A lot of people have been asking me what I thought about the Aaron Rowand signing. Honestly, it doesn't get me excited, but I don't object to it like others do either. People have been saying that Sabean has lost it, he has no idea what he's doing, and that Rowand isn't worth the 5 year/60 million dollar contract that the Giants gave him.
The question I have for those people is who IS worth the money that GMs are handing out? Here is a list of some of the contracts that were given out in the past couple of years:
- Gil Meche: 5 years/55 million
- Ted Lilly: 4 years/40 million
- AJ Burnett: 5 years/55 million
- Jeff Suppan: 4 years/42 million
- Jason Marquis: 3 years/21 million
- Miguel Batista: 3 years/25 million
- Jason Schmidt: 3 years/46 million
But those are all pitchers...
Well here are some position players:
- JD Drew: 5 years/55 million
- Gary Matthews Jr: 5 years/50 million
- Vernon Wells: 7 years/126 million
- Juan Pierre: 5 years/44 million
- Julio Lugo: 4 years/36 million
- Andruw Jones: 2 years/36 million
What does this all mean? Check the production of these players last year. Are any of them worth the money that they are getting? The fact of the matter is is that the outrageous contracts that players are getting are no longer outrageous. 10 million/year now is not what 10 million was say 5 years ago. Coming off a career year when Rowand made the all star team and won a Gold Glove, isn't he just getting his fair market value?
Another argument against the signing is that Aaron Rowand just isn't that good. People have said that Citizens Bank Park had a large influence on Rowand's production. I'm not denying this at all; I don't expect him to put up the same .309 BA /27 HRs/ 89 RBI from a year ago.
I don't object to this signing because the Giants finally did SOMETHING!
For those bashing the contract, what was Sabean supposed to do with the small remaining free agent pool and minimal trade possibilities? Did you really want the Giants to go into Spring Training with a lineup looking like this:
Outfield: Davis, Roberts, Winn
Infield: Frandsen, Vizquel, Durham, Aurilia, and Molina behind the dish
...with Schierholtz, Lewis, and Ortmeier possibly being in there somewhere.
That lineup would definitely be the worst in the league. I'm not saying that Rowand is going to be the answer for the Giants offensive woes, but he is a piece. Add a free agent hitter or two next year (i.e. Vladimir Guerrero *crosses fingers*) while maintaining the pitching staff headed by Lincecum and Cain, and the Giants could start to turn things around. Remember, Angel Villalona will be on the 40 man roster before we know it!
There isn't a quick fix for this offense. It's a long process especially because of their lack of talented position player prospects. Even if A-Rod were in this lineup the offense would be putrid, so obviously Rowand is not going to be the answer either. However, he is a decent piece in the start of the rebuilding mode of this franchise, and they got him at fair market value.
