This article does not explain why.

"Now, thanks to the fractured right forearm that will send Granderson to the sidelines for approximately 10 weeks, Gardner will be the Yankee center fielder until early May."

Of course.


"After that, the odds are Granderson will be given his old job back by default."

Why?


"The reason is simple: The Yankees already knew Gardner could play center, having seen him handle it quite well for two seasons before Granderson joined the club in 2010.

But they really didn't know if Granderson could play left. Now, they will never find out."

LF is easier than CF.

I'd personally prefer to see Granderson in CF and Gardner in LF ... there is not much of a difference and I don't understand the insistence on moving moving Gardner to CF in the first place ... but Granderson can play LF.


"That's what these 33 preseason games have always been for, to try out things you wouldn't dare try in a real game except in the case of dire emergency."

How much you wanna bet Nunez gets some regular season playing time in LF?

Remember when Knoblauch played LF?  That wasn't during the Girardi era, but Girardi has played the following list of Gold Glovers (among others) in LF in non-emergency situations: Raul Ibanez, Jayson Nix, Dewayne Wise, the aforementioned Eduardo Nunez, Randy Winn, Marcus Thames ...

He also played the statuesque Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui.  Not statuesque in the sense that their bodies were sculpted, but statuesque in the sense that they were unable to move.

I'm kinda sure Granderson will be better at playing LF than all of them combined.


"The plan was for Gardner and Granderson to use the next six weeks of spring training to adjust to their new roles, to re-acquaint themselves with each other's tendencies -- not having played together save for a handful of games in 2012 -- and for each to carve out his own slice of the outfield."

Remember when Tony Womack was suddenly moved to CF?  That was Torre, but ... point being ... players move around and play different positions all the freakin' time.


"Why should you, as a Yankees fan, care?"

Wow!  How did he know I am a Yankee fan?  

I am!  I am a Yankee fan!

It's like Wallace Matthews can somehow see me through some kind of Internet Magic.



"This year's Yankees were going to be less reliant on the home run, anyway, and more reliant on run prevention.

That is what the swap of Gardner and Granderson was designed to accomplish.

No matter how Girardi publicy hedged his bets, or why -- probably, he wanted to see how Granderson would be affected by the switch before rubber-stamping it for good -- clearly, he and Cashman thought Gardner in center and Granderson in left gave them a better chance of preventing runs.

And certainly, the stats people, with their UZRs, TZLs and FSRs, would agree.

But now, the Yankees probably aren't going to be able to do that."

A few things:

1) It probably won't make much of a difference who plays CF and who plays LF.

2) The defensive setup should be optimized regardless of the expected offensive output.

3) Put Granderson in Spring Training for a few rehab games if it bothers you so much.

4) Learning to play LF isn't that hard.



"There's talk of trying to bring back Alfonso Soriano. And Vernon Wells, who's had two miserable seasons with the Angels, probably could be had along with his $21 million salary for the next two seasons. 

There is always every Yankees fan's pipe dream, that the Miami Marlins will see fit to part with Giancarlo Stanton, one of the most talented young hitters in the game who happens to have a bargain-basement pricetag, just to help the Yankees out.

And I fully expect to hear from some people suggesting the Yankees take a chance on Vladimir Guerrero or Gary Sheffield -- neither of whom has played in a big-league game in years. (You know who you are out there)."

Wallace Matthews is sourcing the voices in his head as "there's talk."


"The Yankees should be able to survive the first five weeks of the regular season without Curtis Granderson's bat in their lineup.

But can they survive the 20 weeks after that with his glove in center field"

Yup, they can.  Because he is a good CFer. Who could also easily make the transition to LF.