We Have A Champion!

by Charlie on May 6, 2008 10:01 PM EDT Comment 15 comments

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Worst GM Champion! It's the Giants' Brian Sabean in a walk, as he easily defeats Houston's Ed Wade, 215-52.

Congratulations, Giants fans!

I didn't intentionally schedule this competition for the Giants-Pirates series, but I'm glad it happened this way. If you're watching the end of the game, as I am right now, you're seeing the Pirates beat the daylights out of the Giants. You're seeing Eugenio Velez, who's basically a AA player, leading off and playing second base. You're seeing Emmanuel Burriss, basically a single-A player, at shortstop. You have a right fielder, John Bowker, who played in AA all last year. You have a catcher, Steve Holm, who's basically a AA player. You have a pretty good fourth outfielder in Fred Lewis. You have Rich Aurilia, a 36-year-old third baseman who's been fading for years, playing first. You have Jose Castillo at third. And you have Dan Ortmeier, basically a AAA hitter, playing left.

If you think I'm exaggerating about the levels, go check out these guys on The Baseball Cube. I'm not. These are minor league journeymen, and they're everywhere. And I haven't even mentioned Brian Bocock.

I'm trying to think of a context in which a team like this might be understandable, but I just can't. And it's not as if the Giants have a history of tiny payrolls, or as if they had a strong team that suddenly fell apart. Their payroll this year is in the middle of the pack, and they haven't had a winning season since 2004, so they've had plenty of time to recalibrate. This is a comically terrible team.

Well done, Mr. Sabean. You couldn't have done better in this competition if you'd tried to.

Here's the competition:

Introduction

Jon Daniels defeats Bill Smith

J.P. Ricciardi defeats Dan O'Dowd

Jim Hendry defeats Omar Minaya

Wayne Krivsky defeats Ken Williams

Bill Bavasi defeats Jon Daniels

Ned Colletti defeats J.P. Ricciardi

Ed Wade defeats Jim Hendry

Brian Sabean defeats Wayne Krivsky (forfeit)

Ed Wade defeats Ned Colletti

Brian Sabean defeats Bill Bavasi

Brian Sabean defeats Ed Wade

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Unless the Giants fire him

Sebean ought to win next years contest too!

Steve Z

by steve_z on May 6, 2008 10:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think there’s very little chance Peter McGowan doesn’t go all Ari Gold in Sabean’s office before the end of the season.

by scoreboard on May 7, 2008 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of Sabean disasters...

...Barry Zito returning to the Giants starting rotation tonight to pitch against the Bucs. His demotion to the bullpen lasted about ten days, during which time he didn’t make a single appearance. I wonder what’s going on behind the scenes to cause that sequence of events.

by scoreboard on May 7, 2008 10:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

scoreboard

I was surprised he didn`t pitch a time or two out of the `pen, too.

I think the reason he is starting today is very simple: It`s the Pirates and he`s matched up against Phil Dumatrait.

by patthatt on May 7, 2008 10:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If he gets ripped today,

and loses to Dumatrait, that could officially do him in.

by DITO on May 7, 2008 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

By the way,

a well-deserved honor for Brian Sabean!

Maybe he can be a scout for another team next year after he`s fired. DL can teach him the ropes.

by patthatt on May 7, 2008 10:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As I Giants fan I have to

agree that Sabean is the worst GM on the planet and that our team is full of players that would probably not make any other team let alone start. I do, however, have to take umbrage with a couple of things.

First of all, Fred Lewis is not a 4th outfielder. If you have watched him at all you would see that he is a good player who has a great eye at the plate and the potential for more power. His d leaves a little to be desired but he is certainly not the liability there that he was last year.

Second, You do know that this is a Pirates blog right? I mean it’s the Pirates. The same team that hasn’t had a winning season since 1992. The same team that has been completely hosed by Sabean on at least two occasions.

Isn't this a bit like Bea Arthur judging a beauty contest?

I am Cameron Wood and this is my son and business partner CW Culberson.

by camwoody on May 7, 2008 1:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, if you had read through this blog you would have noticed

that many here believe Sabean to be Littlefield’s equal in stupidity. In short, Littlefield sets the Gold Standard for bad general managing. But he was fired last year. So he’s not eligible for the poll. Had he been eligible there is not doubt in my mind that he would have won this contest.

The Giants fleecing Littlefield on the Morris trade got Littlefield fired. Yet, chances are good that the Pirates will win tonight’s game given the fact that Barry “The Giants made me a Trillionaire” Zito will start for your team.

Steve Z

by steve_z on May 7, 2008 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Isn’t this a bit like Bea Arthur judging a beauty contest?

If I were Dave Littlefield rather than a guy who criticized him mercilessly for years, it might be.

Fred Lewis is a marginal player. He’s a good bench player, but it looks (considering his minor league record as well as his major league record) like he’s going to be stretched as a regular.

by Charlie on May 7, 2008 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Major League Totals (before this season)- 71g 168ab 39r 50h 7-2b 2-3b 3-hr 21rbi 5sb 19bb 35k .298/.379/.417

This season- 33g 104ab 20r 33h 8-2b 2-3b 3-hr 8rbi 14bb 25k 5sb .317/.398/.519

I don’t know if I would call that a marginal player. When you consider that those are almost a full rookie season you have to say that that guy shows a lot of promise.

I am Cameron Wood and this is my son and business partner CW Culberson.

by camwoody on May 7, 2008 2:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Check that.

Not almost a rookie year. Only 272abs. Say he plays for an entire year and gets 544abs that line would be- 176h 118r 30-2b 8-3b 12hr 58rbi 20sb 66bb 120k with around .300/.380/.450. That sounds like a pretty damn good player to me.

I am Cameron Wood and this is my son and business partner CW Culberson.

by camwoody on May 7, 2008 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like a slightly above-average centerfielder

but he hasn’t done that yet

by DITO on May 7, 2008 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If there is anything we Pirates fans know anything about

it is centerfielders putting up fluky half-seasons and deceiving everybody into thinking they’re quality players. Lewis has posted middling numbers for an old-for-his-level AAA player in the PCL. OPSing .916 as a 26-year-old in the PCL doesn’t strike me as particularly impressive. Any level he hit somewhat age appropriately (AA at 24, AAA at 25), he was frankly not very good. A decent half-season in the bigs is not a better indicator of talent (or lack thereof) than 6 minor league seasons. Trust us, we know.

by matskralc on May 7, 2008 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs