Spring Begins, Giambi Retires: Hot Stove 2/18

News

Pitchers and catchers have begun reporting to spring training. Baseball is just around the corner.Longtime power hitter Jason Giambi announced his retirement at 44 years old after 20 major league seasons.

The Yankees will retire the jersey numbers of Bernie Williams (51), Jorge Posada (20), and Andy Pettitte (46) over the course of the 2015 season.

Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez issued a hand-written letter apologizing to fans and Major League Baseball. Whether or not you take him seriously is your call.

Though his reputation has been marred by his admitted use of steroids and human growth hormone, Jason Giambi was one of the many who set the bar for power hitting in the Steroid Era. In his 20 major league seasons, he amassed over 850 extra base hits and was feared by almost every pitcher. After attending high school in West Covina, California, Giambi went to Long Beach State, where he played for the 49ers. The A’s drafted Giambi in the second round of the 1992 draft, and he was in the majors by 1995. As a 24 year old rookie, Giambi batted .256 with six home runs and 25 RBI over his 54 game cup of coffee. In 1996, Giambi made the Oakland roster out of spring training and put up a big time breakout season, batting .291 with 20 home runs, 79 RBI, and 40 doubles in 140 games. This enabled the A’s to trade first baseman Mark McGwire to the Cardinals and allow Giambi to settle in at one position. In 1997, he proved that 1996 wasn’t a fluke, basically putting up the same numbers by batting .293 with 20 home runs, 81 RBI, and 41 doubles in 142 games. He continued to improve in 1998, smashing 27 home runs, driving in 110, and batting .295, all career highs. In 1999, the 28 year old Giambi put on a second breakout season, batting .315 with 33 home runs, 123 RBI, 115 runs scored, and 36 doubles. He finished eighth in the AL MVP balloting. In 2000, his rise continued, and he put up arguably the season of his career. The 29 year old batted .333 with 43 home runs, 137 RBI, 108 runs scored, and 137 walks, winning the American League MVP Award. 2001 was nearly identical, as Giambi continued to set the bar for AL offense. The 30 year old batted .342 with 38 home runs, 120 RBI, 109 runs scored, and 47 doubles, but he finished to division rival Ichiro in the AL MVP voting. Over the two seasons, Giambi had batted .338 with 81 home runs and 257 RBI, leading the Moneyball A’s to the postseason in both years. He signed a seven year, $120 million deal with the Yankees prior to the 2002 season, and in his first year, he did not disappoint, batting .314 with 41 home runs, 122 RBI, and 120 runs scored in 155 games. However, 2003 would be the beginning of a long, slow decline. In his age 32 season, Giambi batted just .250, but he still hit 41 home runs and drove in 107. 2004 would be the roughest season of his career at that point, as a benign tumor interrupted his season and he finished with a .208 average and just 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 80 games. 2005 was actually a bit of a bounceback year, as the 34 year old batted .271 with 32 home runs and 87 RBI in 139 games. That success continued into 2006, when he hit .253 with 37 home runs and 113 RBI. Unfortunately, he could not carry the success into 2007, when he batted only .236 with 14 home runs and 39 RBI in 83 games. 2008, the final year of his seven year contract, started off slowly, but he rebounded in the second half to finish with his final big season: 32 home runs, 96 RBI, and a .247 average over 145 games. His RBI single on September 21st of that year was the final hit at Yankee Stadium. The 38 year old signed with the A’s for the 2009 season, but he hit just .193 over 83 games and was traded to Colorado late in the season. Overall, he hit .201 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI in 102 games. The Rockies resigned him for 2010, but he hit just .244 with six home runs in 87 games. He found success in 2011 despite playing in only 64 games, batting .260 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI in his age 40 season. 2012, his final season with Colorado, saw him homer just once and bat .225 in 60 games. In 2013, Giambi left Colorado and joined the Indians, and he batted .183 with nine home runs in 71 games. In 2014, his final season, he played just 26 games and batted .133 with two home runs and five RBI. He retired with 440 home runs, 1441 RBI, a .277 average, 405 doubles, and 1227 runs scored over 2260 games. He is 41st on the all time home run list. He is 8th on the A’s all time home run list (198) and 12th on the Yankees’ list (209).

Free Agent Signings

A’s signed Barry Zito (missed 2014, 165-143 career, 4.02 ERA, 2015 age: 37) to a minor league deal.

Braves signed Eric Young Jr. (1 HR, 17 RBI, .229 AVG, 30 SB, 2015 age: 30) to a minor league deal.

Yankees signed Jared Burton (3-5, 4.36 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 3 SV, 2015 age: 33) to a minor league deal.

Astros signed Joe Thatcher (2-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 2015 age: 33) to a minor league deal.

Rangers signed Jamey Wright (5-4, 4.35 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 1 SV, 2015 age: 40) to a minor league deal.

Marlins resigned Reed Johnson (2 HR, 25 RBI, .235 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 38) to a minor league deal.

Indians signed Bruce Chen (2-4, 7.45 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 2015 age: 37-38) to a minor league deal.

Angels signed Matt Lindstrom (2-2, 5.03 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 6 SV, 2015 age: 35) to a minor league deal.

Orioles signed Jayson Nix (1 HR, 4 RBI, .120 AVG, 1 SB, 2015 age: 32) to a minor league deal.

Dodgers signed David Aardsma (missed 2014, 4.23 career ERA, 69 SV, 2015 age: 33) to a minor league deal.

After leaving the A’s on a seven year, $126 million deal after the 2006 season,Barry Zito is coming back on a minor league deal. Though this deal can only give him a maximum of $1.175 million if he earns all of his incentives, Zito has a chance to re-establish himself as a bona fide major league starter. Though Jon Lester (Cubs), Jason Hammel (Cubs), and Jeff Samardzija (White Sox) may have left Oakland for Chicago, cracking the A’s’ rotation won’t be easy. Sonny Gray, Drew Pomeranz, Scott Kazmir, and Jesse Chavez look like they have the first four spots, while Zito will join Jesse Hahn, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin, and Chris Bassitt in a fight for the fifth spot. Additionally, Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin both look to be returning from injuries in June. Nonetheless, should Zito crack the rotation, the 36 year old lefty can provide a winning, veteran presence and he can pitch. As recently as 2012, Zito was 15-8 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over 32 starts. He struggled a bit in 2013, when over 30 games (25 starts) he was 5-11 with a 5.74 ERA, then he sat out the 2014 season. His best years came from 2001-2003 with the Moneyball A’s (when he was a teammate of Jason Giambi), when he was 54-25 with a 3.17 ERA over 105 starts. 2002 was his best season, when the 24 year old went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP over 35 starts and won the AL Cy Young Award. For his career, the University of Southern California alumnus is 165-143 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP over 430 games (419 starts).

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman