Schulman is a cranky old man at heart. Not a bad guy, but a little too much "blood and guts and knowing how to win" and scared of advanced metrics - its not surprising where he stands on this.

I don't think the Giants stand in this case is particularly unreasonable. I don't care one way or the other if Melky plays but I think the fact that he wasn't going to play any real games prior to the post-season would make him a pretty big risk. I don't think you can just assume that he'd get back in there and produce.

I don't think you can just assume that he'd get back in there and produce.

Less than Gregor Blanco?

Schulman makes one valid point, which to me trumps any arugment for putting Melky on the roster:

Not only has Cabrera not apologized, he hasn’t even spoken to anyone on the team — even his friends who have reached out to him.

While it's easy to overplay the effect of team unity, it's also crazy to ignore it completely. The Giants were good enough to knock out the Reds and Cardinals without Melky; why run the risk of changing the internal mix at this stage when Melky has chosen to distance himself from the team?

-- MWE

#4 There is the minor point about needing a DH in this series.

While it's easy to overplay the effect of team unity, it's also crazy to ignore it completely. The Giants were good enough to knock out the Reds and Cardinals without Melky; why run the risk of changing the internal mix at this stage when Melky has chosen to distance himself from the team?

Not only that, immediately upon losing Melky they got red-hot, going 25-10 and making a mockery of the division race when it appeared that the trade-infused Dodgers were about to gain the upper hand.

So: the team knows it can win without him, and the players are unanimously furious at him. His re-introduction into the clubhouse couldn't help but be a media circus and a significant distraction.

Clubhouse chemistry is real. The Giants have a very positive vibe going on, and they don't want to mess with it.

Steve, I certainly buy there's some legitimacy to that, but the Giants DH is going to be AUBREY FRIGGING HUFF, who has one extra-base hit since June!!!. HE can't run, at all, so is a genuine risk in the batting order with any fast runners after him, and probably can't score unless there's a HR or 3 singles. The idea that the team will play less hard if he's replaced with Cabrera is silly, IMO.

Also dear god, why on earth is Mota in the rotation as a 12th man? Why not at least get the speed / or an extra OF (Christian? Burriss?) of the bench?

I won't defend the inclusions of Huff and Mota. Those are nuts. But that doesn't mean that bringing Cabrera back would be a good idea.

The idea that the team will play less hard if he's replaced with Cabrera is silly, IMO.

That's not what I'm saying, and while I can't speak for Treder I don't think that what he's saying, either.

I don't think having Melky there would affect the team's effort at all. But it's going to affect the atmosphere under which the team prepares for the game. It's going to make it harder in some ways for the players, and the management team, to concentrate on the things that they have to do. Bringing Melky back - especially when he hasn't faced live pitching in 2 1/2 months, when he's done nothing to reach back out to the guys who were his teammates, and when the team has every right to feel that they got here more or less without him and by golly they can finish the job without him - is a risk, and frankly one that I think the Giants are better off passing up.

Also dear god, why on earth is Mota in the rotation as a 12th man? Why not at least get the speed / or an extra OF (Christian? Burriss?) of the bench?

Christian's not on the 40-man. I suppose there's an argument you could make for Burriss or Peguero, especially with Lincecum in the pen, but realistically that person isn't likely to play much either.

-- MWE

Jeff Passan? He is the guy labeled "one of America's best baseball writers"? I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years even if you had spotted me Jeff.

If you had said his initials are JP I would have said Joe Posnanski. You would have said no, guess again and I would reply with is it Joe Posnanski?

Mike and Steve are absolutely right about Cabrera. Bringing him back after winning two playoff series, especially when there is sentiment that the other players don't want him back, would be a bad risk.

It's time for Melky to move on, which I'm sure he'll do as soon as he becomes a free agent.

It's time for Melky to move on, which I'm sure he'll do as soon as he becomes a free agent.

While I agree with Mike, Steve, and Bruce above, one question remains: Why did the Giants keep Melky on the 40-man rotation if they have little incentive to re-sign him?

Why did the Giants keep Melky on the 40-man rotation if they have little incentive to re-sign him?

I think to do him a solid?

If they take him off the 40 man, doesn't he have to serve out 5-6 games of the suspension next season? So they are doing him a solid, I guess.

Why did the Giants keep Melky on the 40-man rotation if they have little incentive to re-sign him?

Might as well throw Melky on the roster just in case they change their mind for some reason. It doesn't hurt.

To give Melky a spot on the roster, all they had to do was dump Shane Loux and Justin Christian off it. Those guys are generic minor league journeymen who would have been moved off the 40-man and into minor league free agency this off-season anyway, so there is no downside to throwing Melky on the 40-man just in case.

I don't know if the Giants had a choice about putting Cabrera back on the 40-man roster. They have more options with him on the 40-man roster than cutting him loose. They could try to re-sign him if the situation changes.

If the Giants win three more games, Schulman will likely become the most insufferable beat reporter in all of MLB. He's quite the Giants fanboy.

Jeff Passan is pretty good.

They also might want to make him an arb offer.

Yeah. Just because you can't measure "clubhouse" doesn't mean there's no effect of "clubhouse".