Five Available Players the Giants Should Pass On

It's official. After today's 1-0 loss to the Oakland A's, the Giants should be in panic mode when it comes to upgrading the offense. Aaron Rowand isn't cutting it at leadoff (though this isn't exactly "surprising" news) and for whatever reason, Pablo Sandoval has suddenly transformed from budding-Vlad Guerrero to budding-Randall Simon. Add that with Bengie Molina starting to cool off and things don't look good for the Giants and their playoff aspirations.

That being said, despite the Giants desperate (and I mean, "Elizabeth Berkley needing an actress role" desperate) need for offense, they should pass on the following five players who are available and could come at low-cost, but are too much of a risk to acquire.


Number Five: Kaz Matsui, Infielder

Why Matsui is enticing

After hitting .141 and posting a wOBA of .167 to start off the year, the Houston Astros released Matsui on May 19th, deciding to go with Jeff Keppinger at second base for the remainder of the season.

While Matsui seems to be a better fit with the Colorado Rockies (who are in need of a second baseman due to Clint Barmes' slow start), Matsui could be of some use to the Giants. Edgar Renteria has struggled with injuries all year, and Freddy Sanchez's health is also in question after just coming off the disabled list. Matt Downs is a nice option and has performed well, but after falling back to earth recently, one has to wonder if he can contribute to the Giants over the course of a full season. Additionally, Juan Uribe, who also got off to a hot start, has cooled in the month of May (.242 average and .343 wOBA in May; compared to his .313 average and .358 wOBA in April).

Matsui may not be a regular starter, but he could be much needed insurance for a Giants infield that has been plagued by injuries and inconsistency so far this season.

Why Matsui is frightening

Matsui the past couple of years has really declined as a player, and it's hard to see why ESPN Magazine tagged him as the "Next" athlete in their 2004 "Next" issue.

Since 2008, Matsui's slugging numbers have dipped from .427 (in 2008) to .357 (2009) to .155 (this season). The same goes with his OBP (.354 to .302 to .197) and wOBA (.349 to .297 to .167) numbers. Granted, Matsui is not exactly young (34 years old), but it's surprising to see him take such a dive this past few years.

Add that with very questionable defense (he has had negative UZR numbers two out of the past three seasons), and Matsui proves to be a very risky option. Sure, he could be an upgrade over Renteria or Sanchez, but he could also be tremendously worse, which is very hard to stomach for Giants fans.


Why the Giants should pass

Matsui is too much of a risk and has been to much of an underachiever to take a flier on. His career wOBA is .314, and he pretty much has been living off his 2007 season in Colorado when he had a .341 wOBA and stole 32 bases. The Giants are not going to get that 2007 Matsui, or even the slightly decent 2008 version. If acquired, the Giants would get a declining infielder who won't be an upgrade over Sanchez, Renteria, Uribe, or even Downs.


Number Four: Jermaine Dye, Outfielder


Why Dye is enticing

Though he hasn't played since last year, Dye is still available and still apparently in game shape (or at least that's what he says). While last year he declined in a lot of offensive categories (his wOBA dropped from .376 in 2008 to .344 last year), he still hit 27 home runs. Considering the Giants are in dire need of a power threat (sorry...Molina in the cleanup spot for a third straight year isn't cutting it), Dye does fill in a need, and the Giants don't have to give up any prospects in return.

Why Dye is frightening

Do I really need to go through the list? Okay...I will.

1. He's 36 years old.
2. His UZR/150 has been in the minus-20 range three of the past four seasons (and when it wasn't, it was minus-18.9 in 2008).
3. He has suffered massive drop in offensive categories such as batting average (from .292 in 2008 to .250 in 2009), slugging (.541 to .453) and OPS (.885 to .793).
4. He was actually detrimental to his team last year (according to WAR values, he cost the White Sox $1.7 million dollars).
5. $1.5 million dollars isn't enough for Dye. (He's entering Latrell Sprewell territory at this point.)

Why the Giants should pass

Did you not read anything above? If you still want to sign him after reading that, then...well...I don't know what to tell you.


Number Three: Eric Byrnes, Outfielder


Why Byrnes is enticing

Well...he hustles. And he can hit bombs. Don't believe me? Check this out:



Dang. That was parked.

Why Byrnes is frightening

Well, he has had sub-.300 wOBA numbers the past three seasons, he tanked in his short stint with the Mariners this season and defensively and he isn't the Byrnes fans are accustomed to (he had a minus-8.1 UZR/150 this year with the Mariners and a minus-7.0 UZR/150 with the D'Backs in 2008).

