And you thought Curtis Granderson was having a good season

There’s no doubt about it: Curtis Granderson has been this season’s biggest surprise bat for the Yankees. But measuring by WAR, wins above replacement, he’s not even the best center fielder in the game today.

That honor goes to Jacoby Ellsbury, who boasts a 5.3 WAR compared to Granderson’s 4.8. Ellsbury only trails teammate Dustin Pedroia (5.7) and Jose Bautista (7.0) for the league lead in WAR.

For those who have doubts or are unfamiliar with WAR, it’s worth noting the Red Sox are the only team to have more than one hitter with a WAR in baseball’s top 10. And they have three, Adrian Gonzalez (4.7) being the third.

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn sparked the idea for this article after posting one of his own this morning. Below is a quick comparison of Ellsbury and Granderson based on more commonly used statistics (leaders italicized).

Player	HR	RBI	R	SB	AVG	OPS	WAR
Jacoby Ellsbury	16	58	74	31	.320	.893	5.3
Curtis Granderson	27	74	88	19	.265	.926	4.8

Nate’s Takes: Brandon Laird, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano, Adam Warren

In any division besides the AL East, Yankee fans would be talking about how the Yankees are rolling and approaching 25 wins over .500. But in the AL East, Yankee fans can only look up at the red hot Red Sox and wonder if they can keep pace. The Yankees had a so-so road trip, splitting two of four against division rivals before almost sweeping the A’s.

Mark Texeria continues to have a terrible month, while Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon just won’t give up. The reinforcements are on their way as Eric Chavez and Rafael Soriano continue to rehab, and as the trade deadline approaches Yankee fans must sit back and see if Brian Cashman has anything up his sleeves. Here are my takes.

Right now, who do you want at second base: Robinson Cano or Dustin Pedroia?

Former Yankees beat writer and current Red Sox beat Peter Abraham posted an interesting comparison between Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia on his Extra Bases blog today.

He concludes: “You could not go wrong with either player. But right now, Pedroia is the clear choice given his 1.177 OPS in the last 35 games.” 

Both hitters are hot right now, so I don’t mind the comparison for “right now.” Cano is hitting .321 in July, just not as hot as Pedroia (.410).

The key distinguishing factor between these two is the ability to take pitches and walk. Cano has trouble with this while Pedroia thrives. Here’s a fun fact: the two second basemen have both struck out 50 times this season, but Pedroia has walked 47 more times.

Shut up, Dustin Pedroia

“Unbiased” ESPN reporter Peter Gammons broke the news of a possible position switch for Dustin Pedroia late this morning. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:

"When the idea of moving back to shortstop was floated to me, I welcomed it," Pedroia said. "I'm excited. Tell Derek [Jeter] to enjoy the gold glove and silver slugger awards while he can. Obviously, I'm not serious about the fun I have with Derek, but I'm never stopping believing in the goal. I believe I can play shortstop and help get the Red Sox back where they belong."

I hate Pedroia. What do y’all think of the so-called 5-foot-9-incher? (He’s actually 5-foot-7, on a good day.)

Dustin Pedroia: ‘Our infield (stinks)’

I hate Jonathan Papelbon the most, Kevin Youkilis second-most, but next on the Red Sox would have to be Dustin Pedroia. (List does not include Curt Schilling who sits atop this list by a long shot.)

All I hear from Red Sox fans is, “Pedroia was born to play second base for the Red Sox.” First off, that’s a load of crap. Let me guess, Nomar Garciaparra was born to play shortstop for them too? That’s what I thought.

This isn’t some random outburst on one of Boston’s players. He actually said something. And of course, it was stupid. He called out his own team’s grounds crew after misplaying a grounder against the Angels in the ALDS.

"It took a bad hop," Pedroia said. "Our infield (stinks). It's the worst in the game."

Pedroia was obviously peeved, but did not back away from his statement.

"I'm not lying about that. That is true. I think about those things. That stuff upsets me," Pedroia said. "My job is to take 1,000 groundballs a day. Other guys' job is to get the field perfect so we can play baseball."

For starters, would Derek Jeter ever come close to saying something like this? Making excuses on a groundball after losing in the ALDS is not what a leader should be doing. I can’t believe this guy stole the MVP Award last year.

I file this under a typical Red Sox comment. Please, someone tell me different.

Jeter unappreciated

Derek Jeter's range at shortstop has been scrutinized a lot in the media recently as Yankees writers are already worrisome of the Yankees' defense in 2009.  Frankly, it's pissing me off.

Let me start off by saying that Jeter won three gold gloves in a row from 2004-2006.  Even if you say Jeter's range is diminishing as each year goes by, you are forgetting a lot of his talents that are far more important than his range to his left.

For those concerned with his fielding skills, you may have forgotten that he still has a quality arm and is a master at backhanded plays.  While he may not have the greatest range to his left, he certainly makes up for it with his jump-throw play in the third base hole down pat.

Another point I want to get into about Jeter is his offensive skill set as a number two hitter.  I believe a true number two hitter is  a rare and valuable quantity these days.  I would rank Jeter second in all of baseball, only behind Dustin Pedroia, for number two hitters.  Oh by the way, any coincidence that Pedroia was MVP last season? 

If you compare Pedroia's '08 campaign to Jeter's second-in-MVP finish in '06, they are strikingly similar:

Pedroia: .326/.376/.493, 118 R, 213 H, 17 HR, 83 RBI 20 SB

Jeter: .343/.417/.483, 118 R, 214 H, 14 HR, 97 RBI, 34 SB

Oddly enough, they also both won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards for their respective positions.  (I still say Jeter deserved the MVP in '06 far more than Joe Mauer.)

The prototypical number two hitter needs to possess all offensive skills: hit for power, steal bases and have good bat control in order to move runners over via bunt or a hit to the right side.  If you are not convinced, here is more wisdom from Dave Cameron.

Anyways, Jeter's positive impact on the Yankees' four championships is undeniable.  He scored at least 104 runs and batted over .314 in all four championship seasons.  In the four World Series', Jeter's combined batting average is .342.  He also captured the World Series MVP in 2000.

Jeter faces Hughes along with USA team

In the top of the first inning, Dustin Pedroia led off the game with a bloop single to center on a 1-2 count off Phil Hughes.  Next in the batters box was Derek Jeter, Yankee captain, Derek Jeter.  He proceeded to ground into a typical 4-3 double play as Cody Ransom tagged out Pedroia and chucked it to first...I don' think Jeter did that on purpose, since there is hardly any fans at the game.

Ransom continued to work the glove against the next batter with a nice backhand stab off a Chipper Jones hot-shot up the middle.

After Damon whiffed to lead off the bottom half, Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada gathered three consecutive singles to put the Yankees ahead 1-0.  Xavier Nady ended the threat by grounding into a double play.

Keep posted for future updates here, as well as the live box score.

Gardner shining in leadoff spot

Brett Gardner has two hits in the first three innings of the game today against the Twins.  He has a double and a single with a run scored and a stolen base so far.

Don't say I never told you so.

Gardner is now 3/7 this spring (.429)

The Yankees hold a 3-0 leading behind Ian Kennedy's strong two-inning start, striking out three Twins allowing just a hit and a walk.

Stay posted on the game for live updates.

The only thing I have against Gardner is his striking resemblance to Red Sox second basemen, Dustin Pedroia...They are both very scrappy players too, but are good at what they do.

Photo from thetandd.com