Ugh. So much about this situation stinks.
1) He was traded for a fairly valuable prospect, a lefty starter throwing well in a hitter-friendly league.
2) He was given two months to prove himself, much of the time starting against RHP, which as anyone with an Internet connection knew was not his strength in Cleveland.
3) The Giants knew he was headed for arbitration and probably a couple mil in 2010 salary, yet they decided they didn't want to pay that kind of money "for a backup." This, from a team that paid Juan Uribe $1 million to be a backup, and not even expecting him to be the second best power hitter on the team. You'd think they could pony up two mil for a guy who had a pretty decent shot of hitting 15 home runs in a part-time role.
4) By releasing him, they lose a fallback option for right-handed power. You could be snotty and say, "well, he showed in his time with the Giants that he didn't have much power, anyway," but you would be ignoring the body of work he did in Cleveland and assuming the 120+ at-bats with S.F. were the new norm for Garko, which is hard to believe.
5) Not only did the Giants disparage Garko by publicly labeling him a backup, they also tried to justify the move by whispering he didn't get along with Bruce Bochy. Have you noticed how many players come back and re-sign with the teams that non-tendered them? Chances of Garko doing the same are slim to ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
Did I miss anything?
The entire chain of Garko-related events has me in a dark mood about the future of this team, but nothing a three-year, $30 M contract for Jermaine Dye wouldn't cure. Kidding! Let's cheer ourselves up, shall we? Try this.