Oh, and this is Major League baseball, not club softball.

Why the Giants should pass

Would you rather have John Bowker and Nate Schierholtz in left and right field? Or an injured Mark Derosa and Byrnes? Yeah....I think Giants fans know the answer to that one.


Number two: Carlos Lee, outfielder


Why Lee is enticing

Though he says he won't waive his no-trade clause, the clock seems to be ticking for Lee's tenure in Houston. While Lee does have a massive contract ($18.5 million per year), he does have a history of hitting for power and run production, something you can't really say out of any other players in the Giants lineup. Last year, Lee hit 26 home runs and drove in 102 RBI. Furthermore, Lee has a history of tremendous plate discipline. From 2006-2009, Lee's wOBA ranged from .355 to .396 and his BB/K ratio didn't dip below 0.76.

Those are the kinds of qualities the Giants could use in a cleanup hitter.


Why Lee is frightening

Not only has Lee gone through an awful season so far (.199 average, .250 wOBA), but he hasn't exactly won any awards for "Teammate of the Year" recently. On May 14th, Lee got in a spat with Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter, and Lee wasn't exactly gracious about it either. While Lee isn't a Barry Bonds, one has to wonder if getting a guy like Lee would be the best thing for a team that is so well-known for their clubhouse chemistry.

I mean, ask Seattle Mariners fans what it's like when you bring in a guy with "questionable character issues."

Why the Giants should pass

Lee is a big bopper, but overall, he's too expensive and is too much of a clubhouse risk for the Giants to acquire. Then again, Lee has to waive his no-trade clause in order for anything to be a possibility, but even if he does, Lee certainly isn't worth dealing for considering where he's at in his career (hint: on the decline).


Number one: Pat Burrell, outfielder

Why Burrell is enticing

Burrell is the hottest name right now on the market. Already, we have seen two Giants beat writers (Hank "I love Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy" Schulman of the Chronicle and Mychel Urban of CSN Bay Area) kibosh the rumors of the Giants having interest in Burrell, and one (Andrew Baggarly) say that the Giants could pursue him.

You can't blame the Giants having some interest. After all, Burrell won't cost the Giants anything, he is a Bay Area kid (he went to Bellarmine Prep in San Jose), he's got some nice chest hair, and he has a proven track record.

From 2005 to 2008, the lowest wOBA he posted was .374, and the lowest BB/K ratio he had in that time span was 0.62. Add that with an average of 31 home runs a year in those four seasons, and you can see why the Rays were willing to shell out some cash for him when he became a free agent after the 2008 season.

Why Burrell is frightening

The Burrell in Tampa Bay experiment really went horribly wrong for general manager Andrew Friedman and the Rays. Last year, Burrell's home run total dipped to 14 (his HR/FB ratio in 2009 was 9.8 percent; the lowest it was before that was in 2003 when it was 12.3 percent) and his wOBA plummeted to .304.

Burrell last year, for a lack of a better word, stunk. And, if you need more evidence of his mediocrity, check out his minus-9.6 wRAA (runs above average based on wOBA) and minus-0.5 WAR (which accumulated to negative-$2.3 dollars in value; Burrell was signed to a two-year, $16 million contract before 2009).

This year hasn't been much better. His HR/FB has actually gone down (to 7.4 percent) and his wOBA is even worse at .284. Furthermore, Burrell's strong plate discipline has been absent this year as well. He sports a BB/K ratio of 0.36 (the lowest of his career so far) and he has swung at 25.8 percent of pitches outside the strike zone (another career high).

Burrell just isn't the same player baseball fans saw from 2005-2008, and you can't blame Friedman and the Rays cutting ties with him so early in the season.

Why the Giants should pass

I would like to believe that Burrell is more comfortable in the National League than the American League East, and if he makes the transition, would kill like Brad Penny when Penny was traded from Boston to San Francisco late last year. He would make a great comeback story, and his Bay Area roots would resonate with the Giants faithful and media.

Yet, I just don't trust Burrell. His decline offensively the past two years has been eye-popping (especially the BB/K ratio and ISO drop), and he isn't good enough defensively (minus-44.6 career UZR in the outfield) to handle the dimensions of AT&T Park (not to mention make up for this offensive decline).

Burrell sounds good on paper, but Giants fans and management should be warned. He isn't worth the playing time he would take away from Andres Torres, John Bowker or Nate Schierholtz (Aaron Rowand would go unaffected because Bochy has a man-crush on Rowand, which explains why he still bats him leadoff though Rowand has an OBP under .300 and is 0-for-2 in stolen bases).

