This is old news at this point, but let me get this all straight.
So the Giants 1) have one of the worst offenses in all of Major League Baseball. (Since 2007, they’ve been basically the very worst.) They 2) have one of the worst performing first baseman in all of Major League Baseball in Aubrey Huff, owed roughly $15 million over the next year and a half. And 3) the ability to upgrade that terrible production by installing one Brandon Belt, who is virtually a no-cost mid-season acquisition, unanimously regarded as one of the best prospects in the game that can prove little more in the minors with a career line of .348/.460/.603.
So, of course, they’ve opted to send that player back down to Triple-A in favor of Mark DeRosa, who will get most of his reps at first base or around the infield. He of the .185/.264/.238 line since his signing with the Giants in 2010. He of the .319/.310/.333 line in the minors before he was recalled. He of the wrist that is currently held together by silly string instead of actual human tendon and is still limited, by his own admission.
You just can’t make this stuff up. I guess that’s why Chris Quick said…
Getting Mark DeRosa back is, well, he plays a lot of positions.
As a Giants fan, you get to a certain point when you wonder if 2010 wasn’t a complete fluke. You also have to wonder if that home run hit by Edgar Renteria in game five of the World Series, as big of a blessing as it was at the time, wasn’t also a curse that would redouble the Giants’ infatuation with aging veterans.
This is the franchise that traded for Jose Guillen and used him in 42 games last season before going on to win the World Series.
The silver lining is that Mark DeRosa’s wrist and therefore stint with the big club should last about as long as an opened avocado. Unfortunately, though, that may only return Brandon Belt to his Travis Ishikawa-like role. A role that will ensure whatever value and impact he might give the Giants down the stretch, as they attempt to fend off the Diamondbacks, will be as little as possible.
Last season, the Giants screwed around with Bengie Molina for two months before recalling Buster Posey on May 29. They eventually traded away Molina in July to pave the way for Buster Posey, a move that unquestionably paid off. Barely. The Giants eliminated the San Diego Padres on the last day of the season.
Molina’s contract was only worth $4.5 million which allowed them to make this move. Huff’s isn’t nearly as trade friendly, and it’d be a terribly uncomfortable move given the immense shadow his strong World Series-winning 2010 season has cast. Not that they’d want to trade him anyway.
The Giants believe Aubrey Huff will hit them a game-winning home run in the playoffs. They believe he will come through for them in a big, big, big, huge way. The way Edgar Renteria did on November 1, 2010.
It might be very tough for him to do that, though, if the Giants stay their course and fail to make the playoffs.
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Here’s a sneak peak at what was said between Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean when they decided to go with Mark DeRosa and option Brandon Belt, presented in word cloud format. Transcripts were taken from this conversation, as well as those conversations which took place to a) sign Miguel Tejada b) re-sign Huff c) continue to play Huff during his horrendous struggles d) affirm that Belt should not be given a chance to play and succeed and e) trade for Orlando Cabrera.
Every single conversation yielded a word cloud that looked exactly like this:
The reasons to put Mark DeRosa on the 25-man roster are obvious.
