Olde Man’s Tavern: Sabean’s Place

You hear about it a lot in all of sports. Managers and coaches receive too much credit when a team does well and too much criticism when it performs poorly. But there is a key position that can fly under the radar (I stress can)…the general manager.

It’s a position that generally gets the glitz and glamor of a red carpet event only a handful of times a year. One is the famous non-waiver trading deadline. The other more notable time is the winter meetings. Another popular time is the free agent signings. Another being the other trading deadline for players that have passed through waivers. The last one has emerged more popular over the past few years. Outside of these times, MLB GMs rarely receive any accolades. The only lurk in the background.

With that, the Tavern leaves Seattle and heads to AT&T Park in San Francisco on an 807 mile trip to check out the GM of the San Francisco Giants, Brain Sabean.

As I stated, a GM appears to be only lurking in the background. We know that a GM is just as integral as the manager. In fact, he could be even more vital. A GM is just as responsible for putting a team together, if not more so, than a manager. Conferring with a number of scouts and the managers in the minors. It can be a train wreck at times. Look at what happened recently with the New York Mets and their GM situation over the past couple of seasons.

All you have to do is look at the list of players Sabean has brought to the Bay Area (Jeff Kent, Jason Schmidt, Robb Nen and Kenny Lofton to name a few). Not all have worked as planned, but this season has a bit of a different feel. Actually, a lot different feel.

Before the 2010 campaign even started, Sabean brought in a couple of free agents, Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa.

After spending 2009 with the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, Huff was signed to a one-year, $3 million contract. A move that paid off well as Huff not only played three different positions (left and right field along with now being inserted as the starter at first base), he put up numbers we almost expect to see on a yearly basis. For 2010, Huff hit .290 with 26 HR and 86 RBI. Without a doubt, the Huff signing proved to be a steal. Huff led the Giants in homers and RBI. Not a bad investment for $3 million.

The DeRosa signing didn’t work out as well. DeRosa was limited to only 26 games due to left wrist injury. That injury would see DeRosa land on the 60-day disabled list. But DeRosa still has a year remaining on a two-year, $12 million deal. Win one, lose one. That did not deter the Giants head man. He proceeded to make two vital moves on the same day, May 29.

Another important acquisition was that of left fielder Pat Burrell. Left field was a bit of a void with the DeRosa injury so Sabean snagged Burrell who had been released by the Tampa Bay Rays. Wonder if the Rays could have used Burrell’s bat? He’s called Pat “The Bat” for a reason, ya know. Well, the Giants used that bat and used it well on their way to the National League West crown. Burrell struggled with Tampa Bay, but not with San Francisco as he belted 18 of his 20 homers this season as a Giant.

Perhaps the biggest and most noteworthy move for the Giants this season occurred on that May 29th when the Giants called up one Buster Posey. Posey could be the recipient of the National League Rookie of the Year for his stellar rookie season. Posey’s first start in the bigs was as a first baseman. He would later assume the #1 catching duties. In fact, that move proved to be such a great decision that Sabean traded veteran backstop Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers to make way for Posey.

Sabean again waved his magic in June when Madison Bumgarner was summoned to the team as a starter.

Wait. Why on earth did the Giants need another starter with the likes of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez?

Answer: You can never have too many arms. Having Bumgarner aboard would serve well especially when Lincecum struggled in August. Now, Bumgarner is a likely candidate to start Game 4 in the NLCS provided the situation works out best for the Giants. And don’t let his season numbers fool you. He posted only a 7-6 record, but his 3.00 ERA for a rookie is excellent. And he did get the win in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Braves.

Things were a bit out of whack at second base. So…Sabean pulled of a steal of a deal in acquiring former NL batting champ Freddy Sanchez from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Still not willing to settle for where the Giants were offensively, Sabean executed two more moves.

In mid-August Sabean brought in Jose Guillen in a trade with the Kansas City Royals. Putting Guillen in right should be the answer to who would man the position. Plus, Guillen can still hit a ball a long way. But the glove and arm aren’t what they used to be.

The Guillen deal didn’t work so well, but Sabean’s next move had a bit better result. That would be claiming outfielder Cody Ross off waivers from the Florida marlins. Ross has a bit of punch and can play all three outfield positions, a perfect spot starter and fourth outfielder. Another thing about Ross is that he’s simply a baseball player.

But Sabean’s toughest move was yet to come.

One of his biggest moves was signing free agent pitcher Barry Zito. It has been a deal that has landed Sabean a fair amount of criticism for investing so much cash (7 years, $126 million) on an arm that has been perceived as not being what it once was. With Lincecum, Cain and Snachez seemingl being locks for the NLDS roster, it was down to Zito and Bumgarner for the #4 spot. We all know how that worked out. Hard to fathom leaving your highest paid player off a postseason roster, but both Sabean and Zito know what could possibly lie ahead. And both handled the situation with professionalism.

To see how the Giants transformed during this season, simply look at the opening day starting lineup…

…versus the starting lineup for Game 4 of the NLDS

Only two starters were the same.

No matter what San Diego Padres starter Mat Latos says…

"“Baseball works in funny ways. The only way I could honestly put it is, we could be like the Giants and go and change our whole lineup, put guys with ‘San Francisco Giants’ across their jerseys. We didn’t. “We added two guys (Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick) We’ve been the same team all year. We haven’t just gone and grabbed guys from other teams.”"

…Brain Sabean constructed a team that’s capable of winning the National League. They have just that chance when the NLCS kicks off tomorrow evening, the first for the Giants since 2002. By the way, the Giants won the National League title that season.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy receives more attention, but Sabean deserves every bit of that and even more for his job in 2010.