Poll Recap Results: Which Free Agent Acquisition Did You Like the Most?

Tried to write a couple of longer posts, but nothing came to fruition, so I'm just going to do a recap of the poll results (and put up a new one later tonight).

Here is the poll that just closed.


Which Free Agent Acquisition Did You Like the Most this Off-Season?

Aubrey Huff: 3 votes (13 percent).
Mark Derosa 8 votes (34 percent).
Todd Wellemeyer 3 votes (13 percent).
Guillermo Mota 0 votes (zero percent).
Byung-Hyun Kim 1 vote (one percent).
Santiago Casilla 0 votes (zero percent).
Denny Bautista 0 votes (zero percent).
Tony Pena, Jr. 0 votes (zero percent).
Horacio Ramirez 0 votes (zero percent).
None (They were all lousy) 8 votes (34 percent).

Reactions: Overall, I'm not surprised. I really did not like any of the signings for the most part. Huff in my mind is past his prime and isn't going to be a 20 homer hitter like everyone thinks. Wellemeyer had a good spring, but it's only a matter of time before he cedes the fifth spot in the rotation to someone else (be it Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Pucetas or someone else). Gullermo Mota is Guillermo Mota. Everyone else? I'm not even going to waste any time.

(Okay, I will. Kim was released and everyone else is in the minors. There. Great acquisitions, right? At least our farm system will have veterans to keep Matt Kinney company.)

The only one I sort of liked was Derosa. As a player, I think he can offer a lot. He can take a walk and he can hit with some power. Furthermore, he developed late in his career, so I have more confidence that his regression will be less staggering than a guy like Huff who peaked earlier (sans 2008, an aberration year). My only problem is that Derosa doesn't seem to fit on this team. He's great when he has potent hitters around him, but when he's supposed to be one of the main run producers? Well...that might be a little too much.

I voted none, but in all honesty, I can live with Derosa tying for the win in this poll. At least it wasn't Huff or Wellemeyer. Then I would have been really down.

BTW: Retro Matt Cain tonight against the Pirates! Another No-Decision!

"Around the Candlestick": New Blog, Prospects Introspective, "Giants" Optimism, Affeldt Extension, Giants Book Review

Two things before I do another round of "Around the Candlestick" today:

1.) Butler proves that Gonzaga has no execuse for not shooting for the Final Four. Seriously, after Butler made the Final Four, I'm not doing the "Oh, I'm just happy if we go to the Sweet 16" act. Butler is in the Horizon. The Horizon is Butler and that's it. Mark Few and Gonzaga need to put up or shut up, and that put up is a Final Four berth.

2.) I'm still holding up hope that Fred Lewis will stay as a Giant, though all popular (and idiotic) opinion seem to be in the camp that he is out of here like Kevin Frandsen. I hope that the Giants management will see that Andres Torres and Eugenio Velez aren't upgrades over Lewis. I hope that management will realize that Mark Derosa might be a better option at second base to start the season than Juan Uribe (who had an uncharacteristically good offensive year in 2009). I hope that Brian Sabean isn't an idiot.

Like Andy said to Red in the Shawshank Redemption, "Hope is a good thing."

Now on to the "Around the Candlestick" links and hat tips.


New Blog: (500) Days of Zobrist

I am shameless, but I have to plug it. About a week ago, I asked my friend and fellow baseball fan (and crazy fantasy baseball fanatic) Luke Ricci to write a post for me on "five things he learned from our fantasy auction draft." Well, I re-thought about the request because I was like "Well, I don't really talk about fantasy baseball on this blog, and it would detract from the Giants theme as well."

So, Luke suggested the idea of combining forces to create our own fantasy baseball blog (which he was planning on doing anyway with or without me). And, like the good friend I am, I jumped head first in.

As of this moment, our fantasy baseball blog, (500) Days of Zobrist, is in its early stages. We have only five posts. We have only five followers on our Twitter account. We have had only five comments. (Strange how things work in five's huh?)

However, I assure you it's good stuff. Not only is it a place where you will see other posts from me on baseball subjects NOT involving the Giants, but you will also see great writing from Luke, who knows his baseball stuff.

Check it out today. If you like Remember '51, but want more general baseball talk, (500) Days of Zobrist is definitely worth a peek at.


A Realistic Look at the Giants Prospects

I have mad respect for Obssessive Giants Compulsive and his blog. Maybe it's because he's a cross between objective baseball analyst (he has an MBA and experience in analytics) and berzerk fan (he got so much bad grief from his rants on his earlier blog, that he had to create an entirely new one). I like to consider myself in that category of fandom. Do we agree on the same things? Not exactly, but I like to believe that are mindsets as Giants fans are quite similar.

