When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

02.05.2008
Hot Giant-on-Giant Action, Part 1

I wish I could limn upcoming spring training battles with headlines that brim with verve and drama: “Sensational Phenom Farmhand Joe will push Still-Productive and Much-Beloved Veteran Bob for the right field nod.”

But unless something hits us out of the blue the next few weeks, the roster battles will be of the final-bench-spot variety. We soldier on and try to fake you out with lots of exclamation marks and misleading blogpost titles. Readers and readerettes, señoras y señores… to the battle stations!

TODAY’S SCUFFLE!

Nate Schierholtz v. Fred Lewis for 5th outfielder!

Let’s make a few assumptions here. Aaron Rowand is $60 million worth of indisputable starting CF. Randy Winn will get the lion’s share of starts in RF unless traded or injured. Dave Roberts will start in LF against righties. Ideally this wouldn’t be so. But think about it like the time your abuelita moved in with you and shared your room, which you hated because she snored and cut SBD’s all night. It was a drag because you were young and just starting to need your own privacy, if you know what I mean. On the other hand, she could still cook a mean arroz con pollo, your all-time favorite. It wasn’t all bad.

Back in left field, Dave Roberts is a decent defender — at least he was in his pre-Giant days. And when he’s healthy, like the second half of 2007, he’s a helpful leadoff hitter. Problem is, he’s rarely healthy, which means whoever becomes the 6th outfielder will yo-yo between S.F. and Fresno quite a bit, and for that reason alone Lewis = 5, Schierholtz = 6. Nate has options, Fred doesn’t, or so everyone says. If true, it’s as simple as that.

There are other reasons for Lewis to start the year with the big squad:

* Patience. His career minor-league OBP/SLG is .381/.420. His (small sample size!) major-league totals: .379/.417. He has gotten on base at every stop in the food chain, and a guy who can pinch-hit late in the game and take a walk is a valuable asset.

* Age. At 27, he could be a late bloomer, but chances are his ceiling is coming up fast. At 24, Schierholtz has more room to grow. Better he grow by playing every day for at least half a year in Fresno. It’s not going to kill him.

* Handedness. Lewis and Schierholtz both hit lefty. The wild card here is Raj Davis. He pulled a Jason Ellison on us last year, starting out gangbusters (.396 OBP in August) then tapering off (.305 OBP in September). Even so, I assume he’ll make the big squad to spell Roberts against tough lefties, provide a right-handed pinch-hitter, and for late-game defense and pinch-running. I don’t see the Giants leaving him behind and carrying two lefty-hitting rookie outfielders on the bench.

Don’t get me wrong. Make no mistake. I’m looking forward to seeing what Nate Schierholtz can do day-in, day-out against big league pitching. But I’m also in favor of getting value from the sunk costs of Roberts and Winn’s contracts, which means a little more patience and hoping one or the other can bring back value in a trade.

Is the system giving Nate a raw deal? Does nobody give Nate a raw deal? Discuss.

(Photo Transformers Figure - (Takara) ZONE Dai Atlas Battle Station by Simon Davidson and licensed under Creative Commons. See more of Simon’s photos here.)
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[February 6, 2008 1:39 AM]  |  link  |  reply
El Guapo said

"But think about it like the time your abuelita moved in with you and shared your room, which you hated because she snored and cut SBD’s all night."

I laughed out loud when I read this and woke up the girlfriend sleeping next to me. There was no way I was going to be able to explain this joke or the fact that my abuelita cuts SBD's all the time and blames it on the dog.

Oh and we have one more outfielder than we need and I think Nate should be starting with Lewis and Rowand.

[February 8, 2008 12:50 AM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

"tapering off"???

Since when is going from .396, which is an insanely great OBP, to .305, which is getting near Feliz-land, a "tapering off"?

I basically agree with you ELM. I think people who take other stances tend to have a problem in general with Sabean as the GM. Which is fine, I understand their position - I just don't agree with it.

Lewis is a faded prospect with no options left, so if there is a spot, he gets it so that we can see if he has any value at all. Kind of like Jason Ellison, who is still bouncing around (Reds now? After Seattle kept him up but not playing him much...).

Schierholtz should start if he's in the majors, so until either Winn or Roberts is traded (I prefer Winn because it frees up the most ABs for prospects, hopefully result in Nate starting in RF, reduces payroll more, and should yield more talent back, plus Roberts is a good leadoff hitter), Nate should start in AAA.