Will Orlando Hudson Dog the Giants Right Out of the Playoffs?

I don't like second-guessing. I won't tell you I've never indulged in the practice, but I still think it's more than a little cowardly and would apply the same adjective to my own weaker moments.

It's safe and easy to look/sound wise when you have the benefit of hindsight.

It doesn't take much creativity to mold an argument that takes full advantage of recorded events, but sounds like it could've been reasonably made and applied before said events occurred.

No great effort or acumen is required to wait for someone else to take a leap, then blast them as a fool if the leap goes awry because you never leave solid ground.  You have the audacity to criticize without the courage to risk anything and that's weak sauce.

So I'm really glad I wrote this article when the San Francisco Giants were flirting with Orlando Hudson over the winter and this article when the Gents ultimately signed Edgar Renteria.

As far as I'm concerned, those two pieces give me free license to hammer away on Brian Sabean for what I think is his most egregious blunder to date.

Say what you want about the Barry Zito contract, but there are several undeniable truths that I believe mitigate the putridity of the deal:  (A)  Zito has turned his performance around and has become a very valuable asset to the rotation; (B) there weren't terrific alternatives that winter (2006); and (C) as sincerely as the organization tries to persuade the public to the contrary, San Francisco is a large market, so eating the bloated salary isn't as damaging as for most franchises.

The mild southpaw will never give fair return on the $20 million per year or whatever the obscenity is these days.  Yet he is no longer the comedic albatross hanging over AT&T Park that he once was.

You also might suggest the trade of Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano, and Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski as Sabean's darkest moment inside the San Francisco power structure.

There, you'd have a better argument since Nathan has elbowed his way into the most elite group of closers.  Arguably, he stands right behind Mariano Rivera as the second-best closer in baseball.  But the unpredictability of relievers, the recent struggles of Liriano, and the climate at the time of the trade cut in the general manager's favor.

It's close—no doubt about it—but we'll have to wait to see how the rest of 2009 unfolds.

So far, it's not looking good for Sabes and Renteria.

Hudson was the obvious, cheaper, and slightly younger alternative on the market at the same time.  Emmanuel Burriss (since lost to injury) is a natural shortstop and his hitting would've been no less a problem at short than at second.  In other words, the former Arizona Diamondback made just as much (if not more) sense as Edgar.

Now, the O-Dawg is in Dodger blue, he's blowing our guy out of the water, and the Gents have burned a top prospect to bring in a new second baseman anyway.

The anguish gets ratcheted up a notch or two every time the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town and take Hudson for a spin around the Bay.

It's not just about the stats, although those are hideous:

                    AB     R     2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB   SO  SB    OBP    SLG    AVG

Hudson       428    63    30    4    7    54    45    79    7    .363    .432    .294

Renteria     357    39    17    0    2    39    30    56    5    .305    .314    .249

Edgar's even been caught stealing more times.  So the numbers clearly favor Hudson yet, as thorough a stomping as they depict, the reality is even more gruesome.

Take Monday night's opener of an important three-game series between the long-time rivals in the City.

O-Dawg went 1-for-3 at the dish with a walk, two strikeouts and a run scored.  Compared to Renteria's 1-for-3 effort with a whiff, Hudson's night is basically a wash.  Except if you look at the number of pitches seen—24 and six per plate appearances for the Dodger versus 11 and 3.67 per plate appearance for the Giant.

The Giants pitching staff had to work much harder to dispose of its opponent than vice versa.

Of course, Orlando's bat is only part of the equation, and it's probably the lesser part.

On this night, it was his leather that had me wishing yet again for the ability to manipulate time like Evie Garland from "Out of This World."  (Ahh, nothing beats mid-to-late 80's sitcoms; did I mention I grew up with two sisters?).

Hudson's play on a hot smash by Ryan Garko to end a developing threat in the seventh signaled the end of the night for me.

Garko scalded the ball and it took a brutal hop that ate the Dodger second baseman up.  Unfazed, Orlando stayed with it and managed to snag the heat-seeker right before it smoked him in the dome.

The play was only one, albeit the best, of several nice plays on the night.  Even so, if that ball couldn't make it through the infield, los Gigantes weren't walking away with a win.

Simply wasn't in the cards.

Edgar Renteria hasn't been awful this season, but he hasn't been the important piece the franchise hoped he would be.  His bigger problem is the could-a-been brilliance on display in the same division, the same state.

Orlando Hudson is a fundamental part of the engine driving a playoff team on both offense and defense.

You have to wonder if the 2009 San Francisco Giants—with their razor-thin margin for error—can pass on such a godsend and still keep that lightning in their bottle.

**www.pva.org**