Anyway, OGC had a great post yesterday in the comparison between hitting and pitching prospects and their success at the Major League level. He said it all in this bit:

"So the Giants lineup sucks. Other team's pitching sucks. And yet others, defense. Rebuilding teams always have things that suck. The successful ones add on pieces each year and make the playoffs eventually. Prospects don't all blossom all at once, they take time and not all take the same time. Lincecum took less than a couple of months to figure it all out. Sanchez took a number of years (so did Koufax and Randy Johnson, FYI)."

Well said. Yes we have to rebuild, but to think that it's going to happen overnight is a bit foolish. Granted, I wish our GM would actually adhere to developing guys more than settling on short-term free agent solution after free agent solution, but I do agree that the right guys are coming up in our system, and it's only a matter of time before our offense comes around like our pitching.

Giants NL West Champions? It Could Happen...

PaapFly.com wrote a great post concerning his optimism for the Giants in 2010. Basically, he plays off a piece he read by Joe Posnanski and the Royals (Posnanski is a Royals fan). So in the same vein, Rory at PaapFly decides to see if being optimistic about the Giants winning the West is a realistic thing or a "Head in the clouds" fantasy.

Rory doesn't hold the punches back when it comes to the Giants. He realizes a lot of pieces fell into place last year. He realizes that health is a huge factor. He realizes that Brian Sabean, much like Royals Datyon Moore, is a crappy GM. However, he makes this claim at the end of his post:

"It’s still mid-march and the games are still quite meaningless. But the Giants have some brilliant pieces and if everything goes more or less how they are hoping it will this season, we may well see some post season baseball. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that the Dodgers are busy spending all of their cash on legal fees rather than baseball players."

Would I want more closure than that? Sure. But for now, I'll take it. Everybody says we're the fourth-best team in the NL West. It's nice to see something for a change that gives us "leaning toward the pessimistic, but we're realists at the heart" Giants fans some hope.

(The hope theme is huge here! Drink it in!)


Jeremy Affeldt Returns! (For Two More Years...Maybe)

The whole contract situation behind Affeldt's deal is weird. Apparently it's incentive based, and there's a club option, and for the most part, it was a safe deal on Sabean's behalf.

Or at least that's what everyone is saying, even though I don't seem to agree with the mindset behind the deal.

Nick from Croix De Candlestick echoes the popular sentiment. He seems to be in the camp that Affeldt is needed, and that the Giants did a good thing by re-signing him so they wouldn't lose him to larger deals should he opt for free agency after the contract he signed in 2008 expired.

He says this about the deal:

"Expect a regression from the newly re-signed Affeldt, but not to levels that would make him ineffective.  He’ll still be the go-to 8th inning guy, and he’ll still do a damn fine job.  If he gets back in the strike zone and kicks up that K/9 rate it might make up for the increase in BABIP that he’s going to see in 2010, so the regression may not be quite as painful to witness.  Simply, it’s a good move with a low risk and good potential for upside."

I think this was a well-written piece, but for the most part I disagree with Nick. Last year was a regression. He just got lucky and it wasn't as noticeable (huge ERA and FIP discrepancy). I don't trust a guy to be a setup pitcher with a walk rate over four. I don't like it when he has a crazy GB/FB rate one year after never really being one in his career. I don't like it when he had 20 less innings than appearances. It just makes me think it's a waste of money, especially when you have a younger, cheaper option in Dan Runzler waiting in the wings.

(On a side note: I hate this "low-risk, high reward talk." As a business major, the term doesn't exist. In order to have high reward there needs to be risk. Now, it may not be obvious risk (maybe in contract, money, etc.), but there is risk nonetheless.

For example, a lot of people say "Aubrey Huff! Low risk, high reward!" Not really. The risk you have with a player like Huff goes beyond salary: he's a clunker defensively, he blocks Ishikawa (who has no minor league options left), he is 33 years old, and he is coming off a bad year. That's a hell of a lot of risk. Now look at the reward: he breaks out and provides offense similar to his 2008 numbers where he put up great stats. That's a high reward, but it comes with a considerable amount of risk.

With high reward there usually is high risk. The whole low risk, high reward talk is really a figment of people's optimism. Also, it excuses incompetency, which I think Giants fans have been doing for far too long.)

