The Giants have just announced a move surprising in its timing. They have released outfielder Dave Roberts now to give him time to find a job elsewhere. The team will be on the hook for most of his $6.5 million salary in 2009.
Roberts was not going to get much playing time this year. He would have been the fifth outfielder.
The Giants also optioned pitchers Keiichi Yabu and Kelvin Pichardo to Triple-A Fresno.
A questionable (and weird) signing comes to an end. The Dave Roberts era in San Francisco is officially over. I expect he might sign a minor league deal with another team, but this is great news for the Giants fringey OF prospects. Velez is almost certain to make the team of ST now.
e: Quick WAR value for the Roberts years in SF
~ Signs 3-year, $18M deal.
~ Totals -0.2 wins over two seasons with the Giants.
~ The Giants paid $18M for sub-replacement-level production (meaning that they shouldn’t have paid Roberts anything, RL is defined as “freely available”). Ouch.
~ Great success!