Feliz could weep in your arms with such support...

First up, let's look at whether Pedro is clutch.

Over the past three years, his overall line is .259/.296/.463.
With runners on, he's .254/.290/.450
With RISP, he's .240/.277/.423

Basically he performs slightly worse in the clutch - which is only to be expected, because managers are likely to bring in good relievers in these pressure situations. Conclusion - Pedro is neither clutch nor unclutch. Like the vast majority of MLB players, he is just normal in the clutch.

Secondly, let's look at the "learning curve." Pedro Feliz is not a prospect. He's 30. If anything he's past his peak. He's had over 1300 MLB at bats. That's an eternity. What he hasn't learned now, he never will.

As for his "production," RBIs are a terrible stat, entirely contextual. Basically, he was lucky enough to come to the plate with runners on base a lot of the time. He didn't do any better in those situations than he normally did, but he was in those situations so often that he racked up RBIs. You might also want to note he only scored 69 runs. Why? Because his OBP is so low.

As for the HRs, yes, he's got power. That's his one asset and it keeps him from being a complete black hole. But he makes outs at such a rate that even with his power he's still a bad player. You cannot name me a useful 3rd baseman with a career OBP under .300. It can't be done.

The reason the failures remain frozen in our heads is not because of observational bias but because there are so many damn failures. Pedro Feliz led the team last year in strikeouts, GIDPs, and total outs.

There is no bandwagon, just a paddywagon to carry you away if you're crazy enough to think this man is worth $4m a year.

 the good old days--b.b. (--translation...before barry).  the giants did exist before barry bonds arrived.  this is the OED definition of bandwagon.

feliz is just another littlejohn in the scheme of life

When he came up with the bases loaded against Arizona, I promised not to make fun of him for a week if he hit a homer. His 2-run double provided the insurance for the win, so he is my favorite player for the next couple days. Pretty good tonight hitting 2 homers and driving in 4! Pedro makes me Feliz

To rap a player who leads his team in strikeouts, GIDPs and total outs is CERTAINLY invoking a meaningless stat.

Any power hitter who plays an entire season has the potential to lead his team in these categories. Check the other teams. Some pretty nice players share the ignominy you try to hang on Feliz.

Even Willie Mays, yes that Willie Mays, led his team in those categories -- because he played so much and swung hard all the time.

Feliz is a bottom-of-the-order guy who was forced to bat in the middle of the lineup last year because of Bonds' absence. The pressure on him must have been unbearable. I attribute his fade the last two months to that pressure.

He is a utility-type guy, but he performed admirably for the 2005 Giants in a Season of Crisis.

I poke fun at him.

But I will always pull for Happy Pete.

personally, I keep rooting for a .3395 OBP

He is an abismal hitter with absolutely no plate discipline, even after having a first hand seat to observe the king of plate discipline.  I realize simple observation doesn't equate with improving one's own performance, but you would think just a little would rub off.  His pedestrian numbers, put up because of his inumerable opportunities shouldn't mask his brain-dead hacking.  Unfortunately, he is what we have right now.  I just hope the Giants don't make a huge mistake by resigning him to a long-term contract at the end of the year, or at any time during this year.

He's better than any other option we have available this year.  He's neither good nor bad.  He's no Matt Williams but he's also no David Bell.  I think Frandsy would struggle learning to play 3B at MLB level and learn to hit MLB pitching.  

I think Frandsen would do fine at 3B. He would be more like 2002 David Bell than Matt Williams, but that would be okay. Despite Pedro's two HRs in Denver, he still doesn't make the adjustments that ML hitters have to make. I believe Kevin would make those adjustments. Frandsen won't hit 20 HRs, but his other positives (imho) outweigh that one stat.

If the team were doing better (mostly pitching, but also hitting) it might be easier to accept Pete hitting 7th. But Barry ain't Barry, and might not ever be again. Durham the same. Niekro is a nice guy who'll be supplanted by either EME or Ishikawa in 2007 or 2008. And our pitching.... Yeah, it's getting very close to time to end the Feliz Experiment, thus making most of us much more feliz.

It's not that Pete is bad for a #7 hitter, it's that a good team shouldn't have a below average hitter playing third base.

His career OPS+ is around 93, which is decent-good for a middle infielder but pretty bad for a third baseman.  Sabean should have traded him a couple of years ago and not wasted $6 million on his present contract.  Mueller would have been a nice pick-up.  Give Coletti credit (although his Furcal and Garciaparra signings were absurd).