Curtis Granderson or Carlos Beltran?

I wrote last week about the odd trades in MLB thus far this off-season, and on the day that Curtis Granderson was formally introduced as a Met, it is appropriate to look at the swap the Yankees made, in essence trading Granderson for Carlos Beltran.

The Yankees apparently made no effort to re-sign Granderson after he rejected the team’s qualifying offer. Instead, they signed Beltran to the same $15 million per season that Granderson got from the Mets. Beltran got three years while the Mets gave Granderson four years, but knowing the Yankees, that was not the difference-maker.

It made some sense to let Granderson go in order to free up the money to sign Jacoby Ellsbury. But to then turn around and sign Beltran does not make any sense.

At 32, Granderson is four years younger than Beltran. The Yankees already have three outfielders who are 35 years old or more in Ichiro Suzuki, Alfonso Soriano and Vernon Wells — why add another one?

Do the Yankees know something about Curtis Granderson that no one else knows? Or do they think Carlos Beltran would be a better piece to help deliver a championship over the next three years?

No one knows, but I think if you ask people around baseball if they would rather have Granderson or Beltran over the next few years at the same money, most of them would choose Granderson. As a Mets fan, I’m glad the Yankees feel differently.