For those of you who used to read me at The Sacramento Bee, you know I was not sold on the 2010 San Francisco Giants.
As much as I loved them all of my life, I kept thinking they would stumble somewhere on the road to winning the World Series, ending a 56-year drought with the title last month.
Unfortunately, their Hot Stove League moves are as baffling as last year, making me cock my over what General Manager Brian Sabean has done:
–Last week, he re-signed first baseman Aubrey Huff to a two-year deal. It was a good move since Huff was their top run producer.
– On Monday, Sabean let shortstop Juan Uribe get away to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Huh? The San Francisco Chronicle reported the Giants didn’t get serious about bidding to re-sign one of their most valuable players until after he was well down the road with a Dodgers contract. That’s a player who had a .440 slugging percentage at a non-power position. Plus, he’s only 31.
– Sabean followed that adding Miguel Tejada, the former A’s, Orioles, Astros and Padres shortstop who has had his name linked to the steroids scandal and has seen most of his offensive numbers fall recently in his 13 years. Tejada, who will be 37 next season, wasn’t worth the one-year deal he received.
– And on Thursday they re-signed Pat Burrell. Really? Now, the Giants got lucky by picking him up on waivers last season. His 20 homers and 64 RBIs were unexpected after he was cut in Tampa Bay. But the feeling here is we saw his decline in the World Series, when he went 0 for 13 and 11 strikeouts.
Sorry if I’m not convinced that Sabean can catch lightning in a bottle again in 2011. Beyond developing pitching through the farm system, his formula for creating a repeat champion seems to be another recipe for disaster.
