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Giambi To See Lots Of Time At First?
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Do we even want that? When will the Yanks cut the cord with this idea?

The day Giambi's contract expires will be a very positive step in the right direction for this franchise. Giambi's value is exclusively tied to his bat. And as long as he isn't hitting because he's so brittle that he gets hurt every time he steps onto the field, he's just taking up space. He either needs to find a way to stay healthy (losing about 20 lbs. wouldn't hurt) or get lost.

If Jason Giambi ends up playing more than 75 games at first for the Yankees this season, I'll be shocked.
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If you believe in "salary drive" seasons, don't be surprised if it happens...

WW Staff: "Giambi To See Lots Of Time At First?"

Joe Girardi (in the linked article): "We need him to do a lot of different things, go from first to third, second to home, play some first base."

"Lots" != "some"

James Anthony Pirone - your comments did not pertain to this topic and they have been removed. If you have any questions, please e-mail the authors of this blog.

"And as long as he isn't hitting because he's so brittle that he gets hurt every time he steps onto the field"

It's amazing how quickly we forget things.

Here's a day by day listing of the Yankees injury reports for the 2007 season from SI.com:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/teams/yankees/injuries.html

In April, Giambi's name doesn't show up on that list. He had an OPS+ of 151.

On May 4, we first hear about a bone spur on Giambi's left heel, but the word is that it's ok. This comes up again on the 9th. IIRC, Giambi was trying different shoes/socks and wrapping his foot to make it feel better. By the end of May (in which he put up an OPS+ of 88) he was put on the DL for 6-8 weeks with plantar fasciitis.

Now let's recall the context. On May 1, the Yankees were 10-14, 5.5 games behind Boston and in last place.

On May 10, they were 16-17, in 3rd place and 7 games behind the Red Sox. You may recall, this was around the time where they got hot to get to .500, only to lose a bunch of games and fall under .500 again. Giambi got a few days off to rest his foot around this time.

On May 20, the Yanks were 19-23, still 3rd, but now 10.5 games back of the Red Sox.

On May 30, 23-29, 13.5 games back of the Sox and tied for Last place with the Devil Rays.

From May 16 through May 30, Giambi was in the line up everyday except for May 20, and played 9 innings in each game, except for 1, when he played 8.

My theory combined with my recollection: Torre wanted to keep Jason in the line up because he's a monster when he's hot. But he shouldn't have been out there on that bad foot, and it cost him 2 months of the season.

But I suppose it is much easier to just say "he's old and brittle, he stinks!"

Still can't get a grasp on why Matsui is never mentioned as a first base candidate. The solution should be Matsui, Giambi, Damon at 1B, DH, and LF.

the yankees already have how many non-1B 1B options vying for playing time? the last thing they need is another transplant trying to learn 1B on the fly.

and why does everyone think Matsui could just pick up a 1B mitt and play 1B any better than Giambi can?

But I suppose it is much easier to just say "he's old and brittle, he stinks!"
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He's not old? He's not brittle? We're talking about a guy that hasn't played anything close to a full season since he was a 32 year old in 2003.

I didn't say he stinks, I merely pointed out that if he's not hitting, he's worthless. And over the past two seasons, he's been hurt a lot of the time and therefore streaky.

You want to cite the OPS+ of 151 in the season's first month last year. What about the OPS+ 100 in August and the OPS+ 75 in September?

Giambi has value left in his body. But I'm not sure the Yanks -- with all their other DH candidates who can't field their position -- can afford to just keep on collecting brittle old men who play < 150 games a year at this point. Not for $20M+ and not when they're as unproductive in long stretches as Giambi was in 2006 and 2007.

Don't kill the messenger for pointing out that Giambi's getting close to the end of the line...

and why does everyone think Matsui could just pick up a 1B mitt and play 1B any better than Giambi can?
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All we are saying, is try Matsui out at 1B and see if he has an aptitude to make the transition. Even Joe Torre, who was dead set against moving OFers to 1B, worked Damon out there. Why not Matsui? He has more of a power bat, and 1B is a power position.

I would still like to see Betemit get a shot at 1B.

As for Giambi, his mistake last season was playing on the spur, which seemed to cause him to tear soft tissue in his foot.

"He's not old? He's not brittle? "
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Giambi is certainly old, entering his age 37 season. He's certainly injury prone. But my point was that it's easy to broadstroke a guy with adjectives. I prefer something more rigorous. The story of his 2007 to me wasn't "he's old and brittle, and getting older and more brittle by the day" but more, "he was hitting well in May, got injured, was kept in the line up for a month, and never recovered for the rest of the season." If you disagree, provide a rigorous argument backing up your position.

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"We're talking about a guy that hasn't played anything close to a full season since he was a 32 year old in 2003."
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Your memory deceives you. Giambi played in 139 games in 2006 and 139 games in 2005. Yes, that's 23 games short of a full season, but really only about 15 games short of what an average player would do with some normal days off. So, again, we're left to infer what your adjectives mean to you (as they probably mean something different to someone else)... I'll assume by "anything close to a full season" as.. say, 85% of a full season. (.85*162) = 137.7 games. So Giambi played in more than 85% of a full season in 2005 and 2006, but you say it hasn't been since 2003.

"You want to cite the OPS+ of 151 in the season's first month last year. What about the OPS+ 100 in August and the OPS+ 75 in September?"
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What about them? I was merely laying the context for the reason Giambi was kept in the lineup in May, when it was obvious he needed 2 weeks off to deal with his foot. He didn't get it, in my opinion because Torre left him in there because the team was struggling and he had a hot bat (I'm sure you recall also that ARod's hot April was followed by a cooled May), and it essentially ruined his season.

"Giambi has value left in his body. But I'm not sure the Yanks -- with all their other DH candidates who can't field their position -- can afford to just keep on collecting brittle old men who play < 150 games a year at this point. Not for $20M+ and not when they're as unproductive in long stretches as Giambi was in 2006 and 2007."

Certainly not. But the fact remains that he's on the team in 2008 and his role needs to be defined. It was clear, to me, that you're convinced that since his value only lies in his bat (which I agree with), but he can't stay healthy (which I've been arguing about, but can agree with partially) that he a "waste of space." I was simply trying to point out that there is a reason to believe that given a role appropriate to his physical abilities, Giambi can be a tremendous asset to this team. He needs regular days off and extremely limited time at 1st base.