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June 14, 2005
Verducci on Womack and Giambi
Tommy V. chimes in on Tony and Jason. Here are some of the bigger points:
The Yankees made a mistake in signing Womack to a two-year, $4 million deal rather than keeping Miguel Cairo. They made the blunder bigger by playing Womack every day. They made things even worse by batting him first or second, giving a guy with a .289 OBP extra plate appearances. And they goofed again by moving him to left field, as if an American League team can simply write off offense from a corner outfield position.
It boggles the mind to think that after 62 games, only Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield have taken more at-bats for the Yankees than Womack. It is a mystery why the Yankees have no bona fide backup outfielder -- a Shane Spencer/Chad Curtis type. But even more mind-blowing than that oversight is that manager Joe Torre keeps writing Womack's name in the lineup, especially near the top.
Womack has been so bad that you can boil down his year to this harsh conclusion: He's on track to be the worst outfielder in 99 years.
Giambi is nearly as worthless and historically bad as Womack. Womack can at least catch a baseball and touch his toes.
"[Giambi] looks finished," one AL scout said. "He lost his hands [as a hitter]. He used to hit with such great hands. Not now."
Giambi cannot field, he cannot throw, he cannot run, he cannot hit with power, he cannot hit the ball to the opposite field. He, Womack and Ruben Sierra are dead roster spots. Yes, but Giambi still gets on base, you say. The man has a .383 OBP, after all! Chill out. Giambi is the embodiment of the foolishness of putting your faith in one statistic. His OBP is hugely devalued by his inability to run or to hit for extra bases. The same guy who once led the league in doubles has hit only three this year. Since April 19 -- almost two months -- Giambi has one home run and two doubles for his only extra-base hits. His slugging percentage (.340) is worse than his OBP. He is on track to score 39 runs.
Good luck trying to find hitters with that kind of profile (gets on base, doesn't score, no power). Giambi is on pace to get 368 at-bats. Only one player in history has ever batted 350 times or more and posted an OBP better than .380 but didn't score 40 runs or slug .350: Floyd Baker of the 1949 White Sox, a third baseman who hit one career homer in 874 games. At least Baker was such a slick fielder he was known as The Glove Man. Giambi, especially after his fiasco of a game last Friday in St. Louis, should never be allowed to wear a glove again.
The Womack part speaks for itself. He should be a bench player, at best, now. As far as Giambi, about a month ago I wrote that June 15th should be "Deadwood Decision Day" for Jason. Seeing the stats, I'm sticking to that.
Why keep Giambi at this point? Is he going to get better this year? How about in 2008? The money an issue? They have to pay him, no matter what. Better to pay him not to be on the team - than to pay him to be on it now.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at June 14, 2005 03:19 PM
Comments
I take exception to one comment on Giambi:
"His OBP is hugely devalued by his inability to run or to hit for extra bases"
I don't think you can "devalue" OBP.....at the end of the day- it comes down to 1 thing....getting on base and not making an out. So- looking at the "glass half full"- its better that Giambi walk or only get singles than make an out.
so- that being said...almost 4 out of every 10 times up- giambi is on base...OK- so it's usually first base....but better than no base at all.
Glass half full....he is turning it around....
Posted by: Phil at June 14, 2005 10:46 PM
I repeat....turning it around......
Posted by: Phil at June 15, 2005 11:09 PM