going off and making two World Series campaigns with the Mets and Dodgers. Despite a disappointing LA turn, there is still some stuff left in Grandy's tank, and I'm still going to collect his cards, even if it's clear that he won't be a Hall of Famer, nor will he make enough votes to stay on the ballot for more than a year.
Now...what happens when one of my favorite players signs with a team I don't particularly like?
I don't think the Blue Jays are gonna compete i 2018. Their core is no longer the Bautista-Edwin-Donaldson monolith that got them so far mid-decade. Bautista probably isn't coming back, barring extreme catastrophe, Edwin's gone, and Donaldson will probably be gone by August. All they really have to rely on is a smattering of aged veterans or haphazard younger stars. They don't have a full team to make a run with anymore. At this point, they're just trying to stay out of last.
I don't think that Grandy is an especially terrific upgrade from Bautista, though, which I'm 90% sure they're trying to do with this deal. He's big, strong, hits home runs, and the fans love him, but also like Bautista, he's past his prime. Joey Bats had a terrible showing in 2017, barely showing up above average and only getting acclaim for occasional home runs, which sounds an awful lot like Grandy's Dodgers run. It may not end up terribly well for them if Grandy picks up from last September.
However...if Curtis Granderson can work back to how he was doing in 2015, and have a good amount of contact throughout the year, not only will he be dangerous in Rogers, but he'll be dangerous in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, two notorious home run hitters' parks.
It's honestly just a case of which Curtis Granderson shows up in Toronto. As a fan of his, I'm hoping he can have a comeback season, but as a Yankee fan, I'm a little scared.
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