Keith Raffel, author of Dot Dead: A Silicon Valley Mystery, sizes up the San Francisco Giants.
Hope springs eternal.
When?
Every spring.
Proof: the unending line of inane chatter emanating from the San Francisco Giants front office, from sportstalk radio, and from loyal fans about how the new-look Giants will win with youth and small ball.
They say that the team will no longer be dominated by Barry Bonds as if it's a good thing—when it is in fact a huge problem.
In 2007, Barry's OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging average) was 1.045, third in baseball behind Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. Even including Bonds' stats, the Giants' team OPS was .708. That was last in baseball by .007.
Take away Bonds' stats and the team OPS was .681. The gap between that figure and the team above was the largest in baseball.
Let's talk about how bad the Giants hitters were. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Giants players at the non-pitching positions ranked as follows
1B: 35th
2B: 31st
SS: 57th
3B: 48th
LF: 2nd
CF: 27th
RF: 11th
C: 9th
The Giants are bringing back Omar Vizquel to play shortstop. He hits worse than many pitchers. The one bright spot last year—the guy in left field—will not be back. The plan is to have the league’s ninth best hitting catcher in the cleanup slot.
We're talking Bengie Molina here, not Mike Piazza in his prime.
Of all players in the majors last year with over 400 plate appearances, the Giants had two of the five worst: Vizquel and Ray Durham.
And they’re both back.
No less troubling, the Giants are complementing them with a collection of No. 7 hitters: Randy Winn, Dan Ortmeier, Kevin Frandsen, Nate Schierholtz, et. al.
Is there hope coming? No. According to Baseball Prospectus' list of top 100 prospects, the Giants' only up-and-coming hitter is Angel Villalona. We have a couple of years to wait, as he’s only 17.
It's hard to see how the Giants' offense has become better by losing Bonds. I say they cannot win 75 games in 2008, no matter how good their pitching is.
But hey—hope springs eternal.
Keith Raffel is the author of Dot Dead: A Silicon Valley Mystery
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7 months ago
In order to have a fall, there has to have been a rise, when did that happen? They looked bad all year.
7 months ago
"A collection of No. 7 hitters." That's exactly what I see. This team will trail all of baseball in power production.
7 months ago
Blah, blah blah... Barry was the ultimate clubhouse poison, as his teammates are now admitting. That counts for something significant. And I say that as a guy who owns and faithfully wore the man's numbers on my back at every game. He could barely run down a pop fly toward the end, even when he actually played. His bat will not be missed. The rest? Could go either way. But never underestimate the power of a team of eager young equals ready to prove themselves to the world.
7 months ago
LOVE THIS ARTICLE! I'm an A's fan and I've been telling all those Giants fans this all along, but hey who am I to talk, the A's aren't going to be great next year either. My only hope is that the A's have a better record than the Giants, and by the looks of things, they might have a better chance of doing that than most people think. Keep up the great work.
7 months ago
Look-- no one thinks the giants are going to win with their bat. It's all about their exciting rotation which on paper looks like maybe on of the best they've had in a loooong while.
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