Giants Dump Rowand, Tejada

We have plenty of dead-weight contracts of our own--many of them ex-Giants, too; fancy that--but up north, the Giants have dumped two of their veterans who haven't worked out: Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada.

"After much deliberation, including a long night last night and sleeping on it, we felt that this was the right time to set them free. We appreciate their efforts. Sorry it didn't turn out, but again, it's about managing the roster. There's only 40 spots. It's a lot to do with that, including giving somebody like Pill a chance." [GM Brian Sabean]

Rowand, still owed $12 million from the Giants in 2012, batted .233 (77-for-331) with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 108 games. He had four hits in his last 40 at-bats (.100), and he has struck out 26 times since July 5 without drawing a walk. Sabean said he discussed Rowand's contract status with club ownership -- he is owed roughly $14 million between this year and next -- and it wasn't an issue.

The outfielder never turned into the offensive player the Giants hoped he would be when they signed him to a five-year, $60 million contract, never batting higher than .271 or posting an OPS above .750. His role greatly diminished this season with regular time given to outfielders Andres Torres, Cody Ross, Nate Schierholtz, Brandon Belt and Carlos Beltran.

"He was brought here for a reason. He fulfilled his obligation as a professional, to try to put us in a spot to help us win a World Series, and he did just that," Sabean said. "We learned from his work ethic and his commitment and his passion. As I told him, there's no regrets. Did it turn out the way we wanted to in the end? Obviously not. But it's time for both parties to move on."

"I wish things would have turned out differently," Rowand told MLB.com via text message. "I thank the Giants for the opportunity. I'm gonna miss my teammates and I wish every single one of them the best."

Tejada saw his role equally diminished this season, losing time at shortstop to Mike Fontenot, rookie Brandon Crawford and Trade Deadline acquisition Orlando Cabrera. With Pablo Sandoval holding down third base, Tejada rarely received starts at that position. The 37-year-old former American League MVP even volunteered to play second base earlier this season, and got his first career starts there, just to keep himself in the lineup.

"Everybody knows what I can do in this game, what I can do in a baseball field," Tejada told the Spanish blog, Beisbol por Gotas. "I would have liked it [to try to help the Giants to win]. It just did not happen."

But Tejada's lack of production was just as noticeable as Rowand's. He batted .239 with a .596 OPS. Most recently, Tejada appeared to represent an attitude problem, even though Giants manager Bruce Bochy nixed that idea. Tejada was asked to lay down a sacrifice bunt on Sunday and appeared reluctant, later explaining he wasn't happy with the request, but he went through with the order and later apologized to Bochy and bench coach Ron Wotus.

No word on whether Ned Colletti wants to pick up either player.

Giants' Rowand Goes 1-for-3 in Return Sunday

I know I'm going to get grief for this, but I wanted to shout out to the Giants' Aaron Rowand for making it back to the lineup in yesterday's 4-1 loss to the Rockies. Rowand had not played since April 17, when he was hit in the head by a Vicente Padilla pitch, fracturing his orbital bone.

Since the day after the injury, Rowand has tried to maintain his daily routine, running and shagging flies and eventually taking batting practice. Now, with just a small mouse under his left eye, the outfielder isn't anticipating any aftereffects from the beaning.

"My swing feels good right now," said Rowand, who was hitting .304 when he went down. "The key is being able to go up there and feel comfortable in the batter's box. I had 21/2 months of swinging and playing before the injury, so having all that in my back pocket, it's not like stepping in at spring training against live pitching for the first time."

Rowand went 1-for-3 with 2Ks in the leadoff slot for San Francisco. I don't like to see anyone--even Giants--put out of action like that, so welcome back, Aaron.

Crasnick's Free-Agent Grades Flunk Jones; Dodger Fans Hope Against Repeat Year

From Jerry Crasnick's latest column, grading last year's free-agent classes on their 2008 seasons to date: Andruw Jones' F grade doesn't mean he has to do the 2008 season over again next year, right?

Andruw Jones, CF, Dodgers
.161 BA, 3 HR, 14 RBI, .514 OPS
Contract: Two years, $36.2 million | Grade: F

The Dodgers knew they had a reclamation project on their hands when they signed Jones. But they were hoping for a little more than a .161 batting average, a .254 slugging percentage and 14 RBIs in 205 at-bats.

"He's a total bust," said a National League scout. "What else can you say?"

A West Coast scout who's watched Jones crush some balls in batting practice this season is convinced he has something left in the tank. But a year this horrid makes you wonder if Jones isn't finished at age 32. Compared to Jones, Roberto Alomar enjoyed a graceful descent into oblivion.

"Andruw is one of those fabulous athletes who never struggled," the scout said. "He would just do things because he could do them. He didn't have to analyze them. Then his mechanics got bad, and he got heavy, and he spent so much time hitting on his back leg that he hurt his knee."

The Dodgers just recalled Jones from Triple-A Las Vegas, where he spent some time at first base. For some reason, we suspect James Loney won't have to worry about losing many at-bats down the stretch.

