The question of whether or not the Yankees improve themselves with the acquisition of Curtis Granderson still remains open. If he's replacing Melky Cabrera, then they certainly improve themselves. If he's replacing Hideki Matsui or Johnny Damon, then it depends on how you look at it. Granderson will not likely be as good a player as Matsui and Damon have been, but he's likely to be a better player than either going forward.
Today is a key date in answering that question. Today is the date that teams have to offer contracts to arbitration eligible players with less than three years experience. Today is the day the Yankees say goodbye to Chien Ming Wang. Is it the day they say goodbye to Melky Cabrera? I don't believe they'll offer him arbitration if they're planning for him to be a fourth outfielder. If they offer him arbitration, it means they plan on his being an every day player and that Granderson weakens their lineup from last year.
The Red Sox last night made a move which puts them in a position to enormously help their club on both sides of the ball. They've traded Mike Lowell to Texas. Mike formerly a Gold Glove 3rd baseman, through age and injury, had turned into a statue at third base. In acquiring Max Ramirez from the Rangers, they've picked up a player much like the Yankees' Jesus Montero. Ramirez is a monster with the stick, but really has no position. My best guess is that Ramirez is being thought of as David Ortiz' replacement at DH in 2011.
To complete this maneuver, the Sox need to sign Adrian Beltre. What will Beltre do for the Sox? If you look at his offensive numbers over the past few years, you find that he's still quite a hitter outside of Safeco Park, which punishes him mightily. And, as a righthanded pullhitter who hits fly balls, he's built for Fenway Park. I look for him to put up the numbers similar to those that Jason Bay put up last year.
That said, his offense is the bonus. On the other side of the ball, Beltre is an absolute vacuum cleaner. The Fielding Bible, a group of statistical and performance analysts, scouts, and writers, who annually give out their own defensive awards, only pick one winner at each position, not one from each league. In the past 4 years, Adrian Beltre has finished 2nd twice and 1st twice. His defense alone is worth 2-3 wins per year, perhaps 3-4 wins when compared with Lowell.
Once the Sox sign Beltre, I look for them to move on Mike Cameron, with the thought of moving Jacoby Ellsbury to left. Cameron will be both less expensive and a better player than Jason Bay, when you look at their offensive and defensive capabilities together.
With these moves, the Sox will have a plus or plus-plus defender at every position but catcher. Their defense will have moved from among the worst in baseball in 2009 to easily the very best in 2010. Good defense not only saves runs, but protects pitchers. Good defense cuts pitch counts and pitchers pitch deeper into games.
With the best defense in baseball, a rotation second to none, and a top 25% offense, the 2010 Red Sox will be a considerably better team than the one that won 95 games last year.