The Good and The Bad: Assessing the Giants' Postseason Transactions

Pitchers and catchers are reporting and spring training fever is in the air. Its time to look back at the Giants offseason moves, analyzing the good and the bad to craft our assessment.

Freddy Sanchez, 2B 2 years, $12 million
The Good: If healthy, Sanchez is an average to above-average offensive second baseman (career .299/.334/.417), and should at least be an improvement on what the Giants threw out there the first half of 2009. By most estimates, he plays solid defense (career 5.8 UZR/150 at second).

The Bad: Sanchez's health is a big if, as his most recent shoulder surgery has left him questionable for opening day. His offensive value is very much tied to his batting average, as he doesn't take very many walks or hit for much power.

Verdict: If he can stay in the lineup, Sanchez should be worth the money. However, there were probably better, cheaper options (Kelly Johnson, Felipe Lopez, Orlando Hudson) available if Sabean had let the market play itself out.

Mark DeRosa, OF/IF 2 years, $12 million
The Good: Until last year, he was a reliable, above-average bat, who gets on base at a reasonable, if not spectacular rate (career .275/.343/.424). He's hit at least twenty home runs each of the last two years. The Giants plan to play him in the outfield, where he has played his best defense in the past (15.8 UZR/150).

The Bad: He's coming off his worst season in several years, which was shortened by a wrist injury.

Verdict: Let's hope he's healthy, and that his ineffectiveness last year was a result of his injury. He should be a better option than Eugenio Velez.

Juan Uribe, IF 1 year, $3.25 million
The Good: Signed on a minor league contract, Uribe came out of nowhere in 2009 to have the best year of his career. He plays second, shprt, and third adequately, which is valuable given the frailty of the Giants' middle infield.

The Bad: When something looks like a fluke, it usually is. Uribe's career line (.257/.298/.430) suggests that some regression is likely.

Verdict: The money may have been better spent elsewhere, but Uribe's versatility and power make him a solid bench option, especially given the injury to Sanchez.

Aubrey Huff, 1B 1 year, $3 million

The Good: Aside from a disastrous 2009, Huff has been an average to above-average hitter. As recently as 2008, he hit .304/.360/.552 with 32 home runs. Maybe getting out of the AL East will have a positive effect.

The Bad: The bat's no sure thing, and his defense probably negates whatever offensive value he may have.

Verdict: It's hard to believe the Giants couldn't have gotten similar, and probably more production, from Ryan Garko and Travis Ishikawa.


Bengie Molina, C 1 year, $4.5 million
The Good: He hits for a decent amount of power for a catcher. The pitchers seem to like him.

The Bad: He had the worst on-base percentage (.285) in the NL last year, while swinging at the highest percentage (43.9%) of pitches outside the zone. His lack of speed can be a rally-killer. He blocks Buster Posey, who has little left to prove in the minors, for another year.

Verdict: This signing wouldn't be so bad if the Giants needed a catcher. But Posey is at most a few months away from the majors, and there's no way he will start as long as Molina is on this team. Pitchers have to adjust to new catchers all the time, and they had no problem with Eli Whiteside last year. Most discouragingly, this move shows the front office's continued reliance on old-school conventional wisdom as opposed to reasoned analysis.

Aurilia Signs Minor League Contract

The Giants are starting this week off by making the no-brainer move of signing Rich Aurilla to a minor league contract. Aurilla embodies the "Giant Way" the front office has been talking about - not to mention that it makes sense to retain a guy who can play four positions and still is a decent hitter. Aurilia batted .283 last year, with ten home runs. [Via MLB Trade Rumors]

Giants Sign Renteria, People React

Yesterday, the Giants signed Edgar Renteria to a two-year deal worth $18.5MM. As expected, everyone's got an opinion.

The New York Post's Hardball blog says, "I cannot find another executive in the industry who thought Renteria deserved a contract for more than one year to re-prove himself at a fraction of the $9.25 million he will now earn annually."

ESPN's Keith Law says it was, "a wise decision."

Dave Cameron at Fan Graphs says, "For San Francisco, this isn’t a bad deal - they get a guy who should rebound and re-establish some value without any long term risk, and they fill a hole with an average player while waiting for the kids to develop."

Ray Ratto says there will be pressure on Sabean - but we could have guessed that.

Giants Sign Howry

The Giants continue bolstering the bullpen with today's singing of Bob Howry. The move had been rumored after the Cubs opted not to offer Howry arbitration. Howry will make $2.75 million. Howry's ERA in 2008 was an unimpressive 5.35, though lifetime its 3.68 in a career that began in 1998. The Giants also signed reliever Jeremy Affeldt on Nov. 17 - a move that has been widely praised.

Giants Linked To Edgar Renteria

A report surfaced on Monday (courtesy of WFAN) that the Giants had signed Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18mm contract. This report was quickly denied, though the Giants are reportedly maintaining an interest in Renteria, as well as Rafael Furcal. Still, the Giants may want to take note from the comments section of MLB Trade Rumors:

"Dude, why. If anyone at all giants should have signed Furcal. Lose a draft pick? How could that be a good idea when rebuilding"

"It's the Giants dude. They are destined to fail."

"So the Giants decide the best way to rebuild is... by signing a terrible 33 year old SS. Brian Sabean is a complete and utter moron."

"What a ridiculous move by the Giants. Just when you thought Sabean was getting it together, he goes out and does what he's always done... throw too much money at a declining vet in order to add to a very poor ballclub. Unless they go out and land CC and another power bat, this move makes no sense at all."

Perhaps that was the plan all along - leak a false report to gage fan reaction and go from there. You know, Kanye West leaked "Love Lockdown" three times, rerecording each time based on listener feedback.