Talk About Galling

Today 1Bman Adam LaRoche is reported to have reached a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks for somewhere between $4 and $6 million.  This, after LaRoche reportedly turned down a two-year $17 million offer from the Giants.

I wonder what happened.  Were the reports I’ve been hearing wrong on the offer the Giants made?

Did LaRoche wildly overplay his hand? (He was reported to have been seeking a three-year $30 million earlier in the off-season.)  Did LaRoche suddenly discover that once the Giants signed Aubrey Huff, there wasn’t anyone willing to offer him a two-year deal?

Was he unwilling to play in San Francisco for some reason? (There are a lot of cold night games in San Francisco, and AT&T Park is not a great park for left-handed hitters, unless they have good power the other way.)

Was he particularly eager to play for Arizona? (It is a much better place to hit than San Francisco, and a lot of ballplayers live in Arizona during the off-season, after falling in love with the place during Spring Trainings there.)

I’ll wait to hear the statements LaRoche makes after his deal with the D’Backs is finalized.  In the meantime, I’m sad the Giants didn’t sign him.  His career .843 OPS isn’t much better than Huff’s career .812 OPS, but it is definitely better.

More importantly, LaRoche is three years younger than Huff (age 30 compared to age 33 in 2010).  The odds of LaRoche having a good season left in him in 2010 are much higher than for Huff.

Not much that can be done about it now, except to piss and moan a little.  The Giants still need to add pitching.  I’m still hopeful that Kiko Calero is on their radar, given the salary slot left open with Bob Howry’s departure and Calero’s fine 2009 campaign for the Marlins.

The Giants also need to add a back-up plan for a Fifth Starter, as it is a leap of faith to go into 2010 with 20 year old Madison Bumgarner as their only option, no matter how well he’s pitched in the low minors (BTW, he has been terrific: while his strike out rate was down in ‘09, he still had a 2.67-to-1 Ks-to-BBs rate, and his career professional record is now 27-5 with a 1.65 ERA.  OK, it’s only two full seasons, but it’s still pretty impressive.)