Renteria & Rowand: Bad Contracts, Worse Logic

Its old news that Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria are over paid.  No need to beat a dead horse, but why do the Giants compound the mistake by guaranteeing their spots in the lineup?  There isn't any trade market for either player so the Giants need to start viewing their contracts as sunk costs and move on.

Henry Schulman writes that Aaron Rowand is getting strong consideration for the leadoff spot (.319 OBP = what??) and that Renteria will be the everyday SS.  The problem with both players is contract.  Rowand and Renteria aren't actually bad, they just aren't good either and at this point in their careers they probably aren't starters.  There are some things to like about these players.  They've both had solid careers, they've both played on championship teams (Rowand '05 White Sox, Renteria '97 Marlins) and they both are reportedly good clubhouse guys.  But none of this should guarantee a starting spot and the best way for the Giants to move on is to open up the competition at CF and SS.  If San Francisco has any hopes of making the postseason, the margin for error is paper thin and their best players need to get the most at bats regardless of contract status.  

The trade-off with Renteria is either a direct swap with Uribe at SS keeping Ishkawa at 1B or Uribe at 3B, Panda at 1B and Ishikawa on the bench.  Lets compare 2009 stats:

Renteria: 460 AB | .250 avg  |  5 HR  | 48 RBI | .307 OBP | .635 OPS | .277 RISP   

Uribe: 398 AB | .289 avg | 16 HR | 55 RBI | .329 OBP | .824 OPS | .213 RISP         

Ishikawa: 325 AB | .261 avg |   9 HR | 39 RBI | .329 OBP | .715 OPS | .286 RISP

The trade-off with Rowand is likely Velez or Torres, with DeRosa starting in Left and Scheirholtz in right.  Lets compare 2009 stats:

Rowand: 499 AB | .261 avg | 15 HR | 64 RBI | .319 OBP | .738 OPS | .259 RISP    

Velez: 285 AB | .269 avg |   5 HR | 31 RBI | .308 OBP | .708 OPS | .266 RISP   

Torres: 152 AB | .270 avg |   6 HR | 23 RBI | .343 OBP | .876 OPS | .333 RISP

When prorating the stats to create an equivalent number of at bats, Renteria and Rowand have the worst numbers in virtually every category.  When including both veteren's rapid decline in the field vs. the gold glove caliber defense that Ishikawa and Torres offer and their greater upside as young players, its really hard to understand why Bochy and Sabean wouldn't want an open competition.

Renteria and Rowand are both 2 years removed from playing above average baseball.  The longer the Giants wait to admit this and focus on starting the best players, the further the postseason slips away.  Giants fans would like to think Sabean is trying to field the best possible team, but the reality is that the Rowand and Renteria contracts look that much worse on him if they come off the bench.  Maybe thats why the Giants refuse to hold an open competition.