–Brian Sabean, GM of the San Francisco Giants,
signed Edgar Renteria on December 3rd 2008, and now, 28 days later, I assess
the damage. A while back, I wrote off Sabean as the worst GM in baseball. Although I’ve switched positions since then, Sabean is showing why he has
always been in my bottom five.
The Mike Jacobs trade was
bad. Raul Ibanez and A.J. Burnett got
overpaid, and the Kyle Farnsworth signing was just stupid, but the worst deal
made this off-season is undoubtedly the Edgar Renteria
signing. Forget the fact the Giants
already had a young, worthy shortstop, and forget the fact the Giants are in
rebuilding mode. Renteria just got flat
overpaid.
His hitting has
deteriorated; he has no range, and is 33 years old. Why on earth would a GM sign him to a two-year contract worth
$18MM? Since that’s too much money to
be an “insurance” player in case Manny Burriss
doesn’t perform, Renteria is going to be playing every day.
Now, if Brian Sabean had
serious doubts about Manny Burriss being ready to play in the bigs, then I
would have respected his decision to sign a veteran free agent shortstop,
because I hate it when teams rush their prospects (hello J.R. Towles). I’m not saying Manny Burriss or Ivan Ochoa
aren’t ready, but if the Giants signed a consistent, inexpensive shortstop like
Alex Cintron
or Angel
Berroa I would not have disagreed.
But Renteria is way too expensive, and was signed to a multi-year
deal. Seriously, what is Brian Sabean
thinking? I hope his plan isn’t to wait
for Renteria to have a comeback year and then trade him away for prospects
because Renteria will never have an OBP higher than .350 ever again, his range
is gone, and his power will only get worse in spacious AT&T Park.
I hope Edgar Renteria
realizes how lucky he is. I struggle to
find a single team that would have given him half the contract he signed for
with San Francisco.
The only way San Francisco
could screw up their situation more is if they keep Manny Burriss in the majors
as a backup. Because the only
silver lining in this signing is the chance Manny Burriss would have bombed in
the majors. This signing gets rid of
that risk. Perhaps he can develop
better in Triple-A Fresno rather than with the Giants. But still, Ivan Ochoa could’ve filled in for
Burriss. Besides, Renteria is signed
until 2011, and it won’t take that long for Burriss to develop. That is why this deal is so idiotic.
So now I present to you my list of the ten worst current general managers:
(Only counting time with their current club)
10. Ruben Amaro Jr. – PHI (He’s really only made one move, but it was bad)
9. J.P. Ricciardi – TOR
8. Dave Dombrowski – DET
7. Ed Wade – HOU
6. Kevin Towers – SD
5. Frank Wren – ATL
4. Brian Sabean – SF
3. Jim Bowden – WASH
2. Walt Jocketty – CIN
1. Dayton Moore – KC
Mr.
Wateryathnking?