Chris at Bay City Ball echoed some of my same worries with Affeldt:

"As a starter-turned-reliever, Affeldt has found success in his bullpen role. Unless he’s closing for the Giants, you can expect him to post WAR values of anywhere between .4 wins to .8 wins in most seasons. He should continue to be a valuable member of the bullpen for the next two years. Just don’t expect him to post another 1.73 ERA. Again, it’s not a bad deal, but the Giants are soon going to have $10M of payroll tied up between Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt. For a team that’s paying out a large chunk of payroll to Zito, Rowand, Renteria, DeRosa, and Freddy Sanchez, I’m not exactly thrilled with padding the bullpen with more money. It seems to be the one place on the team where the Giants have a few prospects that could come in and succeed without having to hand out $5M contracts.

Conclusion: I don’t hate the deal, but I’m not thrilled with the price."

I really think Chris hits it the nail on the head here. It's not necessarily a terrible move (if Affeldt has another year like last year - though I won't bank on it - the extension for Affeldt is worth it) it's just that it came terribly early, and it came at a pretty high price. In all likelihood, it would have been better for the Giants to wait until the season and negotiate with Affledt at the end of the year on a new contract once his current one ran out. If Affeldt wanted to hardball, let him walk. The Giants have Runzler, and at 31-years of age, Affeldt most likely would be in regression as a pitcher anyways, and would have been hard pressed to repeat those 2009 or 2008 numbers.

Book Review on "Giants Past and Present": the Aftermath

I have been getting a lot of thanks from Dan Fost and his crew at MVP Books for my review on his coffee-table book.  I really appreciate the feedback, (which is ironic since my review is feedback of his book; feedback on feedback! Crazy!)

That being said, I just want to clarify something as well: I mean what I say. One guy on Bleacher Report (I also posted the review on my Bleacher Report profile) gave a sarcastic little "You must work for the book company or be the author himself!"

One, I don't know why he would even suggest that when I wrote 90 articles on Bleacher Report other than that review (in comparison to him who wrote only around 10). Two, I don't write what people want. I take things into consideration, but I don't write to promote anything solely (unless it's my own, then I'm kind of shameless in that regard...sorry. I'm not perfect).

Example. Last year, I was given an opportunity as Sports Editor of the Gonzaga Bulletin to interview members of the ESPN College Gameday Crew when they visited Gonzaga. The marketing director asked if I could promote their "Hub of College Basketball" advertisements. I wrote a sentence in one of the articles about it, and that's it. I didn't want to please them completely even though they hooked me up with interviews (a luxury a lot of other media didn't get) because a.) I didn't know what the hell they were talking about at first, b.) I still didn't understand what the hell they were talking about after I interviewed Digger Phelps (jerk), Hubert Davis (awesome!) and the producer (can't remember his name, but really nice guy) and c.) nobody would have cared about their promotion or not. So, I wrote a sentence out of courtesy, but everything else was about the game, the event and the Zags, like it should have been, not some promotion.

So, you could say "They paid you off to do that review," but you'd be wrong. I love to criticize.  I criticize Brian Sabean as much as possible with great glee. But I recognize good things and give them their credit when credit is due. That is the case in Fost's book. It's great. It's an awesome read, it has a lot of great material, and it's essential because it's something different from the usual "Glory Days of the Yankees" or "The Curse of the Bambino" books you see in bookstores.

There. That settles it. There is no controversy.

Giants Interested In a Giant (Hisanori Takahashi), and What About Yu Darvish?

I was browsing on MLB Fantasy Prospects when I stumbled upon this bit by MLBFP Writer Stephen Sheridan. Apparently, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Rotoworld), the Giants are one of the many teams interested in the services of Japanese left-handed pitcher Hisanori Takahashi of the Yomiuri Giants.

What do I know about Takahashi? Not a lot. The only thing I really know about him is that I watched him give up a single to Craig Brazell of the Hanshin Tigers on YouTube.

The plus side of Takahashi is that he's had a solid career statistically for the Giants (the Japanese ones of course). Last season, he had a 10-6 record for the Giants along with a 2.94 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 144 IP. Of course, his K/9 rate at 4.66 is nothing special, probably disparaging considering it was in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, but overall, the numbers are promising, especially the sub-three ERA.

On the other end, Takahashi isn't exactly young. He's currently 34-years-old, which is a big difference from Kei Igawa and Daisuke Matsuzaka, who broke into the Major Leagues under 30. Thus, if the Giants do want to take a waiver on Takahashi, chances are he would be used just to keep the fifth spot warm for Madison Bumgarner.

