Curtis Granderson

The New York Yankees finished up a three game series against the Chicago White Sox with a 12-3 win today. The Yankees won the series by winning the opening game as well as the finale, but losing the middle game.

I wanted to share some thoughts that came to mind as the series wrapped up.

New Look Outfield

New York Yankees starting centerfielder, Curtis Granderson, strained his right groin and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list. The injury occurred in the sixth inning of Saturday's 7-6 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Similar injuries have kept players out up to four-six weeks.

How will this affect the Yankees?

Pretty badly. 

In fact, it cost them Saturday's game.

When Granderson went out, the Yankees were forced to move Brett Gardner from leftfield to centerfield. Randy Winn went to left.

If Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman purchased Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez at a department store, he would be frantically searching for his receipt right now. Sorry, no returns.

Despite a sparkling record good for second place in the tough AL East, a number of Yankee hitters are off to poor starts.

Mark Teixeria, Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Alex Rodriguez are all struggling mightily.

So which of the four are likely to turn it around? Advanced statistics can help us with that one. All of this data is available at fangraphs.com or baseball-reference.com

Alex Rodriguez

The line: .250/.337/.440 2 HR's.

Prognosis : Good, but remember, he's getting up there in years.

It’s been a very bad week for these power players. When their teams counted on them, they left helmets on the field instead of driving in runs. It’s dark in the basement; maybe they can find the light switch.

1. OF Curtis Granderson NYY

New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman hit the headlines with a "blockbuster" trade in the offseason that brought Curtis Granderson to the Bronx.

The Yankees gave up one-time first round draft pick, starting pitcher, Ian Kennedy; left handed reliever, Phil Coke; and top prospect outfielder, Austin Jackson, to the Detroit Tigers.

Coke is 3-0 in Detroit coming out of their pen.

And if you haven't checked on AJax lately, he's playing pretty well!

The Yankees have won their first five series, including last week's triumph over the Angels, but now the Bombers head out to Anaheim for a rematch in a stadium where New York has not had a great deal of success over the past 15 years.

Then again, this doesn't appear to be the same Halos team the Yanks have battled during the past decade-and-a-half. Los Angeles has been mediocre out of the gate, posting an 8-9 record with less-than-stellar statistics to back it up.

If there has been one thing that has plagued the New York Yankees the past few years, it has been their slow starts to the season. The Yanks then have to finish the season strong to be in contention.

However, 2010 is starting off great for the reigning World Series Champions.

The Yankees are 7-3 entering Saturday's afternoon game against the visiting Texas Rangers. The Yankees are a half-game in front of Tampa Bay and Toronto, and two-and-a-half games ahead of the Red Sox.

It was important for the Yankees to get off to a fast start for a few reasons.

We all knew what to expect when the New York Yankees headed up to Boston to face the Red Sox in the Opening Series of 2010.

The games would be long, exciting, hard-fought battles.

Those expectations were met.

Along the way, the Yankees taught us a few things.

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When the Yankees got Curtis Granderson in the winter, some people weren't totally sold on the center fielder.

"He only hit .249 and he can't hit lefties and he strikes out too much," were some of the things I heard about why trading for Granderson wasn't a good move.

After this past series with the Red Sox, I'm sure most of those critics will be silenced.

One of the most common things heard about new players is having them "earn their pinstripes." The way Granderson played this past series, he's earned them.