The Grandyman has signed with Toronto, raising an existential question

First, let's note that Curtis Granderson remains one of the great people in Major League Baseball - fine player, loyal teammate, and a sterling presence in any town lucky enough to have him. Someday, he might serve in Congress and be a dramatic improvement over the gaggle of craven, deer-tick brained, human barrel-of-grease troglodytes currently occupying cockroach-space in DC. At age 35, the Grandyman has nixed retirement, and he's suiting up for one last march on Timbuktu, back in the AL East. Welcome home, sir...

Last year, between the Mets and Dodgers, Granderson whacked 26 HRs and hit .212 - Todd-father numbers, Chris Carter numbers, common stats in this era of the Three True Outcomes. Long ago, Grandy became a homer/strikeout dice roll, negating his speed and - I believe - limiting his career. Then again, he's still around, so whadda I know, eh?

Grandy is expected to team with the regenerative 35-year-old Steve Pearce and CF Kevin Pillar. Unless a secret cavalry rides up from Triple A, I can't imagine a more depressing outfield, east of the imploding Pirates. Seriously, come July 30, who doesn't expect the Jays to be shopping Josh Donaldson like the last dose of Viagra at a Shriner's Convention? Likewise, the O's will almost surely be dangling Manny Machado from a bamboo fishing pole - two neutron bombs going off in the pennant race. (Let's hope that by June, Miguel Andujar has claimed 3B for the next Yankee decade; otherwise, we could end up emptying our system - Andujar included - for a three-month rental.) That Toronto already looks to be on life-support carries serious Yankee implications.

When you think about the 2018 Yankees fielding baseball's two premier HR hitters, you want to look back through history for comparable pairs. There's  Ruth/Gehrig, Mantle/Maris, Mays/McCovey, Canseco/McGwire, Aaron/Mathews and - yes - Manny Ramirez and Big Papi. (I'd add Killebrew/Allison.) They all won championships, which increases our optimism. But go back just a few years, and another twosome pops up: Bautista/Escobar  (Encarnacion, as per correction in comments.)

Toronto went three seasons with two top sluggers, back to back and belly to belly, but no World Championship flag adorns the Rogers Centre. We can tout the 2018 Yankees as sure bets for the post-season, but from that point on, it's pitching, pitching, pitching... and let's never kid ourselves: Homer happy lineups often get shut down in October. 

Ah, but that's for later. Today, let's welcome Granderson back to the division, playing against us in at least 15 games. Three things I've learned about ex-Yankees returning home:

a) They always fondly recall their time in Gotham.

b) The fans always greet them warmly.

c) They always beat us in one game. 

Bank on it: Grandyman will blast a big home run, effectively swiping a game from us. We will tear out what's left of our hair, but the juju gods won't care: It simply has to happen.

And so here is my existential question for today: 

When the Grandyman hits it, will The Master sing?