Aubrey Huff: Eh, Whatever

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where George wants to break up with his girlfriend, but she outright refuses to go along with the idea. George makes an impassioned argument to her as to why they should break up, and she still won’t agree to it; George, completely resigned to the fact that he’s not going to win the argument nor get what he ultimately wants, lets out a huge sigh, throws his hands up and says, “ehhhhhhh… alright.” That was my reaction when I heard the Giants had signed Aubrey Huff.

Huff’s been a decent-to-good hitter throughout the years. He has three 100+ RBI seasons, has hit 20+ HR’s six times, and has a career average of .282. He’s also 33, coming off of his worst season statistically since 2001, and has played more games as a DH than any other position in his career. His primary position on the field would be 1B, and let’s just say he’s not exactly JT Snow with the glove; actually, he’s probably not even Rich Aurilia with the glove. Last I checked, the Giants still play in the National League, which means Huff is going to have to play the field every day.

So let’s review: the Giants have signed a 33-year-old DH, coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, and whose defense is suspect at best, to be their likely every day first baseman. Ehhhhhhh… alright.

It’s not like Huff’s a bad player, necessarily. If given the choice between Huff and Travis Ishikawa as your every day first baseman, Huff wins from a purely offense-driven standpoint. If last year was an anomaly and not a harbinger of things to come, and if Huff can revert to his 2008 form where he hit .304/32/108 with a .912 OPS, the Giants’ lineup will be tremendously improved. If he can provide adequate protection for Pablo Sandoval in the lineup, Sandoval could be in line for a monster season. There are a lot of “ifs” in this paragraph.

Huff’s arrival means the lineup will change, too. With Huff and Sandoval occupying the corner infield spots, Mark DeRosa should shift to left field, sparing us the platoon of Eugenio Velez and Andres Torres. It also means Aaron Rowand will likely bat leadoff, a spot where he put up a .294 average in 50 games last season (will that make Rowand the highest-paid leadoff man in baseball? I’ll have to do some research). Anyhow, the lineup now looks like this:

1. Rowand, CF (no, I wasn’t joking…he’s batting leadoff)

2. Sanchez, 2B

3. Sandoval, 3B

4. Huff, 1B

5. DeRosa, LF

6. Renteria, SS

7. Schierholtz/Bowker, RF

8. Posey/Whiteside, C

Obviously, the lineup could still change. The Giants seem determined to have Sandoval bat cleanup in spite of the fact that he’s better suited in the 3-hole, and if that’s the case, DeRosa is probably the best option to hit third. If Posey proves he can hit big league pitching, he’ll move up in the lineup and beef up the middle of the order (the same can probably be said for Nate Schierholtz and John Bowker). It’s possible that the Giants could get cold feet on the Schierholtz/Bowker pairing and sign Johnny Damon (who they’ve been linked to this off season), which would bump Rowand from the leadoff spot. Or, they could get really creative and send Buster Posey to Fresno, play Sandoval behind the plate and let the recently re-signed Juan Uribe play 3B every day. However you slice it, it’s still not an imposing lineup by any means; rather, it’s a lineup driven by hope. Hope that Freddy Sanchez and Edgar Renteria stay healthy, hope that Huff and DeRosa aren’t in irreversible career declines, hope that Schierholtz, Bowker and Posey can hit in the big leagues, hope that Sandoval doesn’t get walked 250 times…you get the idea.

But, back to the Huff signing. If there’s one thing Giants fans should take from this offseason, it’s this: time to lower our expectations. Bill Neukom and the rest of the Giants ownership group are going to keep their self-imposed salary cap, Brian Sabean is going to have to pick from the lower tiers of the free agent class, and the Giants are going to back their world-class pitching staff with a patchwork lineup. Huff and DeRosa are the new norm, the kind of players Giants fans can expect the team to go after from now on. Forget about choosing between Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, the Giants are going to be choosing between Huff and Adam LaRoche for the foreseeable future. Like George resigning himself to the fact that he’s stuck in a lousy relationship, Giants fans have to resign ourselves to the fact that this team is not going to pursue premiere hitters. Just cross your fingers and hope that this lineup can get the team to the playoffs.

We are George Costanza. Aubrey Huff is the girlfriend we’re stuck with.

Ehhhhhhh…alright.

Tags: Aubrey Huff, Free Agents, Lineup, Rumors, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco Giants Blog