I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

Sorry, it just sounds like a crazy idea for me …

Sorry, it just sounds like a crazy idea for me …

I thought it was interesting that you pointed out Durhams decrease in runs scored. Durham joined the Giants for his age 31 season and he clearly wasn’t the same speedy guy that he was with the White Sox. He had also been healthy for his White Sox career and Sabean was obviously banking on his continued chances of good health. His leg problems definitely zapped some of his speed which would help in scoring runs. He stole at least 20 bases a year from 1996-2002 but has only reached double digits once with the Giants, when he nabbed 10 in 2003.

The “12 triples a year” argument isn’t really a good one. 12 is just a arbitrary number that you made up, why 12? Durham hit 5 triples in ‘03, 8 in 04′, 0 in 05′, and 7 last year in ‘06. Those aren’t terrible numbers and they showed that Durham still had a little speed and was helped by AT&T in hitting his triples. A common theory among fans for the decline in Durham’s speed was that it was a conscious decision that Durham made to try and keep healthy. I’m not sure if thats true or not but you’ll often hear that argument.

Back to his lack of runs scored, I thought it would be interesting to look at the percentage of Durham batting leadoff for his teams. A leadoff hitter has more chances to get on base and thus, more chances to score runs.

Percentage of Durham’s PA by the leadoff position

1997 – 63%
1998 – 95%
1999 – 88%
2000 – 99%
2001 – 84%
2002 – 42% (also had 53% from the 2-hole)
2003 – 80%
2004 – 99%
2005 – 18% (Durham hit all over the lineup this year, the bulk of his hitting was in the 5 spot)
2006 – 0% (Had 0 PA’s from the leadoff spot. Once again, hit mostly 5th)

Durham scored 95 runs in 2004, which is actually pretty good since he only appeared in 120 games. But you can see that from 2005 onward, he shifted away from the leadoff spot which is going to hurt his ability to score runs. So I think it’s a little unfair to criticize Durham for not scoring as many runs as he did when he played for the White Sox. 3 of the 5 years he’s played with the Giants he hasn’t been leading off.

There are a lot of things wrong with the Giants but in my opinion, up until this year, Durham wasn’t one of them. He was always a solid performer, even if he wasn’t doing what Kent did, and contributed positively to the lineup (being better than league average every year until this oen). He might have not been the same guy that he was with the White Sox but he was still pretty good.

Thanks for the response, I enjoy the site and it’s always good to have more places to talk Giants baseball.

The deal was short and cheap (when you consider that Durham was the best 2B option on the market). He’s hit a wall and could be done but I can’t fault Sabean for the deal he gave Ray.

I wonder how healthy Durham is this year? His bat looks slower to me and he seems to get beat a lot on average fastballs. At this point he’s probably living in his own head too much.

In point of fact, I’d been clamoring for Orlando Hudson (or even Aaron Hill or Ian Kinsler [before he reached the Majors]) for a couple of years now.

But, as I touched on, two of the biggest mistakes that the Giants have made were (imo): 1) complete lack of foresight to diversity the roster and the roster’s salary structure (whether or not the players were/are old or young); and 2) the losing of so many players all at once (2006) w/o any suitable replacements…leading to old and expensive band-aids. Klesko, Aurilia, Durham, Molina [or fat], Roberts, + Sweeney, Feliz, Vizquel, Bonds? Yuck.