Jason Giambi and Nick Swisher: A Tale of Two Cities

Last night I saw the New York Yankees host the Oakland As. Jason Giambi was playing for Oakland, and Nick Swisher was in a Yankees uniform.

Something was wrong with this picture. The last time I saw the two teams play, Giambi was a Yankee, and Swisher was an A. The two players hadn't exactly been traded, but they had traded places. And therein lies the story of two very different teams—and cities.

Swisher was an obvious first round draft choice, so Giambi's case is the more interesting of the two. He started with the A's, because no other team wanted a heavy, slow fielder with weak defense (his Achilles heel) and a sub par batting average. So what did the A's see in him? A good eye for the ball, as evidenced by a huge walk rate, one that led to a superior on base percentage (OBP), which is a function of hits AND walks. (Batting average is a function of hits only.)

In his best years (with the Yankees), Giambi was a .270 (average) hitter, but had a .470 OBP, meaning he got on base almost every other time he appeared at the plate. Giambi also started hitting home runs; it's easier for a player with a good eye to develop power than for a player with a good arm to develop pitch selection.  Again, during his tenure with the Yankees, Giambi hit the most home runs of any former A (209), such beating out the more famous Roger Maris (203), according to last nights trivia question.

Giambi became a Yankee in 2002, when the low budget A's lost three stars to free agency, Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen. As compensation, they got the three first round draft picks of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals respectively.  These, plus their own pick and two "compensation" picks sandwiched between the first and second rounds, gave them the wherewithal to (eventually) replace them with Nick Swisher, Mark Teahen, and Joe Blanton respectively (as their nearest equivalents).

Swisher in particular resembled Giambi as a low batting average, high OBP, and high powered batter, but with better defense and speed, and fewer personal problems (Giambi has "Mitchell Commission" issues).

Seven years later, Swisher has served his apprenticeship and can work for the highest bidder, the Yankees, while Giambi has worn out his welcome as a Yankee, but is still welcomed by the A's at his "old" ($4 million) salary. The same A's have a pattern of hiring stars past their prime, like David Justice (a former Yankee) and Scott Hatteberg(a former Red Sox).

On the other hand, the Yankees, who have baseball's highest payroll have an All Star-like roster, with other recent hires including the likes of C.C. Sabathia, A,J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira. Among Yankees position players, only Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, and "Melky" Cabrera are home grown.

Two strong teams with very good players (often the same ones), with two very different strategies for hiring them.