I went on an Arthurian quest for a plunger last night. Apparently, those things aren’t as easy to find at 10:00 p.m. as you’d expect. Lucky for me, though, because I was able to catch a breaking news story on KNBR while I was driving around. The Giants had made a secret roster move! Was our intrepid cleanup hitter going to a contender? Was Rich Aurilia going to bring back more than Ray Durham? Randy Winn? Tyler Walker?
Nope. Steve Holm back up, and Eliezer Alfonzo back down. Even though Brian Sabean is surely going to win a Littlefield at this year’s Incompys for allowing Brian Bocock to get over 100 at-bats, he’s getting greedy and shooting for the Marble Award (most pointless roster move) as well. Go Brian!
What caught my eye, though, was this blurb from Andrew Baggarly:
… So even if it doesn’t happen tomorrow, it won’t be long before we see (Sandoval).
First instinct: AWESOME! I want to see this kid hit in the worst way. A 21-year-old with power, playing at a premium position? Get a different glove, and put that Posey shlub back at short. ¡Viva Sandoval! ¡Viva Sandoval! ¡Viva Sandoval!
Second, more rational instinct: Uh, isn’t he still a 21-year-old with plate discipline concerns and about 70 at-bats above A-ball? It’s great news that he’s raking in Connecticut, but it seems a touch sudden.
The eternal dilemma, this is. I want to watch all of these guys. Correia down, Bumgarner up! Noonan for second! But that wouldn’t be sound management, now would it? Rushing players starts their arbitration clocks quicker, and it can hamper their development. Durr. That’s straight from Baseball Nerddom 101.
But Pablito’s MLE for his 273 at-bats in San Jose was .268/.304/.413. That isn’t great, but it’s far from a soul-crushing embarrassment. It’d be something to build on, and a line like that might even give him more confidence. And Sandoval’s MLE from Connecticut is .293/.312/.472, so maybe, just maybe, he’ll hit a little bit at the major league level right away.
But what’s the rush? Why now? What is there to gain?
But it’d be fun to watch, especially if he just keeps raking. That could be the story of the year for the Giants.
But…
Comment starter: Pablo?