Joe Never Left

The Most Puzzling GM In Baseball – Updated

Decision Maker
The most puzzling man in Baseball has to be Brian Sabean. It just has to be. He is the "buck stops here" guy when it comes to populating the Giants roster, who gets signed, who gets drafted, who gets long term deals, and who gets released, non-tendered and invited to fall ball or spring training.

Brian Sabean is ultimately responsible for those decisions. He is the guy. Has been that guy since he took over from another former Yankee hand, Bob Quinn in 1997.

Passing The Buck
But to read his interview with Tim Kawakami yesterday, one might get the impression that he was simply nothing more than a frustrated fan for all the accountability he was willing to accept for the dismal, embarrassing and humiliating daily debacle the Giants have been at the plate and in the field. If one might not have known better, to listen to him, you would think the offensive offense this year was an aberration; the result of quirky injuries, bad luck, and the baseball deities.

Not so.

The Baseball Voice of The Organization
I mention Baker’s name because he was unique in that he had an abnormal amount of influence, (even veto power in some cases) on who and who did not get signed, traded, released, non-tendered and so forth. Like Mike Sciosia in Anaheim is the baseball voice of the Angels, so was Baker; regardless of who the GM was. It was no mere coincidence that Baker’s arrival in 1993 coincided with that of Barry Bonds and his long-spurned father, Bobby. Dusty and Willie Mays in particular, were a big part of bringing Barry and Magowan together. The single most significant free agent signing in team history.

Not A Coincidence – Read Those OPS+ Numbers of the Players Back Then vs the OPS+ of the Vet signings Post-Baker.
It was also no mere coincidence that in those days, the Giants signed guys to be starters or significant platooners that could hit. Ellis Burks, Jeff Kent,  JT Snow,  Joe Carter,  Andres Galarraga, Benito Santiago, Reggie Sanders, and Kenny Lofton, all who were impact players or major contributors to the Giants efforts to reach post-season. Each and every one these guys put up OPS+ over 100 and in some cases, well over 100 during key seasons. To this day, the Giants 10 year reign under Baker is the best in San Francisco history.

Since 2002, Baker’s last, the Giants offensive contracts have gone to Aaron Rowand, Ryan Garko, Aubrey Huff, Jose Castillo, Miguel Tejada, Dave Roberts, Freddy Sanchez, Ryan Klesko, Carlos Beltran, Mark Sweeney, Edgardo Alfonso, Ray Durham, Mark DeRosa, Steve Finley, Bengie Molina, Moises Alou, Edgar Renteria, Cody Ross, Omar Vizquel, Juan Uribe, Jose Vizcaino, Jose Guillen, Orlando Cabrera, Rich Aurilia, Mike Matheny and Randy Winn. And except for the occasional season, the post-Baker signings have been a farce. There is not a guy in that list other than Alou, and Ross who have hit for more than 100 OPS+ (which is pretty much league average) in his stint with the Giants.

Beyond Bad – A Substandard Rate of 96% if you base it on OPS+
Look at it this way. Twenty Six position players acquired through free-agency and trade. Only TWO reached average. TWENTY-FOUR of the TWENTY-SIX mostly free agents are substandard, inferior, less than mediocre and worse than the average major league hitter. And if you think its ATT park, the OPS+ numbers are adjusted to compensate for discrepancies. Another myth the apologists sling around as an excuse for poor results..

If You Don’t Believe It, look up the numbers yourself. I’ll even give you the link to the data. You can avail yourself of the actual numbers starting in 1997 here.

The bottom line is this. The Giants have been nowhere offensively once Baker’s guys moved on. Don’t take my word for it. The seasonal rankings say it all. Even the 2010 season was no better than the 40th percentile and if the Padres had not imploded at the end, the cool-aid drinkers would not be partaking of the everything management is doing is just grand concoction.