Furthermore, if any team is going to sign him, be it the Giants or somebody else, he most likely will only be getting a one-year deal. At 34-years-old, anything beyond one or two years is particularly risky, especially considering that Takahashi is regressing (though, if you look at his stats, he's never been a high-strikeout pitcher over his career).

So, should the Giants invest in this guy? If I were Brian Sabean, (and believe me, there are some people who really wish they were), I would probably pass on Takahashi. He's just too old, and the struggles of Igawa and Matsuzaka as starting pitchers doesn't bode well for a 34-year-old who is DEMANDING to be a starting pitcher at the MLB level. I'm not saying the struggles of Igawa or Matsuzaka are a cultural thing (Hideo Nomo proved to be DECENT as a starting pitcher), but if two younger, higher-ceiling Japanese pitchers have struggled in their times as starting pitchers in the Major Leagues, I'm not inclined to believe that an on-the-decline lefty is going to break the mold.

That being said, this Takahashi talk I find very interesting (especially from a Giants fan's perspective) mainly because it opens up talk about another pitcher from Japan:

You know who I'm talking about: Yu Darvish.

Now, I know Yu Darvish has stated that he does not want to play in America. I know he's an icon there, and I know he's one of the most infamous Japanese athletes ever because of his tendency to get Japanese pop stars pregnant. (Common in our society, as evidenced by Tom Brady, but apparently a "no-no" in Japanese culture...who knew?)

Yet I desperately want to see Darvish pitch in the Majors. If you watched any of the WBC last year, you'll know that his stuff is flat out nasty. In many ways, if people thought "Dice-K" was great in those last two World Baseball Classics, they really haven't seen anything yet.

Darvish is an incredible strikeout artist, as evidenced by his 210 and 208 strikeouts in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Granted, his strikeout numbers went down to 167 strikeouts in 182 innings pitched in 2009, but that probably was to be expected after shouldering a pretty hefty work load in Japan's second-straight WBC championship run prior to the 2009 Japanese season.

And the best part about Darvish? He's still really, really young. He's only 23-years-old! Thus, Darvish has the luxury of still developing as a pitcher should he come to America in the next couple of years. (It would be similar to what we're seeing the Red Sox do with Junichi Tazawa, though Darvish is far more polished than Tazawa at this point.)

So Darvish would be a far cry from Igawa and Matsuzaka, who were bound to decline being in their late-20's.

Anyways, can this interest by Sabean and the Giants in Takahashi transition to anything in terms of the Giants landing Darvish in the near future? Probably not. For all I know, I'm just shooting in the dark, trying to start something that most likely won't come to fruition (I'd say the chances as of now are less than two percent).

However, even though Giants fans will want to pass on Takahashi this off-season, they should be paying attention to whether or not Darvish decides to change his mind in terms of coming to America to pitch.

For Darvish in Black and Orange, pitching along with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner in the starting rotation, would be worth whatever the exorbitant price should be.

Same Old Sabean, Same Old Team: Giants Sign Aubrey Huff

I guess I jinxed myself last night. For some reason, out of the blue, I came out of nowhere to defend Travis Ishikawa.

Call it a bad feeling, hunch, whatever. I just knew something was in store this coming week in terms of the first baseman position.

I expected it to be Adam LaRoche.

Instead, the Giants signed Aubrey Huff to what appears to be a one-year deal worth $2.5 million dollars.

Yes, the same Huff that has spent most of his career as a Designated Hitter. The same Huff that posted a .567 OPS and only two home runs in a small, second half stint after being traded from Baltimore to the Detroit Tigers (not to mention complemented their utter collapse to the Twins last season). The same Huff that has only played in one ballpark similar to AT&T Park (Comerica Park) and effectively stunk it up in his tenure there.

At this point, I apologize for what I said yesterday. I almost wish it was Adam LaRoche the Giants signed, even if it meant another year in terms of a contract and a few more million dollars.

At least, he would be a guy worthy of supplanting Ishikawa. At least LaRoche wouldn't be an embarrassment in the infield like Huff most likely will be next season when he'll be missing Edgar Renteria and Pablo Sandoval's ailing throws to first.

Seriously, I'm really just puzzled by this move. I understand it on paper. Huff has good stats (minus 2009) and satisfies a need (a left-handed power hitter). I understand it really was a good contract. It's only one year, it's only two and a half million, and if Huff stinks it up Ryan Klesko style, then Brian Sabean can pull the plug on him. That makes sense.

