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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

It Might Be Dangerous… You Go First: DePodesta: Brian Giles

A look at Brian Giles and his intangible irreverency.

In the current season Brian is hitting .301 with a .394 obp and a .433 slg. His .394 obp stands 6th in the NL, and it’s the best on the Padres by a wide margin. Furthermore, Brian has walked more than he has struck out so far this year, which would mark the 10th consecutive season of that accomplishment. Though the slugging percentage is below his .512 career mark, it is the highest in his past three seasons and his ISO has been very steady over the past three years. In short, throughout his career Brian has personified the patience with power philosophy - posting quality at-bats in seemingly every plate appearance. He has been precisely what we want our young hitters to become.

In addition to his performance on the field (and in the outfield, for that matter), Brian also brings a number of intangibles to our team. First and foremost, Brian plays hard and plays through pain. Before banging his knee into the wall last season he had played in at least 158 games for three consecutive seasons. He wants to be on the field, and he wants to win. As many of you know, Brian is also a bit, how shall I say, irreverant in the clubhouse, which is incredibly helpful over the course of a long season. He loves playing the game, and it shows.

Repoz Posted: July 16, 2008 at 11:45 PM | 19 comment(s)
Related News: General, San Diego

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1. Chris Dial Posted: July 17, 2008 at 12:41 AM (#2861951)

And he is awesome as I posted earlier tonight.

2. Hyltzn Posted: July 17, 2008 at 01:16 AM (#2861960)

Does anyone actually think that's what Depodesta actually thinks?

3. Walt Davis Posted: July 17, 2008 at 01:50 AM (#2861967)

Does anyone actually think that's what Depodesta actually thinks?

You mean the 2nd bit I assume (regarding the first bit, DePo would like a higher SLG but yeah, I assume he's content).

Sure, why not? It's not like he's saying that it's more important than what he brings in terms of performance. But good player AND plays hard AND isn't a tight-ass? What's not to like? And yeah, based on their reputation, I'm pretty sure hanging for 6 months with the Rox would drive me absolutely bonkers ... give me some irreverence.

That is ...

intangible irreverency.

should not be confused with irrelevant intangibles.

First we learn about Ichiro, now Giles. Glad to hear that swearing still goes on in baseball.

4. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: July 17, 2008 at 02:10 AM (#2861970)

And yeah, based on their reputation, I'm pretty sure hanging for 6 months with the Rox would drive me absolutely bonkers ... give me some irreverence.

What does this mean? What does the Rox's reputation have to do with Giles' irreverence?

5. Esoteric roots for the two worst teams in baseball Posted: July 17, 2008 at 02:20 AM (#2861974)

I think the idea was to contrast the Rox supposed Jeebus-driven uptightness with the looser, more goofy fratboy style of guys like Giles.

Which is honestly a pretty silly comparison. Somehow I doubt that guys like Matt Holliday or Todd Helton are any less jocular in the clubhouse than your average MLB player.

6. battlekow Posted: July 17, 2008 at 02:25 AM (#2861975)

I don't understand why everyone is so excited about DePo's blog. This is just a bunch of GM-speak and PR crap disguised as inside information.

7. Shock Posted: July 17, 2008 at 02:33 AM (#2861978)

Who's excited?

8. battlekow Posted: July 17, 2008 at 03:28 AM (#2861990)

Didn't mean the five people above me in this thread; I mean the internet baseball community in general. It just seems like I've see a lot of linking to blog with comments heaping praise on DePo, the pioneering FO exec with a blog.

9. Blackadder Posted: July 17, 2008 at 04:36 AM (#2861995)

It's going to be sad when Giles falls off his first HOF ballot.

10. Mattbert Posted: July 17, 2008 at 04:52 AM (#2861998)

I don't understand why everyone is so excited about DePo's blog.

I don't know if 'excited' is the right word, but when somebody does something that's never been done before--even if it's something as benign as a baseball executive writing a blog--people tend to take notice. It's not the substance that's important, it's the medium.

