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Brian Sabean: Do the Giants win because of him or in spite of him?
2006-02-18 22:34
by Bob Timmermann

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle examines the career of Brian Sabean, general manager of the Giants.

And yet, in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of sports, Sabean finds his reputation on the line again after a 2005 season in which Barry Bonds missed all but three weeks and the Giants finished 75-87, which breathed life into Sabean's small, but vocal cadre of detractors.

Their principal arguments: The Giants' success over the last decade has more to do with Bonds than Sabean, that this general manager is too enamored with geezers, and he is too quick to dismiss the new-age statistical approach to player evaluation described in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" and embraced by executives such as Oakland's Billy Beane and Boston's Theo Epstein.

Comments
2006-02-19 00:24:41
1.   das411
Several ways to answer this:

-Is not The Barry the single most ridiculous example of the effects high OBP, OPS, SLG, etc can have on a team? His reputation as a 5 tool player from 15-20 years ago obscures the fact that he can be very "three true outcomes" today.

-Isn't it then "Moneyball" to pay premium $$ for the greatest OBP machine in the game, and then surround him with undervalued veterans like Alou, Snow, Benito, etc?

-But if all Sabean does is trade for geezers and ignore stats, why did he pick up Schmidt when he did? And how else to explain the man-crush on Pedro Feliz?

Sabean himself addresses this in the article: "Would I love to have a younger team? Without question. Do I love younger players? Certainly. Their time might come sooner or later with Barry's departure. But to have Barry on the ballclub, and with that window of opportunity, long-range planning is pretty difficult to do."

I hope Steve sees this: "Had he been cowed by the backlash against the Nathan trade -- which, remember, Magowan opposed -- Sabean never could have dealt a player equally liked by the fans (Jesse Foppert) to Seattle for Winn."

2006-02-19 09:13:03
2.   The Real Neal
Largest Bonuses in Club History
Giants
Jason Grillil, 1997 $1,875,000
David Aardsma, 2003 $1,425,000
Brad Hennessey, 2001 $1,380,000
Matt Cain, 2002 $1,375,000
Osvaldo Fernandez, 1996 $1,300,000

Total = $7.355 million

Dodgers
Joel Guzman, 2001 $2,250,000
Ben Diggins, 2000 $2,200,000
Hideo Nomo, 1995 $2,000,000
Scott Elbert, 2004 $1,575,000
Kazuhisa Ishii, 2002 $1,500,000

Total = $9.525 million

Padres
Matt Bush, 2004 $3,150,000
Mark Phillips, 2000 $2,200,000
Sean Burroughs, 1998 $2,100,000
Jake Gautreau, 2001 $1,875,000
Cesar Carrillo, 2005 $1,550,000
Total = $10.875 million

Rockies
Jason Young, 2000 $2,750,000
Troy Tulowitzki, 2005 $2,300,000
Chin-Hui Tsao, 1999 $2,200,000
Chris Nelson, 2004 $2,150,000
Ian Stewart, 2003 $1,950,000
Total = $11.35 million

A's
Mark Mulder, 1998 $3,200,000
Nick Swisher, 2002 $1,780,000
Barry Zito, 1999 $1,625,000
Cliff Pennington, 2005 $1,475,000
Joe Blanton?, 2002 $1,400,000
Total = $9.48 million

There's your money ball right there. By not throwing money at players who haven't proved anythin Sabean is zigging where everyone else is zagging.

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