Me: “Two packs of skittles, please.”

Clerk: “You like that candy, huh?”

Me: “You have no idea.” As I count my change, I realize that this is the same person with whom I talked about the parade a month ago “By the way, you know the Yankees got Granderson, right?”

Clerk: “Wha? I heard about the Bruney thing…”

Me: “Yeah. Curtis Granderson for Coke, Jackson and Kennedy.”

Clerk: “No way! We’re getting 28!”

******

So yes, the Yankees have, pending physicals, acquired Curtis Granderson for Phil Coke, Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. Granted, the physicals are not guaranteed–and Arizona is also a player in the deal (they get Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy and give up Daniel Schlereth and Max Scherzer)–but the clerk’s reaction, wide eyed and “OMG MY LIFE RULES” seems to be a fairly common one amongst Yankee fans.

How do I see the trade?

It’s a little hard to contemplate Austin Jackson not being in pinstripes after we’ve kept talking about him for so long, but Granderson is, as of right now, better than Jackson. He (Granderson) had a bad 2009 so there’s a little risk in hoping that 2009 was an off year and not a downward spiral, but what it does mean is that the Yankees have that much more leverage in negotiating with Johnny Damon.

I’ll miss Phil Coke’s postgame interviews, but I will rest easy knowing that he won a ring with the Yankees.

The part of the deal that strikes me most is that Arizona is giving up Max Scherzer–who is young and with tremendous upside–for the inconsistent Edwin Jackson.

In fact, netting E. Jackson and Kennedy, it’s hard to see how Arizona benefits–although Kennedy, at least, might find much more success in an NL environment.

The other big news of the day is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN.

That’s pretty big. Also, one that came out of basically nowhere. However, it does mean that he is trending above Tiger Woods on Twitter, and that is, given recent revelations, a testament to just how big a name Gammons is.

Regardless of any perceived bias, Gammons is still an institution, and helped nurture the talents of many we read today. No word on if this is a retirement or if he is moving on to another gig, but wherever he goes, I do wish him well.

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Couple things.

1) The Yankees traded Brian Bruney to the Nationals for the elusive PTBNL.

The PTBNL, as it turns out, is Washington’s Rule 5 pick–and they, unless I am mistaken–pick first. So the Yankees get to pick first in the Rule 5 draft.

Before you go moaning about how the Rule 5 draft is just prospects that teams don’t care enough to protect, remember that one Johan Santana was also a Rule 5 pick.

And it cost us Brian Bruney.

The potential for this to turn into something akin to Swisher ’09 down the road is intriguing–and one would think Cashman wouldn’t ask for the Rule V pick unless the Yankees had someone in mind.

2) This sentiment has been echoed by others, but thus far it’s the bloggers–and perhaps their cynicism–and not the main stream media that’s doing a better job of not reporting every single rumor they hear as veritable fact.

It might also have something to do with the fact that bloggers seem to be able to grasp how quickly information can spread on twitter, while many of the MSM have yet to figure out that twitter is as much about the ability to interact with others as anything else.

3) The Tigers, according to Buster Olney, basically want Hughes and Austin Jackson for Curtis Granderson, a trade that would basically (IMO) give the Tigers Hughes for free.

Granderson might be the nicest guy you meet, but no thanks. Hughes is the guy you trade for a guy like Halladay–and that’s only if you trade him and not Joba, when the consensus seems to be that in such a case the Yankees would be more likely to go the other way around.

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