And look at the other centerfielder who got away, the Angels' Torii Hunter:

Torii Hunter, CF, Angels
.283 BA, 19 HR, 71 RBI, .824 OPS
Contract: Five years, $90 million | Grade: B

Was $90 million a stretch for a player who entered this season with a career .793 OPS? We'll buy that. Hunter, an inveterate free swinger, ranks seventh among big league center fielders in slugging and 12th in on-base percentage this season. If he really were the big bat the Angels needed to complement Vladimir Guerrero, general manager Tony Reagins wouldn't have had to go out and acquire Mark Teixeira before the deadline.

That said, Hunter has done his part to help the Angels salt away the AL West. He played through heartache after the death of his grandmother back home in Arkansas, and stepped forward as the team's resident energizer, media go-to guy and goodwill ambassador. Hunter has already begun working on Teixeira to spurn free agency and sign a long-term deal to stay with the Angels. If he can enlist Scott Boras in the effort, then we'll start paying attention.

Although the defensive metrics show that Hunter has lost a step at age 33, he's still a presence with the glove. After Hunter robbed Texas' Marlon Byrd and Hank Blalock of home runs in consecutive games last weekend, Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times wrote that he's turned center field at Angels Stadium into "the place home runs go to die."

Aaron Rowand, picked up by the Giants this off-season for a staggering 5-year, $60M deal, got a B-. And so did tonight's starting pitcher, the Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda (which I think is a little low):

Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, Dodgers
7-10, 3.87 ERA, 2 CG, .246 BAA
Contract: Three years, $35.3 million | Grade: B-

You'd probably rank Kuroda higher if you saw his masterful 3-0 complete game against the Cubs on June 6, or his one-hit shutout over Atlanta a month later. If you watched him get pounded by Arizona and San Francisco in July, this grade might be considered generous.

Scouts say the same thing about Kuroda that they said about Daisuke Matsuzaka a year ago: He has so many pitches in his repertoire, sometimes he appears to have trouble winnowing down his options.

"His stuff is real good," said a National League scout, "but once he gets some guys on base, it's kind of like he falls apart. He either gets you out 1-2-3 or gives up a bunch of runs. As somebody once described it, he's one of those guys who 'doesn't struggle well.'"

The statistics bear out that observation: Opponents are batting .212 against Kuroda with the bases empty and .300 with runners on base. He either needs to work on his stuff out of the stretch or concentrate less on the surrounding traffic and more on the catcher's mitt.

Nevertheless, Kuroda has thrown a quality start 62 percent of the time -- the same ratio as Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Matt Cain. His 7-10 record won't wow anyone, but the Dodgers have scored a total of 23 runs in his 10 losses.

And keep in mind that Kuroda has had to adjust to a whole new culture and learn new hitters and ballparks on the fly. Matsuzaka has been better his second time around, and the Dodgers have reason to believe it will be the same for Kuroda in 2009.

Aaron Rowand Claims Squatter's Rights

I took this picture with my crappy four-generations-too-old cell phone, so I apologize at the low resolution. You can kinda make out Aaron Rowand at the plate of Wednesday night's game at Dodger Stadium.

All I can say is, that man has a very peculiar batting stance. It looks like he's taking a dump while standing up.

Giants' Plans for Off-Season Frugality Summarily Rowand

The Giants just signed Aaron Rowand to be their centerfielder for the next five years, at a cost of $60M. As I type this, I am giggling.

Rowand agreed to a $60 million, five-year contract with the Giants on Wednesday, giving the club a Gold Glove winner without having to trade either of its top young pitchers: Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum

The 30-year-old Rowand is expected to bat fifth for San Francisco after spending the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Before that, he helped the Chicago White Sox win the 2005 World Series.

"Bottom line, I wanted to get in a spot where I would be long term," said Rowand, who noted he weighed four or five similar multiyear offers. "In this day of free agency, that's not commonplace. That's really the thing I was looking forward to most."

He is coming off his best season yet, earning his first Gold Glove award and All-Star selection while helping the Phillies to the NL East title. Rowand batted .309 with 27 home runs and career bests of 89 RBIs, 105 runs, 189 hits and 45 doubles in 161 games.

Like the Dodgers, the Giants now have the tough task of moving a light-hitting, speedy, small, and by-all-accounts-good guy over to left field (in their case, Dave Roberts). But unlike the Dodgers, the Giants' signing of Rowand (a 30-year old, like Andruw Jones) comes off Rowand's best season, when he hit 27 HR and 89 RBI. Jones, off arguably his worst season, still had 26 HR and 94 RBI.

And the Giants have Rowand for five years, three years longer than Jones' contract--at a rate of $12M/year rather than $18M/year. Wow. I mean, I know that your Bonds-less lineup has been said to be the worst in the majors (even worse than the Dodgers', if you can believe it). But for my money, I'd take the shorter-term deal with the guy who has something to prove--and hits for just as much power in an off-year.

Gotta love the Giants' attempt to keep up with the Joneses.