Brian Sabean: Unprofessional Hypocrisy

By The Common Man

Last week, baseball fans were understandably devastated that Baby Buster Posey, the cute little backstop that everyone loves, got hurt in this collision at home plate with Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins:



Posey ended up with a broken leg and torn ligaments and is out for the season. From what The Common Man has seen, Cousins definitely initiated the contact, and did not make any effort to avoid Posey, who was not blocking his path to the plate. That said, Cousins’ play was not illegal, was not dirty, and is in keeping with what he had been taught as a runner. As Keith Law pointed out the other day, the play was not dirty, but nor was it necessary. But it is the end result of generations of baseball players and fans who have tolerated violent collisions at the plate. Cousins may not have done what was right, but he did what he understandably thought he was expected to do.


Yesterday, however, Giants GM Brian Sabean disagreed, telling a local radio station,

“If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we’ll all be happy. He chose to be a hero in my mind, and if that’s his flash of fame, that’s as good as it’s going to get, pal. We’ll have a long memory. Believe me, we’ve talked to (Mike) Matheny about how this game works. You can’t be that out-and-out overly aggressive. I’ll put it as politically as I can state it: There’s no love lost and there shouldn’t be.” (h/t to Hardball Talk)

But Sabean is not only wrong here, he's also a complete hypocrite, who doesn't mind home plate collisions when his guys don't get hurt.

Seven Games in Three Days (kind of)

As some of you may have ascertained, The Common Man was in Arizona over a four-day weekend to take in the tail end of Spring Training. What follows are a few of the notes and remembrances from the trip:




Mike Sweeney and son after dropping
off the Royals' lineup.

 On Friday night, The Common Man hit up Royals camp in Surprise for their game with the Giants. The stadium the team shares with the Rangers is nice and spacious, clean and friendly. The Baseball Project was playing in front, imploring TCM not to be “another foul-ball fatality,” which was reassuring. Inside, the Royals honored Mike Sweeney on the day he retired by allowing him and his son to deliver the starting lineup to the plate, and to hang in the dugout. Sadly, something like 60% of the fans were there to watch the Giants, and he didn’t get nearly the ovation he deserved. Maybe he’ll get a proper day in KC this year.

Beer Leaguers: Medalla Light and Cody Ross

By The Common Man

Last night, as The Common Man sat in a tiny San Juan restaurant, watching the Steelers beat the Bengals and having the best damn Cuban sandwich of his life, TCM was surprised to find himself enjoying a Medalla Light, a local Puerto Rican beer brewed in Mayagüez. Now, it could have been the two straight days of traveling (a day to get to Minnesota to drop The Boy off with his grandparents, and a day to get to PR (plus, TCM’s got another day today of island hopping)), or it could have been the time of night (roughly 11:00 local time), or it could have been the weather (cool and steamy, after a rainstorm) or it could have been the atmosphere, but despite not being a very good beer, Medalla Light was perfect for the time and place. The Cody Ross of beer.

Like Cody Ross, there is little to distinguish Medalla Light from it’s competitors. Thin and watery, this beer is more akin to American style light pilsners than other island beers, such as Red Stripe. It’s definitely a cut above Bud Light and Miller Lite, but not so much that the comparison is unwarranted. Maybe more like Michelob Light or Ultra.

Cody Ross is a tweener, who can get by playing CF if he’s not exposed too often, but doesn’t really hit well enough (.265/.323/.466, 104 career OPS+)to be a star corner outfielder. And in the flurry of deals the Giants made this summer to upgrade their offense, he was hardly an afterthought. After all, the team went out and signed The Machine. Then it willfully traded for Jose Guillen. Brian Sabean apparently only claimed Cody Ross off waivers to block the Padres and Braves from getting him, and was completely surprised when the Marlins didn’t pull him back. Even his manager had a hard time picking him out, giving Jose Guillen virtually all of the playing time in RF. Guillen started 25 of 29 games in September and October, hitting .217/.267/.337 over 90 PAs. Meanwhile, Ross started just 14 of the last 29 games, and only once over the last week of the regular season (and was removed in the 6th inning).

But in the playoffs, with Guillen injured and under investigation for receiving PEDs, the Giants turned to Ross. And Ross responded, hitting .294/.390/.686 in the postseason (and .350/.435/.950!!! in the NLCS) with 5 homers, 5 doubles, 10 RBI, and 11 runs scored, exactly the kind of production that San Francisco had been desperate for. Ross delivered again and again, , jumping all over the Braves, taming Roy Halladay and the Phillies, and making timely hits in the World Series. At the right time, and in the right place, Cody Ross had been there and had performed above and beyond his natural ability.

For that work, he has earned a place in baseball history. He will be remembered forever, and Giants fans will be eternally grateful for his heroics. So too is The Common Man grateful to Medalla Light, the beer that was the perfect accent to the loud Spanish at the tables around TCM, and the delicious food before him. Sometimes, you only get one chance to make sure that you’ll be remembered forever. Cody Ross and Medalla Light hit it out of the park.

3 Questions: San Francisco Giants

By The Common Man

With the offseason action picking up, it’s time for a new feature here at The Platoon Advantage. Bill and The Common Man will go through each of the 30 teams and highlight the three most pressing questions and issues that face each club as they make their postseason plans. Questions that are going to need answering before Spring Training rolls around in February.

