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It's official: Curtis Granderson has declined the qualifying offer the Yankees gave him last week, according to Jon Heyman. The soon-to-be 33-year-old outfielder would have earned the standard $14.1 million on a one-year contract with the Yankees if he had accepted.
Now that he's declined the offer, Granderson a new team will have to surrender its highest unprotected 2014 amateur draft pick in order to sign him. The Yankees would earn a sandwich-round pick between the first and second rounds of next year's draft.
Since the Mets need outfielders, the news means the team has the option of bringing him on board. Mike Puma of the Post says the Mets are planning to meet with Granderson's agent this week. Our own Chris Strohmaier wrote up our free agent profile of Granderson a couple weeks ago.
Granderson might not be a perfect player, but he has an .842 OPS and 124 OPS+ since the beginning of the 2011 season. His home run numbers ballooned in 2011 and 2012, but he's been a valuable offensive player even when accounting for his home ballpark.