Just Rowand a Canoe in McCovey Cove

by RJ Anderson on Dec 12, 2007 5:26 PM EST in Trades & Transactions

I apologize, that was worse than most Chris Berman nicknames - let's just move on, no? Brian Sabean wasn't about to go an entire off-season without making a questionable move, and today he satisfied that quota; signing 30 year old Aaron Rowand to a five year deal worth 60 million.

The problem here is that this move doesn't seem to spell progress for the Giants, of course it allows them to deal Randy Winn for a third baseman, but the Giants still won't have filled the hole that Barry Bonds left. Here's what I wrote about Rowand about a month ago:

Aaron Rowand and his nose fracturing collision with the wall and numerous diving catches will be remembered more so than his frightfully similar season in 2007 to that of 2004. Rowand's line drive rate went down from 22% to 19.8, in 2004 it was 19.5. His walk rate 6.1 was higher than the 4.3 and 5.2 posted, and his BABIP went from .297 and .318 to .348, again close to 2004 and .341. With that line drive rate he's expected to have a BABIP of .318, it's reasonable to expect his .309 batting average to slip back below that line and into the .260-.280 range.

That's about as good as reason as any to not sign Rowand long-term, but consider the huge brick wall in right and that the ballpark's dimensions are large you would think the team would want some younger legs patrolling outside of the dirt. Of course this is Brian Sabean; next up for him, signing Steve Finley.

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