5 of Sabean's Biggest Blunders

Brian Sabean is not known for being soft-spoken or having the nicest words for his critics. He had some harsh words for Scott Cousins after he ended Buster Posey's season in a famous home plate collision.

He's thrown a few of his own players under the bus, such as telling Kevin Frandsen that he needed to "just mind his own business down in Triple-A and see what happens."

Even though Brian Sabean gets plenty of credit for signing players like the great ,Rob Nenn, Jeff Kent, Jason Schmidt and J.T Snow, these signings do not outweigh his annoying habit of signing old, washed up veterans and has been players.

He fails to sign players that will truly be effective and his inability to read the obvious signs of ailing players has cost the team greatly. Even though the list can go on and on, here are just a few reasons why he is one of the worst GM's in baseball

5. Barry Zito

With all the hype surrounding Zito's contract, people seemed to forget about his slow decline in Oakland after coming across the bay. His strikeouts slowly fell after he was awarded the 2002 AL Cy Young Award. This should have been a red flag.

In 2001, he threw 191 strikeouts, which diminished to 159 in 2002 and 127 in 2003. Even though his walks pretty much stayed the same, a low strikeout rate means a booming ERA.

Overall, he had stellar numbers in Oakland, going 102-63 with a 3.55 ERA. The one-time ace is 41-63 in San Francisco with 4.52 ERA. Zito has changed his delivery repeatedly in an effort to be more effective, but his strikeouts continue to drop, and he has lost a fair amount of velocity on his fastball. 

He was sent to the bullpen in 2008 after starting the season 0-6. Zito was left off of the 2010 playoff roster and missed most of 2011 with injuries.

Somehow, the word inconsistent does not really say it. Terrible, overpaid and anger-invoking may describe it minimally, but, there really is no way to explain just how awful and disastrous this move has been. 

4. Jeremy Accardo

Probably long forgotten in the minds of most Giants fans, Jeremy Accardo was the closest thing the Giants had to a reliable closer in 2005. Even though his numbers don't reflect it (1-5, 3.94 ERA) he was pretty accurate and followed through his pitches well.

He was shipped off to Toronto for first basemen Shea Hillenbrand, who was decent, but not at all worth the trade. Also included in the trade was relief pitcher, Vinnie Chulk. He was a fair middle reliever guy who later became nothing more than an aging player who came and went.

Accardo spent six seasons in Toronto before tendering free agency and signing a one-year deal with the Orioles. He is currently in the Indians organization

I love Brain Wilson as much as the next fan but, Accardo was consistent and precise. He wasn't so erratic and he didn't feed into the ever popular "It's Torture!" campaign. The Giants are an organization that need to be consistent if they want to see another World Series anytime soon.

I am saying Accardo was consistent and accurate. I did not say he is a better pitcher than Brian Wilson but he was strong where Wilson is weak.

3. A.J Pierzynski

A.J Pierzynski for Joe Nathan.

Need I say more? This should probably be lower on the list. The catcher made $3 million in his only year in SF. Everyone knows about Pierzynski's colorful personality and his inability to play well with others. Who could forget that right hook by Michael Barrett?

Joe Nathan went on to become one of the best closers in baseball.  He dominated during his seven seasons in Minnesota, posting a 47-23 record and a 2.87 ERA.

2. Ryan Garko

The Indians got young pitching prospect Scott Barnes for trading away the mediocre first basemen, Ryan Garko, who was on a little hitting streak when he came to San Francisco. Barnes boasted a 2.85 ERA at the time with 99 strikeouts to 29 walks in 98 innings.

In many ways this is a familiar trade. The Giants gave a way a quality prospect for a lesser, older player.

Much like the Aaron Rowand signing, Garko wasn't at all what the Giants expected after being traded over from the Indians.

It's not like the Giants greatly overpaid for the first basemen like with Rowand. However, Garko showed no power behind the dish and was not re-signed after the season. He walked away with a .235 BA, 12 RBI, and only two home runs. A great swing and a miss by Brian Sabean. 

1. Zack Wheeler

I could live with seeing Tim Alderson pitch in Pittsburgh. But trading away Zack Wheeler to the Mets for the injury-ridden and aging Carlos Beltran made my stomach turn. Not only did he do little during his time at China Basin but, most of it was spent on the disabled list.

So, what did the Giants really get out of this deal? They rented an injured player for too much money for the last few months of the season. They failed to make the postseason and the Mets got a future ace. Wheeler will be in the Mets starting rotation within the next three years.

Beltran signed with the Cardinals after 2011 and will probably make a little noise at Busch Stadium even if he can stay healthy, which isn't likely.