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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Lookout Landing: Brian Sabean Appreciation Thread

The Pile-On Appreciation Society has new members!

I knew from the get-go that Zito was a bad idea, but never at any point did I think he’d fall apart this quickly. That’s come as a surprise. But the fact of the matter is that smart front offices knew what they were doing and stayed the hell away. They saw the red flags, understood the market, and looked elsewhere without even placing a call to Zito’s agent.

Bill Bavasi offered him six years and ninety-nine million dollars.

There but for the grace of Sabean go I, and you, and the Mariners, and all of our collective hopes and dreams. This team tried its damndest to kill itself in the face, but thanks to the existence of another, more stubborn holdout from the daunting realm of intelligent thinking, we were spared. We were spared. Mr. Sabean, I am forever indebted to your misguided courage. Regardless of your intentions at the time, you fell on a nuclear grenade, and for this gesture I cannot thank you enough. May this thread be construed as a token of my appreciation.

And damn you Bill for ever thinking this was a good idea for the Mariners. Damn everyone who thought this was a good idea for the Mariners. All of you are stupid. There, I said it. Maybe you’ve gotten smarter over the past year and a half, but if you wanted the Mariners to sign Barry Zito as a free agent, you were stupid. Stop being stupid. Brian Sabean can only prevent so many bad decisions.

Repoz Posted: April 29, 2008 at 12:24 AM | 11 comment(s)
  Related News: GeneralSan FranciscoSeattle

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   1. Walt Davis Posted: April 29, 2008 at 04:10 AM (#2762114)
kill itself in its face?

ummm ... ouch!
   2. Lastings' gigantic wooden cross (Orinoco) Posted: April 29, 2008 at 07:40 AM (#2762125)
Omar Minaya and the New York Metropolitans send regards as well.
   3. andrewberg Posted: April 29, 2008 at 08:45 AM (#2762147)
Speaking of debts of gratitude, the Twins probably ought to give Sabes a share of the 2006 AL Central Championship money, or at least a leather-bound commemorative team yearbook with his subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids.
   4. andrewberg Posted: April 29, 2008 at 09:10 AM (#2762165)
Hey, going back to 2002, Sabean made a good trade for Bill Mueller, albeit less than 2 years after trading him away for a relief pitcher.

Before that, he made a very good trade for Jason Schmidt in 2001. How can you say he's a bad GM when he makes a trade that helps his team EVERY SINGLE DECADE?
   5. Danny Posted: April 29, 2008 at 09:17 AM (#2762169)
Hey, going back to 2002, Sabean made a good trade for Bill Mueller, albeit less than 2 years after trading him away for a relief pitcher.

That trade would have been a lot more useful if it hadn't been a few days after the deadline for Mueller to be eligible for the postseason.
   6. andrewberg Posted: April 29, 2008 at 09:22 AM (#2762176)
Looking through his transactional history, it looks like Sabean started off a little bit like Wayne Krivsky, but with a much better star player. He drafted pretty well, especially on the pitching side, had the fortitude to make trades, getting Kent, Burks, Mueller, Clayton, Aurillia, and others. He had a proclivity for veterans and good glove guys, but neither one made him completely neglect the complementary skill (Kent, Aurillia respectively).

By the time he built a solid foundation around Bonds, he stayed in win-now mode for about 10 years. It worked for the first five and has failed miserably ever since. Bleeding young talent without any chance of winning for 5 years while simultaneously consciously refusing to sign top draft picks will leave your system completely barren, which put off rebuilding even more and has made the future particularly bleak. We may never know if Krivsky would improve on his initial profile, but we saw Sabean fall into repetitive traps on most of his poorer starting qualities, and it is now extremely unlikely that he will ever emerge from that.
   7. JPWF13 Posted: April 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM (#2762204)
Is it possible that Zito is just going through a phase like Tim Glavine did in June 2003?

that he'll figure things out enough so he doesn't suck again for another 3-4 years?
   8. RB in NYC (Now with an Plane Tickets!) Posted: April 29, 2008 at 10:31 AM (#2762230)
Is it possible that Zito is just going through a phase like Tim Glavine did in June 2003?
The comparison doesn't really work, because as bad as Glavine was in June (and July) 2003, that was his down year. In addition to his suck-show this year, Zito has all of last year when he was just mediocre. It's possible he could drag himself back up to that level, of course, but I'd be stunned if he managed a rebound season like Glavine's 2004 (212 IP, 119 ERA+).
   9. Master of the small sample size Posted: April 29, 2008 at 10:43 AM (#2762246)
I appreciate Sabean for making Lincecum such an underappreciated player in leagues that don't care about pitcher wins, such as Strat leagues.
   10. kevin Posted: April 29, 2008 at 10:45 AM (#2762254)
I appreciate Sabean for finally dumping that lying, cheating sack-of-#### they had in leftfield last year.
   11. JPWF13 Posted: April 29, 2008 at 11:12 AM (#2762281)
The comparison doesn't really work, because as bad as Glavine was in June (and July) 2003, that was his down year.


Glavine in 2003 was actually a bit worse than Zito 2007 (Zito had a worse Dee behind him than Glavine had),
In 2004 Glavine was brilliant for 2/3 of the season, then the wheels came off, ERAs of 5.79 and 5.93 in Aug and Sept., k/bb essentially sinking to 1:1
he began 2005 just as wretchedly, 27 ip in April, 5.67 ERA, K/BB of 17/16

At that point he'd thrown 91 1/3 ip (end 2004 to early 2005) given up 59 earned runs (5.81 ERA)(ERA+ of 72 in Shea), walked 32 and struck-out 33.
He was 39 and looked absolutely completely done.

... and then, improbably, he pitched a little better in May, then better yet in June, better in July etc...
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