Giants can’t help themselves, opt for flappy veteran

Published by on August 4, 2011 | 19 Responses

I was being sarcastic at first, but then reality set in:

#SFGiants have reinstated Mark DeRosa from DL and have activated him. IF Brandon Belt has been optioned to triple-A
August 4, 2011 7:50 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@SFGiants
San Francisco Giants

So, yeah. There’s that. I know that Belt getting regular PT in Fresno beats being glued to the bench in the majors, I really do. But man, this is just so painful to see. The Giants have a terrible offense. The Giants have a player in Brandon Belt that is an upgrade over the player they’ve given 395 at-bats to, Aubrey Huff. Trading talent for Carlos Beltran is one thing, and that’s fine, but this upgrade would literally cost the Giants nothing other than the possibility of a bruised ego.

Getting Mark DeRosa back is, well, he plays a lot of positions. What’s frightening is that his power is still gone — indicating that his wrist might still be giving him problems. In 47 rehab AB’s in AAA (in the offensively charged PCL for heavens sake) Mark DeRosa hit .319/.310/.333. That works out to 14 hits, 13 of which were singles.

This team drives me nuts. Time to double down on vets.

Brief Update: Over the last two years, DeRosa has hit .185/.264/.238 in 44 games. I like the guy, I really do, but I don’t get this move.

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19 comments
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BruxB
BruxB

Young players represent building for the future. Old players have to do well now or they are out of a job, therefore old players are for winning now. The Giants are just living up to their Win Now trade moves.

LeviDavis
LeviDavis

How so? Belt is the third best hitter on the team right now. How does sending him to AAA represent winning now? I see more stubbornness and unwillingness to admit mistakes than anything.

qtlaw
qtlaw

You watch, DeRosa is ready to drive that low and away slider now!!! Uh.....not. Damn, why can't the Giants think that Belt could be their Jeter for the championship run? Even the Phillies are playing Mayberry.

GiantTorture
GiantTorture

Did I miss the freakout? This is unsurprising for Savvy Sabes and Bork. I think I can honestly say now that TGWTWS last year in spite of them, not because of them. I know Bork did a great job handling the bullpen in the playoffs, but at this point I'm more inclined to give that credit to Righetti and Gardner not him. The Giants pitchers have been pretty great throughout Rags' tenure, in retrospect, I don't know why we would heap praise on anyone except him--and the pitchers themselves of course--for their performance. These are the same wunderkids who brought us two months of Jose Guillen and if not for a little HGH problem, we'd have seen him in the playoffs instead of Ssory Doc. WTF, this is beyond my comprehension, how can they honestly be this stupid?

LeviDavis
LeviDavis

Every team that wins the word series got lucky AND did things well; there are no exceptions. Bochy really out-managed every manager he came across in the post season last year, but over a long season can get a little funky with his bullpen and in general wouldn't recognize a good hitter if he hit him over the head with his bat. Sabean drafts well (the last few years plus his Yankees years really seem to indicate that they years of bad drafting were due to Magowan), he trades well (honestly, look at his trade history, outside of the Lirano deal, he just doesn't lose trades), but has no idea what a good hitter is or what an aging curve is (I blame Magowan for the Zito signing, but Sabean for Rowand, Alfonzo, etc.)

Greg
Greg

Can we all just get together and get a petition to get Belt back in the majors and starting instead Humphrey aka Huff? We could get half a million signatures, no problem

Chatom
Chatom

Chris... Is it weird that I now know the comment, "I really like this guy," always precedes something negative? You and Rory have almost overused the line, like these guys are a bunch of dudes you'd want on your slowpitch softball team. I just wonder who Sabean and Bochy actually listen to when considering lineup moves, and clearly that information isn't available via "The Franchise."

Rory Paap
Rory Paap

This is our little way of acknowledging these people are human, that we don't dislike them and we wish them well. Saying someone sucks and sucks over and over can come off malicious, and that's not the case. This softens it a bit. Don't know any other way to put it. Huff and DeRosa? Great interviews and seemingly nice, honest people. Just don't want them playing for my favorite team when ineffective and/or injured. If it were Milton Bradley, we wouldn't be prefacing the "you suck" with "you're cool."

bayvcityballer
bayvcityballer

"He is learning to compete with a torn wrist tendon that has zapped his power." -Andrew Baggarly How can this guy be any better than Belt? Are you kidding me?!

Curtis
Curtis

I wonder what the players think about their third best hitter wasting away in the minors. And yes, it's a waste, he has nothing else to prove nor learn against AAA pitching. ABs in the majors is the only way he's gonna improve at this point.

LeviDavis
LeviDavis

I honestly don't think players are that aware. I'm sure when they think of Aubrey Huff, they think of the 2010 version, not the 2011, or 2009.

Liem
Liem

The players are thinking, "Man, the way to get more playing time is to get older. Awesome, I'm good at that!"

peakfreak
peakfreak

I'm right there with ya LeviDavis good(not the best) for him, bad for the Giants. I wish I could say it is unbelievable, but it just isn't with Bochy and Sabes at the helm. Maybe they will give derosa some time at first to give Huff some time off (that way he is replaced by a veteran. Ugh Josh, in Bochy's mind there is no risk in that he can always find some old fart to play as unproductively as Huff (Bill Hall went down to the minors the other day).

Josh
Josh

Well, if they're sticking with Huff, they may as well. The biggest risk is that Huff's season craters (even more), and by the time they opt for Belt, he doesn't have enough time to be ready to contribute in the postseason.

LeviDavis
LeviDavis

I can't even summon the outrage anymore. All that is left is sadness.

JohnBoy
JohnBoy

Hey Sab & Boch.....give it up the guy is a lost cause with a bum wrist!!!! Give Brandon Belt the at bats and field time to keep him involved

Paapfly
Paapfly

He seems like he could be useful player. They'll need a time machine, though.

marcellosfg
marcellosfg

It feels like those two sentences should be Sabean's epitaph.

Alex
Alex

.029 ISO is spiffy *vomits*