Sabean’s Premonition?
I remember when it was announced that Baker was leaving for the Cubs, (after I punched out my windshield) Sabean came on the radio for an interview and expressed his sincere disappointment. He said he was genuinely unhappy that Baker was leaving, and if I recall correctly said it was very sad and very unfortunate. And he said it more than once. It was Magowan and Baer that had issues with Baker, not Sabean. Baker’s teams could hit.

Some years an OPS (On base percentage + Slugging percentage) of .750 is an OPS+ of 100. In other years, one might have to hit an OPS of 790 to reach an OPS+ of 100. Thats the beauty of using relative numbers and rankings as opposed to pure percentages and counting numbers.

The Evidence

Its very clear teams that had Baker’s fingerprints all over them, 1997-2004, were more balanced, more competitive, and certainly more entertaining to watch and more compelling to root for.

There was an equilibrium between defense and offense. Even when they missed the post-season, there was an even-handedness to the contributions of pitching and hitting. Bonds got hurt and the offense went over the cliff and is still in the bottom of the canyon.

Commencing in 2005, the Giants’ offense is what one would reasonably expect from a first generation expansion franchise. The offense since that time, (Bonds was IBB for the most part after 2004) has been mind-boggling-I-couldn’t-spend-that-much-money on free agents and trades and turn up these kinds of horrible disgraceful results if I tried. Even under penalty of death.

The last seven years are nothing short of disgraceful for a team that has the money, the ballpark, the Cable and radio contracts and the fan base to compete with anybody.

Disconnect
It boggle my mind that for the last seven years, the offense and the defense and the veterans and the new guys can be this disconnected every year. I could see an outlier season, even two, if the stadium was tremendously biased towards pitching or hitting, but season after season, the Giants home field is ranked very close, if not actually right on, pitching-hitting neutral.

It also boggles my mind that the same person who is responsible for developing pitchers over this same seven-year period is the same guy responsible for the fiasco that the "veteran presence" is. Keep in mind that the guys listed above were all acquired through free-agency or trade to be either starters, impact bats, or both. That list does not include utility guys like Keppinger, Fontenot, Whitesides etc. Those 26 guys that Sabean signed, in many cases to multi-year contracts, were signed to be the heart and soul of the Giants offense. That is almost 3 rosters worth in one generation since 2005.

Its Not Looking Very Good
The final results. An offense that has ranked 29th. 24th. 29th. 29th. 26th. 17th. And finally, this year, the ultimate humiliation; 30th before a modest win streak just before the end pulled them past the woeful Mariners into 29th.  For a defending World Series Champion? Are you kidding me? For Sabean to blame this season on injuries to Posey (a guy that Bochy wouldn’t even give  at bats to in 2009 – and early in 2010 kept him in AAA  in deference to Bengie Molina) and Freddy Sanchez, a guy who literally limped over from the Pirates clubhouse the day the Giants acquired him; is disingenuous.

Has-beens and Scrubinis
Lets be real clear here, so there is no misunderstanding. The veteran players that Sabean has brought in, and stuffed the roster with during the last seven years are consistently the worst in the Giants 53 year history in San Francisco. And these guys are consistently leap-frogging Evans and Barr’s players who are given little if any chance to develop at a favorable pace; hence the jerking around of guys like Posey, Crawford, Belt, Schierholtz. Who knows with the others? They’re never around long enough in one spot before Sabean reaches outside and brings in some organizations castoff to bring "a spark" "veteran presence" "playing the game the right way" and ad nauseum to the point where the words are unreadable and nauseating in their hollowness.

And that’s what the problem is.
I do not understand how this blatant succession of failures can be denied by anybody in charge. Men with that much money are not stupid unless they choose to be if they are intent on winning championships.

And there is no way around that.

How Do I Know This?  I’ve Seen This Movie Before. 
But take heart. Its not the first time the Giants have made fans gnash their teeth and flip their lips with their fingers. The 1960 Giants (cover above) were almost as baffling. The more things change, the more they can stay the same.

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