It seems fitting to begin with the champs, so here are three questions facing the San Francisco Giants:

Question 1: Who do you bring back?

The Giants have a bunch of Free Agents. World Series MVP Edgar Renteria and regular season hero Aubrey Huff lead the way, but valuable contributors Juan Uribe and Pat Burrell are also free to walk to the highest bidder. The Giants payroll in 2010 was around $96 million according to Cot’s Contracts. Due to some significant raises, they already have $77 million committed to eight players, and that’s before you can take into account arbitration raises that will go to Cody Ross, Jonathan Sanchez, and Andres Torres (amongst others). Even with a marginal increase in budget in 2011, the Giants are going to have to make some hard choices about how to bring back to defend their title. They’ve already reached out to Huff and Uribe, but both will draw major interest on the open market. Huff figures to want a 3 year deal for around $6-8 million, and Uribe for 3 years and $5-6 million. That’s already a stretch for these Giants, and makes any talk of acquiring Derek Jeter or Carl Crawford sound silly.

Question 2: Is Brandon Belt ready?

Brandon Belt has come out of nowhere this year to become a huge hitting prospect. Drafted in the 5th round in 2009, Belt hit .352/.455/.620 across three levels in 2010 with 23 homers in 595 PAs. Jason Gray said that “[The Giants] changed his stance, hand position, in order to get the most out of his raw talent.” Keith Law also had rave reviews, “love the way they changed his stance, he's more upright now, picked his hands up, more leverage in swing, can get bat to any spot in zone, good plate discipline, pretty good defensive 1B.” There’s a legitimate chance that Belt’s going to break camp with the Giants in 2011, and likely that he’ll be a contributor by mid-season after he gets more exposure to AAA pitching (he has just 61 PAs at AAA so far). If the Giants can’t resign Aubrey Huff, Belt’s probably already a better hitter than Travis Ishikawa to take over 1B. If Burrell’s out of their price range, or they don’t think Huff could handle a shift to the outfield, Belt may even be able to handle LF. Either way, the Giants’ chances of defending their title may depend on a prospect no one had even heard of at the start of 2010.

Question 3: What’s up with Panda (besides his weight)?

No player’s disintegration was more disappointing than Pablo Sandoval. The Kung Fu Panda dropped from a .943 OPS to .732, and actually became a below average hitter in 2010. Sandoval was tremendously exciting to watch as a 22 year old, as he hit like Vladamir Guerrero in his prime, refusing to walk and driving pitches he had no business even reaching. And given his body type, which can generously be described as cannonball-esque, it was even more fun to watch him play ball. But it was no fun in 2010, and he was basically benched for the World Series (getting just 3 PAs and playing in one of the five games). If the Giants believe Panda can get himself into shape for 2011, and even begin to approach his 2009 performance, the Giants could conceivably move Mike Fontenot to 2B and deal Freddy Sanchez and his $6 million salary to a team that needs help, like Minnesota. This would free up more cash for the Pat Burrells, Juan Uribes, and Aubrey Huffs of the world.

One final programming note, TCM will be on vacation on a beautiful tropical island in the South Caribbean for the next two weeks.  He's not sure about the internet connection where he'll be, so his work may be intermittent over that time.  Feel free to mock him in his absence.  Fortunately, Bill will be around to keep you all entertained, even if TCM is too busy tanning to worry about who signs Bruce Chen to a two-year deal.

Designated Hand-Wringing

Dave Cameron is worried about the Giants’ DH options in Games 3-5 of the World Series: “No matter what way they go, it won’t be a great option, and the Giants will be at a disadvantage in the AL park.” Rob Neyer tends to agree, calling it “just another reason to pick the Rangers.”

Sorry, but The Common Man isn’t going to start wringing his hands over the Giants’ supposed lack of a Designated Hitter in the World Series. For one thing, the pundits (TCM included) have a terrible track record over the last couple weeks. For another, it’s for three games, max. For a third this advantage is partially cancelled out by the Rangers using Vlad Guerrero in the field in San Francisco, or losing his bat to the bench entirely.

And for a fourth, if he’s willing, Pat Burrell is perfectly capable of putting on his big boy pants and being a DH for two or three days. But wait, you say, who will play LF in his absence?

Good news, Giants fans, that 5 year $60 million dollar contract Brian Sabean gave to Aaron Rowand can finally pay off. Rowand, you’ll tell The Common Man, was absolutely terrible this year, and TCM will tell you that you’re absolutely right. He was terrible. But why was he terrible?

Rowand’s .263 BABIP is ridiculously low, and something that, assuming Rowand is healthy, is masking how effective he can be in the upcoming series. And Rowand is a plus defender in CF, which would allow the Giants to move Andres Torres to LF, simultaneously improving their outfield defense (indeed, all three outfielders would be adequate CFers) and giving Torres less ground to cover if his hip and groin are limiting his movement. Indeed, Rowand is likely a better option now than Jose Guillen, and is certainly a better plan than starting Travis Ishikawa against a lefty.

And if Tommy Hunter does start Game 4 for the Rangers, look for Ishikawa to take over at 1B, while Aubrey Huff moves to the DH spot. Ishikawa can’t touch a lefty, but is relatively competent (768 OPS in ’10, 749 career) against righties, and is a slick fielder at the bag.

Problem solved. Now, let’s play some ball so we can stop worrying about these little details.