I posted in the Steel Cage at Newsday.com earlier today about Curtis Granderson’s affinity for the WWE, and tomorrow on Newsday.com, you’ll find a feature on Granderson and his new children’s book, “All You Can Be: Learning & Growing Through Sports.”

In the meantime, some of the interview didn’t make it to “print” — or whatever you’d call its online counterpart. Here’s the best of the rest of the soundbites:

On the personalities in the Yankees clubhouse:

“I’m probably not the goofiest guy. You know you have Swisher who is obviously one of the most outspoken guys, he’s always talking and always upbeat and spirited. So I kind of hang out with him from time to time. Then you have Jorge Posada. Me and him always constantly joke day in and day out. It’s amazing to hear CC laugh because he’s such a big guy, when he starts laughing it’s a big laugh.”

On how he thinks Nick Swisher is dealing with trade rumors:

“I don’t think it’s necessarily difficult, I think it’s what comes with [being a baseball player]. You can’t let it consume you or else you’ll be worried about it so much.”

On seeing Justin Verlander firsthand as a teammate when the two became full-time fixtures in the Detroit Tigers lineup in 2006:

“I think right away in ‘06 when we had a chance to see him go out there day in day out, step up to every challenge, every opponent, especially in the postseason when we opened up against the Yankees, [we knew he had “it”]. We were the underdogs, and he came into Yankee Stadium and pitched the way he did against one of probably the best offensive lineups with Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez; he was able to calm them down and give us an opportunity to win the ballgame. Sure enough from that point on, he continued to get better and better.”

On what he’s looking to improve on in 2012:

“It’s not a statistical thing I’m trying to do. Be a little more aggressive on the base paths, try to put the ball in play a little more, cut down on strikeouts.”

On his hoops prowess:

“I was pretty decent. I had some Division II and Division III offers. I had an opportunity to play at my university but ended up breaking my thumb, and ended up playing baseball.”