Old Sabean vs. New Sabean (who, technically, is older than Old Sabean)

I keep thinking I should have something poignant and compelling to say about Buster Posey's recent devastating, season ending injury, but every time I start typing I cry, wail, and gnash teeth until I fall asleep clutching my 1989 Starting Lineup Will Clark action figure.  So instead, you get this.

Brian Sabean is, at this moment, the longest tenured General Manager in baseball.  Anyone who holds that job for this long is going to have some wins and some losses.  And he has definitely done plenty of things right over the years.  But at times he has shown a tendency to do, well ... dumb things.  Like signing a 35 year old Dave Roberts for 3 years at over $15 million, or signing Neifi Pérez (for any amount of money).  Of course, his most notable missteps are the contracts he gave to Aaron Rowand (5 years and $60 million) and Barry Zito (7 years and $126 million).

Bill Neukom, Brian Sabean,
and The Trophy

The past couple of seasons, though, have seen Sabes (and I call him that because of how close we are, given all of the conversations we've had in my head) avoid the dumb move.  Not everything has worked out, of course, but nothing he's done lately has handicapped the team.  They have gotten very little for the $12 million they are paying Mark DeRosa over 2 years, but that's mostly due to injuries, and we're still talking about a small percentage of the payroll, and a relatively short amount of time.  It doesn't look like Miguel Tejada is going to be worth anywhere close to the $6.5 million the Giants will pay him this year, but at least it was a 1-year contract, and Sabean didn't feel like he had to top the dodgers' 3 year/$21 million offer to Juan Uribe.  Unless you're the Sonoma County Crushers, it's unlikely that a one-year contract is going to do any long term damage.  And it may be coincidence, but it seems like much of this change in Sabean's approach happened in conjunction with Bill Neukom ("Mr. Bowtie") taking over as the Giants managing partner.

So with the offense struggling, and now Posey - arguably their best position player - out for at least this season, I'm hoping we continue to see New Sabean at work.  With that, here are some headlines I hope I don't see in the near future.

"Giants Sign (Retired Catcher) To Replace Posey"  
Bengie Molina was, in Krukow-speak, a "good Giant."  No question about it.  And I'm sure Sabean and crew could have handled his trade more diplomatically, but they were going about the business of making the Giants the best team they could, and they definitely accomplished that.  But bringing him, or any other catcher sitting by their phone, is no guarantee of production beyond that what Eli Whiteside is offering, but will cost money and introduce an unknown variable into a pretty stable clubhouse.  Old Sabean would have panicked, and would have immediately been on the phone with everyone from Kirt Manwaring to Bobby Estalella.  Hopefully New Sabean doesn't hit the panic button quite that quickly.



"Giants Trade Top Prospects For Fading Veteran Catcher"
A trade in these circumstances is not necessarily a mistake, and may prove to be warranted in the near future, but I don't want to see the Giants give up legitimate talent for the hope that a veteran catcher who is underperforming elsewhere figures it out when he gets to AT&T Park.  Acquiring Ivan Rodriguez for a Double-A prospect we'll never hear from again and a box of sunflower seeds sounds great.  Trading Thomas Neal or Brandon Belt for 3 months of Pudge ... not so much.



"Giants Sign Clone Of Hall Of Fame Catcher"
Obviously there are ethical and political implications with this one, and I suppose it would have very little to do with either Old or New Sabean, but as a baseball fan ... this one isn't so bad.  I think I could live with this one.  When Posey comes back, I'm sure they'll figure something out.  Belt can play left, and Posey and Gibson can sort out who catches and who plays first base.


The bottom line is that I find myself with a degree of confidence that Sabes isn't going to do anything rash to solve the dilemma of the Giants losing their star catcher.  Go get someone if you have to, Brian. Just don't do anything dumb.