Alas poor Burriss! Imagine young Manny picking up the newspaper, or more likely, flipping open his Sidekick every morning and reading about the Giants’ fierce pursuit of Rafael Furcal. Or their inquiries into Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria.
Two and a half months ago, Brian Sabean said this about Burriss and the 2009 shortstop job: "He plugs that position as far as I'm concerned."
To his credit, this was Manny’s reply: "It's cool to hear, but you really never know what's going to happen. I'll go about the offseason the same way."
So what’s happened since Sept. 8? Perhaps it’s his performance in the Arizona Fall League. His offensive stats are exactly what you’d expect: high OBP (.370) and low slugging (.376). But he’s also made 10 errors in 24 games. I warned about this in an early look at fall-league action; perhaps the Giants feel he’s not ready for full-time shortstop duty. OK, fine. Burriss has options. He can compete at 2B, he can hone his skills another year or two in the minors. Hell, I wrote this in July:
To hope Burriss is ready next year is like hoping you can smoke three packs a day and live ‘til you’re 90. There’s always a chance, but you’d better have a Plan B.
A much larger question that has worried me for some time now is the Giants’ habitual flip-flopping. It’s a tough business, this talent evaluation, and I sympathize with anyone trying to sort out the future. But it seems the Giants, Sabean in particular, often bungle their public promises. With all the pursuit of Furcal et al, why haven’t the beat writers asked Sabean about his “plug the position” comment regarding Burriss?
This forked-tonguedness has become laughable, and it’s entirely avoidable. Perhaps it’s intentional, some kind of Sabi-Won Kenobi mind trick, but that would be sad. If you’re not sure about someone, Brian, don’t make pronouncements. If players can’t trust what you say, why would they want to come play for the Giants? And, say, whatever happened to the old Sabes, the one who was expert at talking in circles without saying anything concrete?
Should Brian Sabean shut his gob? Is there a method behind his maddening meandering meditations? Discuss.
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SMALL PRINT UPDATE: The Giants still owe Barry Bonds a lot of money. According to Cot’s Contracts, which has filed Bonds’s details under “Notables,” the Giants will pay him $8.5 M this year plus interest. ($5 M + 3.5% interest deferred from 2004, and $3.5 M in performance bonuses + 3.5% interest deferred from 2007.) That means the Giants are paying more than $10 M in deferred salaries this year.
