Yesterday's post was my How I Stopped Worrying, and Learned to Give Up on Todd Linden post. It was torture watching him fall behind in every at-bat, but who really thought the team was going to expose him to waivers? If Roberts were injured, the Giants would only need to call up one additional outfielder. The real decision - Lewis or Linden? - would only have to be made when Roberts came off the DL.
Instead, the Giants weighed two options - stick with Todd Linden, or audition Dan Ortmeier for a month even if it meant losing Linden to waivers - and they chose the latter. That's a bold, bold vote of no-confidence for Linden. Ortmeier is a career .272/.350/.434 hitter in the minors, and he hit .244/.293/.389 last season in AAA. He was hitting .268/.341/.482 in AAA at the time of his call-up. Linden wasn't the answer. But Ortmeier really isn't the answer.
This isn't a lamentation for Lindens gone by. He's likely gone, and the odds of him ever becoming a major league hitter were awful, at least with the Giants. Maybe another organization can straighten him out. All I know is if I were a struggling young hitter, I would want to get as far away from the Giants as I possibly could. This team produces good hitters at the same rate other teams produce good jazz albums.
So another first-round (supplemental) pick down the tubes. Let's revisit the list of Best Position Players Drafted or Developed since Matt Williams (1986 Draft):
C - Doug Mirabelli
1B - Damon Minor
2B - Deivi Cruz
SS - Royce Clayton
3B - Bill Mueller
LF - Marvin Benard
CF - Chris Singleton
RF - Armando Rios
I was hopeful that Linden eventually would replace Rios. No dice. Can Kevin Frandsen pass up Deivi Cruz? Godspeed, ex-Spartan. Godspeed.
What amazes me is that the past 20 years of development futility haven't been orchestrated by the same group. The keys have been given to a couple of general managers, a bunch of player development types, and scores of minor league instructors and managers. Not one of them could come up with something better than Bill Mueller.
Even with six picks of the first 51 in this year's draft, they'll turn every promising position player into a busted player. They might as well draft six pitchers and try and trade them for talent from other teams.
Bah.
Go Fred Lewis. Ascend higher than the lofty peaks climbed by Marvin Bernard and Chris Singleton! Excelsior!
Open grumpy thread.