Ripple Effects

The Mets’ Curtis Granderson was traded to the universe-leading Dodgers last week, and good for him.  Granderson is one of those Chicago-area products our local teams can never seem to scout.  On top of that, he is a genuinely decent human being who’s given a ton of money to his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago, where I used to teach.  I have it on good authority from a former colleague that Granderson actually made the effort to attend class and get his work in on time, as much as baseball would allow.  (Yes, he has his degree.)  Come the offseason, which won’t happen until close to November given how the Dodgers are playing, you can expect Granderson to be involved with his kids-oriented foundation along with efforts to feed the homeless.

But baseball can be a cruel business.  If someone comes to a team, someone has to go.  In this case, the Dodgers made room for Granderson by sending down outfielder Joc Pederson, the feel-good story of 2015, when the rookie came out of nowhere to hit 26 homers.  Pederson added 25 last year and 11 so far in 2017, but he has a career batting average of just .222.  So, bye-bye, Joc.

Come postseason, Los Angeles will have to decide who goes on the roster.  Right now they’re going with 13(!!!) pitchers and four outfielders.  Depending on injury or strategy or whim, Pederson finds himself on the bubble to be one of the lucky 25, which is more than you can say for ex-White Sox Trayce Thompson.  If Pederson is on the outside looking in, Thompson is behind him trying to get a glimpse of the bigtime.

After the Sox traded Thompson in a three-team deal with the Dodgers and Reds, Thompson had a decent 2016 with LA, hitting 13 homers in just 236 at-bats.  But he hit a mere .225.  This year, in limited duty he’s managed an even more anemic .116.

Thompson played a very nice center field the half-season he was on the South Side in 2015 and demonstrated a Granderson-like humility, which goes a long way with me if no one else.  Maybe, if the baseball gods are in the mood, they’ll cut Thompson some slack, and Pederson, too, so they can enjoy what Curtis Granderson has earned.