2pm UPDATE: The Giants have signed Juan Uribe to a minor league contract, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman. If he makes the team, he’ll make $1 M. His career batting lines look like something from Pedro Feliz land: .250/.295/.423, with defense that used to be above-average at short, though he’s basically a utility infielder at this point in his career. I wouldn’t take this to mean much other than Plan F, deep insurance in case several things don’t pan out, i.e., Crede isn’t a good fit, Pablo Sandoval can’t hack it at 3B, Kevin Frandsen melts down in spring training, Rich Aurilia signs elsewhere as a backup, etc. etc.
* Via MLB Trade Rumors, the Star-Tribune reports Joe Crede had his workout in front of scouts: 75 swings and 50 to 60 ground balls. He must not have collapsed in pain, as he’s reportedly seeking a base salary above his $5 M from 2008, plus incentives.
Mmm, right. The Star-Trib report quotes an “insider” who said Crede looked good and “triggered new contract offers,” which sounds like it came straight from the mouth of Scott Boras, Crede’s agent.
* Ken Rosenthal has linked the Giants to Bobby Abreu, whose contract demands are shrinking by the day. If the Giants were in the American League and could use him at DH, I’d say sure. But as an outfielder his defense would negate much of his offensive value.
This Fangraphs post has a good breakdown. He’s projected to be worth nearly 2 extra wins as a DH but less than 1.5 wins as an OF. Fred Lewis last year was worth 2.4 wins, and you figure he’ll improve at least a bit with a healthy foot. Trading Abreu for Lewis would be dumb. Subbing Abreu for Aaron Rowand (and shifting Winn or Lewis to center field)….well, it depends on how you see Rowand’s 2008, when he was worth less than 1 win. Projections see him improving his offense a bit. If he can bring his defense back to pre-2008 levels, it would probably be a wash. Rowand’s better D or Abreu’s better O. Bottom line: Adding Abreu would be a tiny incremental gain, at best. Move on.
* Speaking of incrementalism, BP’s Jay Jaffe lays out an argument that adding Manny Ramirez would only give the Giants two extra wins, not enough in their quest to catch the Dodgers in the West. But that’s if he replaced Fred Lewis. I’d like to see the gain if Ramirez replaced Rowand, but the 2009 PECOTA projections aren’t on the Web site yet. Based on 2008 Rowand, Manny’s defense wouldn’t be that much worse, and his offense would be worlds apart.
If someone wants to crunch the numbers based on other projections, please do so. I have to unchain myself from my computer the rest of the afternoon.
