Curtis Granderson? What the (insert expletive of choice)?

NOTE: The following was written before Granderson turned out to be a very good pickup. I am happy to eat crow over this one. And, as it turned out, both Damon and Cabrera would soon be with other clubs.

The Yankees getting rid of pitchers Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy and, in a separate transaction, Brian Bruney, I can live with.

But what the hell (or any other expletive of choice) are the Yankees doing trading for Curtis Granderson?

He's a center fielder. The Yankees already have Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner, and there's no reason to dump either one of them.

Move him to right field? They've already got Nick Swisher.

Move him to left field? They've already got Johnny Damon.

Ah, that may be it. Damon's contract is up. But why get rid of him? True, he's going to be 35, and he's been injury-prone. He's also been damn good as a Yankee, and he's a proven winner. And he wants to stay with the Yankees. I say keep him.

So does this mean the Yankees won't keep Damon? Or that either Cabrera or Gardner is gone? Any of those would be a big mistake in my opinion.

Look, for all I know, Granderson may be a great guy, and his lefty stroke may be just right for Yankee Stadium II. But that's irrelevant: We don't have a place for him. We don't need him. And we don't need to make a place for him.

Suppose we get rid of Damon, or Cabrera, or Gardner. And replace him with Granderson. And then Granderson, or one of the 2 out of 3 that we keep, gets hurt. Then what?

Dumb move, Brian Cashman.

At least he appears to have locked Andy Pettitte up for one more year.