People to Blame for the Yankees Missing the Playoffs, Part Four: Jason Giambi

This is Part Four in my series of People to Blame for the Yankees Missing the Playoffs.  In Part One, I explained why Manager Joe Girardi was most at fault.  In Part Two, I heaped some blame on General Manager Brian Cashman.  Third on the list was Hitting Coach Kevin Long.  And now the player most to blame: Jason Giambi.

4. Jason Giambi

The Giamzero has been little more than a cancer on the heart of the Yankee lineup since arriving in New York prior to the start of the 2002 season.  In the six years before Giambi came to the Bronx, the Yankees won four World Series.  In the seven years since, they have won none.

Over the past seven seasons, the Yankees went 530-366 when Giambi played.  That's a .592 winning percentage.  Without him, the team went 150-87, or a .633 winning percentage.

The fact is New York plays better when the Human Rally Killer doesn't see the field, and that was never truer than in 2008.

The same thing would happen in nearly every game.  Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, and Bobby Abreu would reach base, only to be stranded there by Alex Rodriguez and Giambi.  That's how a team with the fourth-best batting average in the league can finish seventh in runs scored.

A-Rod would occasionally come through in the clutch, but Giambi rarely did.  Jason hit a paltry .213 with runners in scoring position and just .155 in close and late situations.  In 22 at-bats with the bases loaded, he picked up just three hits.

Many people choose to ignore Giambi's .247 average (10th worst among all American League qualifiers) because he clubbed 32 homers—but how significant were those blasts?  Twenty-two of them (69 percent) were of the solo variety.

By comparison, only 46 percent of Ryan Howard's 48 bombs drove in just one run, and Carlos Quentin's rate was at 56 percent.

My friend Brad calls Giambi the most selfish hitter in baseball, and I'd have to agree.  Time and time again, he comes to the plate with three defenders on the right side of the infield and just one on the left.  But where does he hit most of his balls?  Directly into the shift.

Giambi had just 16 opposite field hits this year because all he wants to do is hit home runs into the short porch in right.  There were dozens of instances this year when the Yankees would've benefited more if Jason laid down a bunt or hit the ball the opposite way, but he refused to do so.

Defensively, the first baseman is even worse.  His .990 fielding percentage was second from the bottom among AL regulars at that position, as were his nine errors.

Giambi's zone rating (the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive zone) was dead last, along with his 36 assists and 77 double plays turned.  This is largely because the Yankee is scared to death to throw the ball.

If New York decides to bring Giambi back for the 2009 season, it would be the single worst decision the organization has made since it signed him to a seven-year, $120 million contract on Dec. 13, 2001.

Good riddance, Jason.

Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report's New York Yankees Community Leader. His book "Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man" is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com. Jordan can be reached at [e-mail]