Skip to main content

Rockies grab Jason Giambi

An excited reader sent me a text about this while I was in church today, but in case you haven’t heard, the Colorado Rockies agreed to terms with first baseman Jason Giambi. Giambi had hit .193/.332/.364 for the Oakland A’s this year.

This friend was excited to have the lefty Giambi as a pinch-hitter against right-handed relievers, but Giambi’s hitting even worse against righties (.186/.335/.306) this year than lefties (.209/.327./.488). For his career, of course, he’s better against right-handers.

I’m largely ambivalent about the move. That said, Giambi isn’t the most likeable guy and I’m not thrilled about adding even an apologetic performance-enhancing drug user in the middle of a strech run when the Rockies could use all available good karma.

Comments

blaine said…
I was the excited texter (is that a word?) and I'm still excited for the move. Giambi will start off with the Sky Sox and move up to join the club when the rosters expand in September.

I know you keep pointing out the .193 BA, Mike, but he does have a .332 OBP right? The Rockies are getting him for almost nothing, so it's not like they are even taking a risk. If he even gets one big hit that helps the Rockies win a game down the stretch then it was worth it. I'm more excited about the fact that Rockies' management is actively trying to win instead of passively hoping their "youth-movement" works out for them.
10:11 AM
Mike said…
.332 ain't special, especially when we're talking about big hits. I don't think it's a big risk, either, but I'm amazed we don't already have a pinch-hitter batting more than .193 on the roster.
11:10 AM
John said…
Someone was going to gamble on Giambi in the hope that he has a few big hits left. It might as well be us. This move doesn't excite me; at worst he fizzles out in the minors, and at best he gives us a few good hits down the stretch. Given that he is off the juice, I am betting it will be the former.
2:29 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Top Dozen Pro Quarterbacks

With the NFL season over, it’s time for year two of my annual quarterback rankings . Actually, last year the list was of quarterbacks I’d take over Jake Plummer. Since such a list this year would be at least a novella, I’ve changed it to the top twelve quarterbacks. This list is intended to be the best quarterbacks as of today and/or next season. Thus, it won’t correspond perfectly with, say, my list of the best young quarterbacks . Vince Young’s completion percentage, for example, will count against him more here. That said, some predictions are still involved. (For example, will Jake Delhomme and Ben Roethlisberger bounce back?) The winners: 12. Philip Rivers, San Diego. Rivers may deserve a higher spot on this list. I’m just trying not to get too carried away. On the plus side, he’s on a fine team (if they have coaches next year) and has a fantastic arm. On the downside, he’s young and was nothing special in the playoffs. So there’s a chance he won’t be quite so good next year, tho...
9 comments
Read more

The Mitchell Report

It came out today, and you may have already looked at it. If not, you can download it as a pdf all over the place, including from ESPN.com . Anyway, the big name named in it was Roger Clemens. That's what we've been waiting all this time for? I don't even know what to say, because this is like the least-surprising report of all time. I hate the gotcha crap that goes on when stuff like this happens. You know, the know-it-alls who say how obvious it was that Clemens had been cheating for years—hey, just look at his age! (Did these people say this so confidently  before Clemens was named? No. And have they ever heard of Nolan Ryan?) But seriously. He's huge, he put really big numbers for a really long time, and he's considered this super-intense jerk—basically, he's Barry Bonds on the mound. Setting aside the moral issues of steroid use (and believe me, I'm against it), I was hoping for some entertainment out of today's revelations, and I was sorely dis...
5 comments
Read more

Who cares?

So we finally got done with the NBA playoffs after nearly two months of stretched-out play, and tomorrow's the draft. I really couldn't care less. I'm so burned out on the sport. Sadly, there's nothing else going on worth mentioning, so we might as well get into it. (Yes, baseball, Pugs, but I haven't really started following that this year yet, sorry.) Would the NFL hold its draft five days after the Super Bowl? Of course not, and not just because the league doesn't want to distract from the highlight of its annual calendar, the Pro Bowl. Of course, the NBA's situation is a little different. College play ended two and a half months ago, and the teams want to get draftees ready for the all-important summer league play (because the kind of guys that need the summer league always end up players). Not that when college basketball is over is relevant, anyway-the league is overrun by a bunch of high school players "just months removed from their prom" (...
12 comments
Read more