The Hypocratic Oath includes a promise to do no harm. Giants management, each and every year, promises to try to win (they just don't seem to try very hard). The question: are the Giants doing more harm than good with their off-season tactics? It seems the two don't mesh.
With Mark DeRosa being bandied about as the most-likely potential acquisition, you gotta wonder if the Giants are actually trying to improve, or if they view it an upgrade just to say they suck a little less. Don't get me wrong, DeRosa is a decent ballpalyer. He's also 34 years old with declining peripherals. Statistically he's, well, he's Randy Winn. Or maybe he's Ryan Garko -- at a bigger cost. What he isn't is the impact bat the Giants need.
There's plenty of talk on the Giants message board about DeRosa's long list of suitors. It's like the idea is that since so many people want him, he must be good. It's the same theory that has Notre Dame's recruiting class rated in the Top 10 every year while the Irish perform like Ace Freehley on a three-day crack binge. Are their recruits sought after because they're good, or are they condsidered good because a once-proud-but-now-disfuctional franchise tabbed them as the next big thing?
Once proud, now disfuctional: sounds like a certain baseball team, doesn't it?
DeRosa is wanted for his versatility. That's great if you need a super sub. Any contender would happily play him 2-3 days a week and bat him in the seven hole to give a teammate a break. The Giants aren't a contender, and with their self-imposed salary cap looming his acquisition means fewer bucks to spend on real areas of need -- namely guys to hit in the middle of the line-up and protect Panda from something other than himself on a excursion to Golden Corral.
DeRosa adds what, exactly, to the line-up? He's likely to be nothing more than another aging vet taking up payroll space. He's this year's Ryan Klesko or Aaron Rowand-- the guy Sabean will point to as the key to it all while Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain try to figure out how many 2-1 games they'll drop in '10.
Here's a radical idea: declare 2010 a loss.
Let's be real. The stick the Giants need isn't out there. Any attempt to once again piece together a line-up with castoffs, rejects and guys clinging to that last hope of regaining some semblance of their previous form won't get it done, and the Giants shouldn't waste resources chasing an impossible dream.
Look at the market. Bay and Holiday are the big names everyone is fixated on. Bay and Holiday? Neither is the oh-my-God-don't-let-him-beat-us hitter the Giants need, but both are gonna get paid like it this off season. Pass.
If the next option is DeRosa/ Andy LaRoche / Xavier Nady / (insert stiff here), that's an equally-dismal predicament.
But the nightmare scenario is that the Giants spend money on Sabean's so-called "second-tier" free agents then have nothing to work with when someone who fits the bill does become available.
Weird things happen in July, kind of like a frat party after someone gasses the keg. The loaded 19-year-old whipping off her top might be Otis Nixon in a skirt, but she could also be the head cheerleader. You never know who's coming to the dance until the music starts, and if your card is full you may miss an opportunity.
This is a time for the Giants to hold their powder. They can't make this stew better, not with the ingredients now on the shelf. So they best they can do right now is Do No Harm.
Hypocrates would be proud.
.
With Mark DeRosa being bandied about as the most-likely potential acquisition, you gotta wonder if the Giants are actually trying to improve, or if they view it an upgrade just to say they suck a little less. Don't get me wrong, DeRosa is a decent ballpalyer. He's also 34 years old with declining peripherals. Statistically he's, well, he's Randy Winn. Or maybe he's Ryan Garko -- at a bigger cost. What he isn't is the impact bat the Giants need.
There's plenty of talk on the Giants message board about DeRosa's long list of suitors. It's like the idea is that since so many people want him, he must be good. It's the same theory that has Notre Dame's recruiting class rated in the Top 10 every year while the Irish perform like Ace Freehley on a three-day crack binge. Are their recruits sought after because they're good, or are they condsidered good because a once-proud-but-now-disfuctional franchise tabbed them as the next big thing?
Once proud, now disfuctional: sounds like a certain baseball team, doesn't it?
DeRosa is wanted for his versatility. That's great if you need a super sub. Any contender would happily play him 2-3 days a week and bat him in the seven hole to give a teammate a break. The Giants aren't a contender, and with their self-imposed salary cap looming his acquisition means fewer bucks to spend on real areas of need -- namely guys to hit in the middle of the line-up and protect Panda from something other than himself on a excursion to Golden Corral.
DeRosa adds what, exactly, to the line-up? He's likely to be nothing more than another aging vet taking up payroll space. He's this year's Ryan Klesko or Aaron Rowand-- the guy Sabean will point to as the key to it all while Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain try to figure out how many 2-1 games they'll drop in '10.
Here's a radical idea: declare 2010 a loss.
Let's be real. The stick the Giants need isn't out there. Any attempt to once again piece together a line-up with castoffs, rejects and guys clinging to that last hope of regaining some semblance of their previous form won't get it done, and the Giants shouldn't waste resources chasing an impossible dream.
Look at the market. Bay and Holiday are the big names everyone is fixated on. Bay and Holiday? Neither is the oh-my-God-don't-let-him-beat-us hitter the Giants need, but both are gonna get paid like it this off season. Pass.
If the next option is DeRosa/ Andy LaRoche / Xavier Nady / (insert stiff here), that's an equally-dismal predicament.
But the nightmare scenario is that the Giants spend money on Sabean's so-called "second-tier" free agents then have nothing to work with when someone who fits the bill does become available.
Weird things happen in July, kind of like a frat party after someone gasses the keg. The loaded 19-year-old whipping off her top might be Otis Nixon in a skirt, but she could also be the head cheerleader. You never know who's coming to the dance until the music starts, and if your card is full you may miss an opportunity.
This is a time for the Giants to hold their powder. They can't make this stew better, not with the ingredients now on the shelf. So they best they can do right now is Do No Harm.
Hypocrates would be proud.
.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blogosphere! Nice rants. As a Giants fan since 1966, when I was 10 years old, I have lived most or all of those same frustrations.
I decided to take the same plunge this month. Check out my blog When the Giants Come to Town....
www.whenthegiantscometotown.blogspot.com
As I'm sure you know, my take is a bit different than yours, but respectful disagreement is a good thing. Glad to read that you are planning to stick it out for at least a year. That's the promise I made to myself too. I think it will be educational and rewarding for both of us.