What I don't get is that the Giants seem to have made their success on pitching and defense last season, and they seem to have just thrown that in the wind simply because everybody kept harking "More Offense! More Offense!" He seemed to be following the right plan when he re-signed Freddy Sanchez, and let go of Ryan Garko. He seemed to make a good signing in Mark Derosa, a guy who can play multiple positions and really hold it down in left field, even if is in the mid-30's and is most likely on the downswing of his career. He made the right call in re-signing Juan Uribe, just in case Edgar Renteria falls off the face of the earth by May (which most likely will happen).

And then, this happens. Huff blows up everything the Giants worked for last year, all because Giants fans, bloggers, and management wanted "dingers" and "immediate run production."

I'm not saying Ishikawa is the second coming of Mo Vaughn. Heck, I don't even know if Ishikawa could reach up to JT Snow level in his career. But what I'm sick of hearing is how pathetic Giants minor league position players are. I'm sick of hearing people hark about how Kevin Frandsen never gets any chances, and then the same people bury Ishikawa when Ishikawa actually puts up similar, if not BETTER numbers than Frandsen in his tenure at Major League level.

Ishikawa may not turn out to be the next Carlos Pena like I imagine him to be. I'll give his naysayers that, just because players usually never live up to comparisons nine times out of ten. However, he's not the next Todd Linden. He's not the next Lance Niekro. Ishikawa is head and shoulders above those guys in my mind. Linden was a great Triple-A hitter, but never could make an adjustment, and Niekro was the benificiary of a surpisingly small stint when JT Snow was hurt. Ishikawa had a good full season as a rookie, and that was despite atrocious road numbers (two home runs, .162 average, .471 OPS), which is more a characteristic of lack of experience rather than his overall play. He can't do any worse than he did last year on the road, and if he can couple that with his solid home stats (seven home runs, .349 average, .935 OPS), he's going to improve. You just can't ignore that.

And yet, Giants fans and management continue to push this idea (and the statistics) out the window, continue to think to themselves that "a proven player" is better, even if that same player may never prove himself again. Seriously, if Sandoval did not have his coming out party like he did in 2009, these same people would have buried the Panda and pined for Jose Castillo again last year.

In my mind, I just don't know if the Giants can do any better next year. I seriously thought they could, I thought Sabean learned his lesson, and then he came out and signed Huff. At this point, I just don't think it's Sabean's fault anymore. In many ways, I believe there is this terrible, hypocritical wave of Giants fans who harp about certain things (don't trade Matt Cain, play Frandsen more, We hate Eugenio Velez) and then make completely contrary arguments (get rid of Jonathan Sanchez, Ishikawa stinks, Giants fans wanting power hitters regardless of the ballparks they played in during their careers).

(Granted, I'm guilty of this as well. I have made contrary arguments in my time here as well. I love Emmanuel Burriss too much. I flip flop on Velez all the time. I actually thought getting Jermaine Dye was a good idea. But it just seems to get worse and worse from fans who only care about RBIs and HRs and don't think you can be successful any other way. I like to think that I observe and care about other aspects of this Giants team.)

Do I hope Huff doesn't stink up the join in San Francisco? Of course. I am a Giants fan, and I want the team to win, regardless of how terrible a team they're set up to be. I'm just frustrated, that's all. I'm frustrated because I thought Giants fans were going to see a team going to be set up to be like the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, a team that took pride in its pitching and defense, and let the hitting come from less heralded guys within their system. Instead, Sabean has given us this: a team that emphasizes big names over potential and progress, just like before, as always. Nothing has changed with him, despite what Giants fans were hoping when owner Bill Neukom handed him that two-year deal this off-season

I'm going to say it here now: the progress we saw as a defense last year? Throw that out the window. The progress we saw with guys within the system finding success at the Major League level? Forget about it in 2010.

Next season is going to look a lot like those years from 2005-2008 where we had "star" names floundering in San Francisco because a.) they couldn't adjust to the ballpark and b.) they were on the downside of their careers. Next season is going to be like those years where it seemed the Giants had no plan, other than good starting pitching. Next season is going to be like those years when we watched Mark Sweeney, Steve Finley and Dave Roberts.

The only difference is they'll have different names and numbers on the back of their jerseys.

Trying to Defend Travis Ishikawa over Adam LaRoche

For some reason, I'm just not thrilled about Adam LaRoche.

Look at any Giants blog, Bleacher Report article, and they all seemed to be thrilled about him. Adam LaRoche this, Adam LaRoche that.

But I just can't imagine he's that much of an upgrade over Travis Ishikawa.

Yes, I know, I am on the Ishikawa bandwagon. I have been since post-All-Star break. Before that, I was not on the Ishikawa-bandwagon. Why? I don't know. Giants first basemen have let me down in the past decade not named JT Snow. Remember Lance Niekro? Remember how he had a decent half-season and then fell off the face of the earth? Now you can understand my disdain with Giants first basemen prior to the second half of 2009.

