Brian Bocock claimed off waivers

Grant — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:29:00 -0000

I’d like to write it’s the end of an era, but that’s not true. It’s just the end of an easily identifiable trademark of the current era. Brian Bocock, praise be unto his defense, was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. I can almost understand the move from Toronto’s point of view – if you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just show off a strong throwing arm and good range and people will try to catch you because, hey, free defensive-minded shortstop.

It’s debatable whether or not the Giants did Bocock a favor by making him the Opening Day shortstop in 2008, or if they hurt his development. I’d go with the former. He got a pay boost for a few weeks, and he got his face on a baseball card, which is something a lot of professional baseball players aren’t going to be able to say. It remains a longshot for Bocock to ever be even a passable role player in the majors – stranger things have happened, don’t get me wrong – but he’ll always have that feeling of standing out in the field on April of 2008 and playing in front of 40,000 people. I’d do some goofy things to have that same feeling just once in my life.

But Bocock will always stand out to me as a symbol of Brian Sabean’s disregard for minor league statistics. It’s not that Sabean ever thought that Bocock was going to be anything other than a light-hitting defensive shortstop; it’s that Sabean thought Bocock could fake it long enough to buy time until Omar Vizquel returned from an injury. Bocock was a shortstop who was just six months removed from hitting .220 in A-ball and was just over a year removed from playing for Stetson University. But he passed over whatever AA or AAA shortstop should have been in place in the event of an emergency – Ivan Ochoa, in this case – to go with Bocock. Why? Not entirely sure, but I can guess:

Because minor league statistics don’t mean anything, Bocock probably wouldn’t hit any worse than utility shortstops throughout the league, but his defense would make him more valuable than any sort of waiver wire shortstop the team could dredge up.

Is that about right? Because when Bocock struggled, the team brought up Manny Burriss, who had done even worse in the Cal League the year before. That move was like trying to put out a kitchen fire with a speech – at no point did it even pass through the orbit of something that made sense…unless you don’t think that minor league statistics mean anything. Like, anything.

Unfortunately, Burriss hit well for his last 100 at-bats, and then he did well in the spring. But that’s a Sabean-related post for another time: "Why Small Sample Sizes Are More Trustworthy Than Large Sample Sizes." This is a post about Brian Bocock: defensive juggernaut, light hitter, lightning rod for inappropriate puns, and metaphor. After hitting .143 in the majors, Bocock hit .163 in AAA. He did boost it up to .241 in his second go-round in the Cal League as a 24-year-old.

In the winter of 2008, Sabean looked at his roster, saw a 40-year-old shortstop penciled in as a starter, looked through the organizational depth chart, and thought, "If Vizquel gets hurt, unlikely as that may be, we can probably make do by bringing up Brian Bocock. It wouldn’t be an ideal situation, but how bad could he be?" He then resumed not thinking about a legitimate backup plan for a 40-year-old shortstop. This is because minor league statistics are useless.

Also, Bocock.

The Giants and Minor League Evaluation

Grant — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:57:18 -0000

Not much time for a ton of writing today, so I'll just ask your help for possible posts down the road. I'm trying to make a list of examples of the Giants ignoring minor league performance in their hitter evaluation process in the Brian Sabean era.

Rich Aurilia -- Fine numbers for a AAA shortstop, blocked by Jose Vizcaino because he was the "get one free" part of the Jeff Kent trade.
Todd Linden -- Stellar numbers in AAA, never given a chance (note: this is a list of examples for better or for worse. It was almost assuredly a good thing that Linden didn't get a chance as a starter.)
Dan Ortmeier -- Very little power, contact, or on-base skills in the minors, fluked his way into a .497 slugging percentage in 157 major league at-bats, taken seriously as a candidate for a starting 1B job in the majors
Kevin Frandsen -- Career .317/.380/.452 hitter in the minors, blocked by vets and rooks alike. Also a career .241/.306/.342 hitter in the majors in over 450 at-bats, so this might be more of a Linden situation rather than a crime against player evaluation.
Nate Schierholtz -- Career .308/.355/.516 hitter in the minors, blocked by vets and rooks alike. Also a career .287/.318/.408 hitter in the majors in over 450 at-bats, so...hey, that reads familiar.
Brian Bocock -- A year after hitting .220 in A-ball, he was the Opening Day shortstop. Seriously.
Emmanuel Burriss -- Two years after hitting .165 in A-ball, he was the Opening Day second baseman. Seriously.
John Bowker -- Hit .342/.451/.596 with a reworked approach in AAA. The player standing in the way of a starting job in the majors hasn't hit a home run since April.
Buster Posey -- Isn't likely to have an on-base percentage below .300, which makes him a special offensive catcher in this organization's history. Needs to prove his worth to get a single start; won't get a single start until he proves his worth.
Eugenio Velez -- Nothing in his minor league career, other than a fine age-24 season in low-A, suggests he'll be more than a fine bench player. Because he had a ridiculously hot 80 at-bats when he was called up, though, he's a starting outfielder. And he's done just fine, mind you. But he also starts against left-handers, against whom he's hit .241/.288/.353 over his minor league career and .212/.287/.260 in his major league career.

No thesis, really. I'm just trying to figure out why the Giants completely ignore minor league statistics when they evaluate hitters. Actually, I guess I'm trying to figure out if they ignore minor league stats, and if that's even helped the team on a few occassions. Please help me fill in any gaps or omissions. Also let me know if I'm cherry-picking and/or making too much out of nothing. Also, feel free to ignore baseball entirely and talk about lunch, as that's what you're going to do anyways.

SB Nation - Brian Bocock

Brian Bocock claimed off waivers

The Giants and Minor League Evaluation