The Giants have re-signed Pat Burrell to a one-year $1MM deal without incentives. Ah, how refreshing. I'm one of the first to doubt Burrell -- after seeing him strike out 11 times in 13 at-bats in the 2010 World Series, I just can't even tell if he's the same player that saw a resurgence a few months prior. Or maybe it's the fact that he has more World Series rings (2) than hits (1). He has one hit in 27 career World Series at-bats.
Whatever. He'll be making $1MM without incentives. He's pretty much guaranteed to be worth that $1MM. Even if he's just a bench bat, and manages to come off the bench and get a few important hits, he'll be worth it. And there's high reward -- if he does play like the Pat the Bat of June 2010 (.338/.405/.615), he'll be extremely valuable.
I can't think of a possible scenario where this contract hurts the Giants. I honestly can't. It's $1MM, and I'm pretty sure that Burrell will be a better left-fielder than Mark DeRosa coming off of wrist surgery. DeRosa wasn't even good for the Giants before that wrist injury -- .194/.279/.258...this, hopefully, puts him back in the utility role, a role he's better suited for. A good chunk of his value is dependent on his being able to play multiple positions, so hopefully he'll be doing that now...
Lastly, I think this contract seals Travis Ishikawa's fate. I don't know how the Giants would find a spot for him on the roster, barring an injury. The way I see it, here are their starters:
C Posey
1B Huff
2B Sanchez
3B Sandoval
SS Tejada
LF Burrell
CF Torres
RF Ross
And their bench...
C Whiteside
OF Rowand
OF Schierholtz
UT DeRosa
IF ________ (probably not Fontenot...who knows...maybe Rohlinger? or Burriss?)
And then, eventually, Brandon Belt at 1B.
I don't know what will happen to Ishikawa. It's kind of a shame. If his bat were just a little bit better, he could be a JT Snow-type player. He's a great defensive first baseman. But first basemen just aren't in high demand.
If this is, indeed, the end of the line for Travis, he shall be remembered as the tying run in Game Three of the NLDS.