But that being said, I saw a change in Ishikawa in the second half. I saw a guy who could hit with some power (and not in a hitter's park mind you) and was willing to work the count and not swing at every damn ball close to the strike zone. Now, is Ishikawa going to have a 10 percent strikeout rate like Ryan Garko? Probably not, but Ishikawa has power potential, and once he fully realizes what pitches he can take for power, and which ones he can't, this guy is going to be worth the wait. We started to see that in the second half. I don't know why Giants fans are willing to quit on him now so soon.

And yet, we hear Adam LaRoche. We hear Bruce Bochy wants to play Ishikawa in the outfield because he doesn't feel Ishikawa can be the everyday first baseman. Never mind that Bill James predicts that Ishikawa and LaRoche will have near identical BB/K ratios next season (0.46 for LaRoche, 0.44 for Ishikawa). Never mind that CHONE according to fangraphs believe they will have similar OPS numbers next season (.789 for LaRoche to .762 to for Ishikawa). And never mind the fact that Ishikawa will come millions of dollars cheaper (I know LaRoche is in desperate straits right now, but this is Brian Sabean we're talking about, and as well all know, Sabes loves to overpay regardless of the market).

The bottom line is that LaRoche is going to get the hots from Giants fans and management and Ishikawa will get buried because LaRoche is a big name in theory. I really wish Giants fans and management would try to see the optimism in all of this. I really wish that they would see that LaRoche has never really played on a winning team. I really wish they would not make the same mistake that they made with Joe Nathan. I really wish that they would know what is a good way to spend money and what is not.

There is still time I guess. Let's just hope those 20-plus home run numbers from LaRoche don't blind Sabean. If he thinks LaRoche is going to get those kind of numbers in AT&T Park. Giants fans have to be crazy.

A little light on the Giants' Free Agent possibilities (Hint: don't discount Nick Johnson)

Was browsing on the Giants blogosphere last night and came over an interesting post on Raising Matt Cain that explored the Giants possible free agent options. According to RMC moderator M.C. O'Connor, he was able to check out Cot's Baseball Contracts and get a guise of what this 2009-2010 offseason could be like for recently re-signed general manager Brian Sabean.

Right now, the Giants number one priority seems to be offense (preferably in the form of a corner outfielder), and in terms of what's available on the market, that wish probably will go unfulfilled judging by the lack of options that will be available. Here's O'Connor's take on the Giants' free agency ordeal on RMC.

Matt Holliday and Jason Bay look like the prizes in this group, but they will be courted by a lot of teams, and their cost as Type-A free agents (compensatory draft picks) may not be in the Giants best interest. Drafting seems to be what we do well. Please, please don't let Brian Sabean trade away our prospects for mediocre players anymore, mmm-kay? Both of these guys, sadly, would be good fits and provide some real hitting, but shiny baubles are not as important as a long-term deal for Tim Lincecum. Neukom & The Suits are in a cost-control mode, so don't expect much.

I can't say I disagree with him on that one. Look, I love Holliday and Bay as much as the next guy, but considering the thin market, as well as the extraordinary buying power teams with big payrolls such as Boston, both New York and Los Angeles teams have, the chances of the Giants outbidding everybody for those either one of two guys in my mind is not a possibility.

Thus, to make matters worse, it seems in order to upgrade significantly on the offensive end, the Giants will need to make a trade, and after relying on their farm system for the past couple of years, it would be a shame if the Giants blew it up now just for some big-name.

However, I think one name on the free agent list that the Giants should consider is Nick Johnson. I know, Johnson isn't going to bring much more pop than current first baseman Travis Ishikawa (I leave out Ryan Garko because he stinks). That being said, Johnson does provide one thing that this Giants team desperately needs: plate patience.

Look at the stats. He has had a plus .400 OBP the last four seasons. That's freaking insane. This is a Giants team where they had only one guy on the roster with an OBP over .350 (Pablo Sandoval). To have a guy like that would not only help the Giants' woeful walk and OBP numbers (which they ranked last in the league in this season), but Johnson would be a shining example to what a lot of these hitters should aspire to (rather than the free-hacking model we saw way too much of last year).

I'm not saying let's hand over a multi-year deal for Johnson. But a one or two year deal? I think Sabes and Giants fans should consider that one a little more. Johnson could be the kind of player that could be a cheap, effective option that could improve the Giants' offensive futility.