The Giants entered this offseason with holes at just about every position. They did have a major-league average centerfielder in Randy Winn, though. So instead of filling any of the other holes, they signed another centerfielder. The best analogy I can think of is if the Raiders spent all of their offseason money on another kicker, and then moved Sebastian Janikowski to punter. Hey, kickers are important. They can change the game, and they can determine whether or not a team gets in the playoffs. But on a to-do list 50 items long, it would be at the bottom of the list for a rebuilding football team.
Aaron Rowand is the parsley garnish for a franchise preparing to serve a gourmet meal. The Giants had a paper plate with a shapeless pile of room-temperature raccoon slurry. Now they have a piece of parsley for it. The Giants had just a fantastic offseason.
But Rowand is a good player every other year. That has to count for something. Heck, he was a pretty fantastic player last year, even accounting for his home park. He did well on the road, too. I’ll just ignore the miserable years he’s had in his career and focus on the positive:
Aaron Rowand
AVG: .286
OBP: .360
SLG: .495
HR: 22
Grit: 30 subscriptions sold – enough for the bicycle horn!
I’m looking forward to watching Rowand play, even if his acquisition makes absolutely no sense. The best-case scenario is for Rowand to emulate Steve Finley’s career path and peak in his early-to-mid 30s. That’s an unusual career path, for sure, but I’m not going to dismiss Rowand just because "logic" says I should, so I'll close with a quote:
"Logic and swagger share the same apartment, but they never see each other because their schedules are so different. And, let me tell you, logic doesn’t pay the bills or do any dishes. Also, swagger is the one who is always putting a necktie on the door, if you know what I mean." – A. Bartlett Giamatti, 4/12/85