I just knew it. After spending far too much time on a post about Giants roster decisions, the defending champs made my story an afterthought with actual news a few minutes later. Good thing I wrote about how the only truly difficult roster decision revolves around Matt Duffy, Ehire Adrianza and Joaquin Arias, because the Giants made one of the “easy” decisions official today.
Maxwell is on the team. Just signed his contract. Thrilled. Was a Giants fan growing up. Mays was dad’s favorite player. #sfgiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) March 31, 2015
For every happy story, there’s a sad one just around the corner.
Gary Brown was DFA’d to clear a 40-man spot for Maxwell. #SFGiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) March 31, 2015
How bad was Gary Brown over the last three seasons? They kept Juan Perez — who’s two years older and has played replacement-level baseball each time the Giants have brought him up — over the 24th overall pick in the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft.
Fans freaked out when it was reported that Brown might’ve been shipped to New York in the Carlos Betran deal. It ended up being Zack Wheeler. If the decision was truly between Brown and Wheeler, it would make that trade one of the best things Sandy Alderson has accomplished since becoming general manager of the Mets. And that’s taking into account Wheeler’s recent Tommy John procedure.
Brown had an outstanding season with Single-A San Jose, when he hit .336 with 14 homers, 13 triples and 53 stolen bases … but that was back in 2011. Things haven’t gone so well since he was promoted to Double-A the following year, as his batting average and stolen base success rate plummeted to levels not befitting a former first round draft pick.
He didn’t pass the eye test, either. His batting stance is unconventional. And I might be putting thoughts into Bruce Bochy’s head here — if I am, I apologize to the future Hall-of-Famer — but the Giants manager never seemed all that impressed with Brown’s demeanor. The Giants aren’t a stodgy organization, but Brown always seemed a little too happy and comfortable for a guy who went from top prospect praise to a fringe minor leaguer who probably wouldn’t have been a starter in Fresno if he wasn’t a former first round draft pick.
Callers to KNBR will mourn the loss of Brown … well, that’s if the Giants end up losing him. If he was a half-decent player, he would’ve gotten more than seven major league at-bats by now (eight if you include his strikeout in the 18th inning against the Nats after Brandon Belt hit that home run). So don’t be surprised if Brown ends up in Sacramento and, in a month or two, callers to Marty Lurie’s weekend show scream into their rotary phones that they’re sick of Gregor Blanco and it’s Brown’s turn to shine. KNBR callers love them some Gary Brown, yessiree.
Oh, and congrats to Maxwell. I wasn’t able to make it to Spring Training this year (newborn baby and all), so I don’t really know how well he’s played besides the numbers and a couple highlights, but the Giants obviously like what they’ve seen. If the choice was between Brown, Juan Perez and Door No. 3, the mystery prize is infinitely more appealing.