11. MM1f Posted: July 17, 2008 at 05:27 AM (#2861999)

10: It's not the substance that's important, it's the medium.

Well isn't that the problem then?.. that people are getting excited just because it happens to a blog?

12. Mattbert Posted: July 17, 2008 at 06:32 AM (#2862000)

Well isn't that the problem then?.. that people are getting excited just because it happens to a blog?

Why is that a problem? It's a more direct means of communicating with the fan base than front offices have used in the past. To my (admittedly limited) knowledge, John Henry occasionally posting on SOSH is the only example of something comparable.

It's not that blogs are inherently exciting, it's that this is the first time a baseball executive has availed himself of that platform. Now of course he's probably not going to be leaking any proprietary or earth-shattering information there, but this gives the Padres an opportunity to engage the fans in a different way. Different from a press conference. Different from quotes in a newspaper column. Different from an interview. There's no filter here besides the one that DePodesta may choose to impose on himself. The blog is a means of reaching the fans that doesn't require the scaffolding of the mainstream media, and that is why it's significant.

13. philly Posted: July 17, 2008 at 07:53 AM (#2862011)

His posts about the Padres scouting process leading up to the draft where interesting insider views. He didn't merely spout "GM-speak and PR crap". It also wasn't tremendously revealing of novel proprietary methods the Padres may have either, of course.

Frankly, it was the kind of things that could have been in a well done newspaper story about the process, but at least judging by the Boston media most sports writers aren't all that interested in that story.

Some of the posts around the international signing period fall into the same category as well.

So, if you're looking for a completely candid and transparent insider view of SD baseball ops (and why would you ever expect that?), then praise for the blog will come of as more medium over substance. But if you're looking for engaging, informative posts about the kinds of things that the papers often times ignore, then it fills a nice little niche. I'd like it if my team had an exec posting the same kind of information.

14. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: July 17, 2008 at 08:26 AM (#2862025)

It's going to be sad when Giles falls off his first HOF ballot.

Well put. I was going to say the same thing but with a lot more words.

15. Robertgbob Posted: July 17, 2008 at 09:23 AM (#2862059)

It is also apparent that Depodesta reads at least some of the comments to his posts and is willing to respond to the posters. I think that also adds to the value of the blog. It is not very often that everyday people get to interact with front office people.

16. Dr Love Posted: July 17, 2008 at 09:38 AM (#2862070)

His posts about the Padres scouting process leading up to the draft where interesting insider views. He didn't merely spout "GM-speak and PR crap". It also wasn't tremendously revealing of novel proprietary methods the Padres may have either, of course.

Frankly, it was the kind of things that could have been in a well done newspaper story about the process, but at least judging by the Boston media most sports writers aren't all that interested in that story.

Seconded. It was good nuts and bolts stuff, that has little interest to newspapers but interest to people who would read his blog. Most of it isn't interesting to non-Padres fans, but it's got it's uses.

17. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: July 17, 2008 at 09:45 AM (#2862077)

"Well put. I was going to say the same thing but with a lot more words."

Exactly. During his prime, nobody in the national media was paying attention.

18. The Politics of Torre: How the HOF Really Works Posted: July 17, 2008 at 09:52 AM (#2862083)

irreverant in the clubhouse, which is incredibly helpful over the course of a long season.

I think that this is a theme that Peter Handrinos is using for a new book. I think that the ability to keep you and your teammates loosey-goosey over the season is more important than leasership when it comes to intangibles.

19. Petunia Posted: July 17, 2008 at 02:03 PM (#2862332)

Normally I try to err on the side of downplaying the effect of intangibles and so forth, but DePo's passage immediately preceding the posted excerpt actually makes quite a bit of sense to me:

Brian is the type of player we want our young position players to emulate. It's one thing for us or our coaches to try to explain our philosophy, but it's quite another, and much more powerful, to have a working example.

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

It Might Be Dangerous… You Go First: DePodesta: Brian Giles

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