The Struggles of Jason Giambi

Jason Giambi will be a free agent at the end of this season unless the Yankees pick up his $22 million option for 2009. $22 million is way too much to pay for a 38 year old first baseman, so it is pretty much a guarantee that Giambi will be a free agent in 2009. It is possible that the Yankees could decline Giambi's option and still bring him back at a reduced price, but even if they don't re-sign him, he should draw some interest from other teams around the league. However, despite what looks like a decent season production wise for Giambi, I think it would be a bad move for the Yankees or any other team to bring in Giambi next season as a full time player.

Taking a look at Giambi's overall stats, you can see that it looks like he has been pretty productive this season:

.249 AVG/24 HR/72 RBI/63 BB/.387 OBP/.506 SLG/.893 OPS/136 OPS+

He also has similar production against right and left handed pitching:

vs Righties: .253 AVG/18 HR/51 RBI/49 BB/.387 OBP/.510 SLG/.897 OPS

vs Lefties: .237 AVG/6 HR/21 RBI/14 BB/.388 OBP/.495 SLG/.883 OPS

So overall, we see that Giambi has a 136 OPS+, which means he has been 36% better than the average AL hitter. We also see that Giambi has similar production against righties(.897 OPS) and lefties(.883 OPS), which would indicate that Giambi should not be benched just because a lefty is pitching. This would suggest that he is capable of being a full time player and would be productive doing so.

However, Giambi is having serious trouble getting around on the ball and can only hit pitchers who throw at what is considered a soft or medium speed. Power pitchers strike out or walk more than 28% of batters faced, while finesse pitchers strike out or walks less than 24% of batters faced. He also has been horrible against relief pitchers and with runners in scoring position.

Here are Giambi's stats in these situations:

vs Power Pitchers: .172 AVG/5 HR/19 RBI/22 BB/.298 OBP/.306 SLG/.604 OPS

vs Avg. Power/Finesse Pitchers: .273 AVG/7 HR/15 RBI/22 BB/.440 OBP/.568 SLG/1.008 OPS

vs Finesse Pitchers: .319 AVG/12 HR/38 RBI/19 BB/.444 OBP/.690 SLG/1.134 OPS

vs Relievers: .177 AVG/4 HR/20 RBI/21 BB/.326 OBP/.319 SLG/.645 OPS

with RISP: .205 AVG/3 HR/45 RBI/26 BB/.354 OBP/.321 SLG/.676 OPS

So you can see that Giambi is doing horribly against both power pitchers and relievers. Relievers tend to be power pitchers, so it is no surprise that Giambi is struggling against them. Rarely do you see a finesse pitcher like Paul Byrd or Jamie Moyer coming out of the bullpen. Giambi's struggles against power pitchers indicate that he should not be used in these situations.

For example, yesterday Giambi struck out 3 times against A.J. Burnett, who would be considered a power pitcher. I think that Giambi probably should have been benched because Burnett is a power pitcher and also that Giambi should be pinch hit for late in the game when facing a power reliever. Since Giambi sucks in the field and is usually removed in favor of a defensive replacement late in the game then it shouldn't be that big of a deal to pinch hit for him.

Giambi has also struggled with RISP, which is not what you want from a hitter who is hitting in the middle of the order. I have made the case before that since both A-Rod and Giambi hit in the middle of the order and have struggled with RISP, that they are killing the Yankees and are the main reason the Yankees will probably not make the playoffs. When you get RISP and have the middle of the lineup hitting, you simply can't afford to let the other team off the hook. The middle of order guys have to drive in the runs and make the other team pay for putting guys in scoring position. Giambi, along with A-Rod, have let the Yankees down in these situations this season.

Overall, I think that any team that plans on bringing in Jason Giambi next season should definitely do so with caution. It appears that he can no longer get around against power pitchers, which suggests that he should only play against non-power pitchers in a platoon situation. I also think he should be pinch hit for late in games because most relievers are power pitchers. I do not think Giambi should sit based on whether the pitcher is left or right handed because he has been equally productive against both. To his credit, he has been highly productive against non-power pitches and a team can maximize their production at 1B/DH if they only play Giambi against those types of pitchers and give the at-bats against power pitchers to another player on the team who is more likely to be successful.

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