Mark DeRosa Set To Join San Francisco Giants

by Tommy Rancel on Dec 29, 2009 7:00 AM EST

The man without out a home on the diamond now has a new permanent address. Mark DeRosa has reportedly signed a two-year agreement with the San Francisco Giants worth an estimated $12 million dollars. DeRosa, 35 in February, has played six positions since 1998, but figures to settle in at third base for the Giants on most days.

Over the past few seasons, DeRosa has transformed from a ground ball/singles hitting back up infielder with the Braves to a slightly above-average offensive utility man with decent enough pop to give you 40-50 extra base hits a year if given enough at-bats. He isn't likely to repeat his 2008 wOBA of .376, and is coming off a season in which he had surgery, but still is a likely candidate to fall between .330-.340 wOBA range. He strikes out from time to time, but isn't a true hacker. He'll take a few walks, but nothing extraordinary.

The early reports have DeRosa playing the hot corner in San Francisco, which happens to be the position he's played most last season, and has throughout the duration of his career. Overall, he has rated below average at the position in nearly 2,500 career innings. If the Giants put him at third, that moves the Kung-Fu Panda, Pablo Sandoval to first base. Realistically, DeRosa is better suited for corner outfield duty, and could still see some time there.

Strangely enough, Sandoval was actually better at third base in 2009 than DeRosa, but it's one year of data. In a small sample size, the Panda has shown to be just slighly below average at third in just over 1,100 innings. We must also take Travis Ishikawa into consideration as he figures to the odd man out in this scenario. Ishikawa rated as an above average first basemen last season while being a below average hitter. In all three cases, the defensive data is a bit incomplete.

Overall, at an average annual salary of $6 million dollars, DeRosa is a decent signing. He isn't spectacular, yet a 2 WAR season is likely. That would make him "worth" the dollars, if not a bit more. The flexibility he gives the Giants to play 3B, 2B, 1B and corner outfield without being a complete butcher prevents him from blocking a particular player at one position. With DeRosa, Sandoval, Ishikawa and possibly re-signing Juan Uribe, the infield in San Francisco is likely to have a lot of moving parts in 2010.

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Decent move, but that offense still needs work

Upgrading from Molina to Posey at catcher and going from Ishikawa/Garko to DeRosa is a slight upgrade as well, but realistically, that lineup is still going to be one of the worst in the game.

They have essentially one star level hitter in Sandoval, a few guys that are likely to be league average in DeRosa, Sanchez, Posey, Rowand, and Schierholtz, and some serious question marks at shortstop and in left field.

Certainly, they’ll still be a run preventing force, and a breakout from Jonathan Sanchez and/or Madison Bumgarner could take that to another level, but if they believe that they’ve addressed their offense by re-signing Sanchez, replacing Molina with Posey, and adding DeRosa, then Giants fans should be concerned.

They could still be a nice landing spot for a guy with some big power potential, like Jonny Gomes or Jack Cust, assuming that those guys are willing to sign for relatively little.

by Satchel Price on Dec 29, 2009 12:34 PM EST reply actions

I don't think they want to add on to their outfield situation. And I hope they know that those two guys are better off DHing.

I don’t think either would be a strong choice given their considerable defensive shortcomings and the fact that at least one of the corners in AT&T is, from all accounts, “difficult.”

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog
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by SFiercex4 on Dec 29, 2009 4:50 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah I guess you’re right, realistically guys with UZR/150s below -20 for their careers probably don’t make for realistic targets as everyday outfielders in the NL, even for a team as desperate for power as San Francisco.

I’m just not sure how I feel about an outfield of Rowand, Schierholtz, Velez, Lewis and Torres for a team that needs offense so badly. Rowand is essentially a sunk cost at this point given his defensive decline and offensive mediocrity, and there’s little reason to believe that any of those other guys will be the impact bat they need.

That offense still concerns me, and honestly the team might be better off with DeRosa in left field, Sandoval at third and Ishikawa at first, rather than Ishikawa on the bench, DeRosa/Sandoval on the corners, and Torres, Lewis and Velez splitting time in left field.

by Satchel Price on Dec 29, 2009 5:11 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

John Bowker had some very strong MLE’s in AAA last year and could be in the mix.

Lethargy
It has me

by dregarx on Jan 4, 2010 2:11 AM EST up reply actions

Rowand seems like an average player, and as you mentioned, he's a sunk cost at his price.

I thinkt hey should give Lewis some playing time, as he probably could be decent as well. The third spot is a question mark between the other candidates. They’re high on Schierholtz last I remembered, but with the Giants, one player is one hot week away from being the starter for a month when he maybe shouldn’t be.

I think they’d be fair in either configuration; Ishikawa isn’t as good defensively as UZR had him last year, but we do know that his bat is mediocre at best. We’ll have to see, but at least they have the flexibility of testing out different options with DeRosa on board.

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog
Come attend Intro to Sabermetrics 101!
Check me out at Beyond the Box Score as well.

by SFiercex4 on Dec 29, 2009 5:27 PM EST reply actions

Meant this as a response to Satchel.

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog
Come attend Intro to Sabermetrics 101!
Check me out at Beyond the Box Score as well.

by SFiercex4 on Dec 29, 2009 5:27 PM EST up reply actions

:(

with the Giants, one player is one hot week away from being the starter for a month when he maybe shouldn’t be.

/cries because it’s true

by quincy0191 on Jan 2, 2010 8:43 PM EST up reply actions

I hate this move

Absolutely hate it. I do not understand why Sabean wants to give 2/12 to every player, but the addition of a recently-injured (and recently-operated on) 35 year old who can’t play defense well at any of the six positions he plays and had one good offensive year (in 2000, 2006 and 2007 he was slightly above average) is a complete mystery. Uribe’s basically a cheaper DeRosa who doesn’t play the OF, which is a huge problem because it’s not like we’re drowning in mediocre outfielders or anything. In fact, Uribe’s power and better defense probably make him more likely to contribute something. Out of all the players in free agency, DeRosa was one of the ones I wanted the least, and lo and behold, Sabean does what he does best.

by quincy0191 on Jan 2, 2010 8:50 PM EST reply actions