Sabe-What? Counting Down Sabean’s Five Most Perplexing Blunders.

I am not a fan of Brian Sabean.  Not once over the last 4 seasons have the Giants fielded a well-balanced offense.  Not once (since Nen / Felix) has their bullpen been competent.  He has a predilection for putting over-the-hill veterans in multi-year deals (he caught lightening in a bottle with Galarraga and Benito, but his luck ran out a long time ago on this angle).  He often pointed towards Bonds’ long term contract and salary requirements to deflect criticism.  And in general I’ve observed him to be bristly and unaccountable when confronted with facts about his reign (while on KNBR 680).

Over the next few days, I’m looking back at five of Sabean’s “moves” (or lack thereof) that have bothered me most:

#5- Armando Benitez

In my view, this is when Sabean really started his groove of buying high.  Going into the ‘05 season, Armando Benitez was coming off of a career year (1.29 ERA, 47 saves) with Florida.  That got him three years and $21 million from Sabean, who apparently has a very short memory.  I remember watching quite a few Mets games in ’03 and seeing more than a few *spectacular* meltdowns from Benitez.  The guy may have been able to thrive on a low-pressure Marlins team, but he was an absolute mess at Shea the year before.  Sure, hindsight is 20-20, but most of the other Giants fans I knew were also wondering aloud about that signing before Benitez had thrown a single pitch in the ‘05 season.  Sure enough, he was a head case who consistently walked leadoff batters and gave up fat pitches / big home runs in save opportunities.  He also drew more boos from Giants fans than any player I can remember in recent years (even Marvin Bernard).

Go To Next:  #4, Aaron Rowand

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