Giants Acquire Shea Hillenbrand

Many teams were interested, but Brian Sabean and the Giants prevailed in the Shea Hillenbrand sweepstakes late Friday night.  The deal marks Sabean's first of the year and first ever with J.P. Ricciardi (as far as I can tell). 

The average National League first baseman has hit .286/.366/.504 this season, while Hillenbrand is at .301/.342/.480.  While he's a below average fix at first, it sure as hell beats the .714 OPS the Giants have gotten out of the position thus far. 

Hillenbrand moves from a ballpark that inflates home runs by about 18% and batting average about 5% for right-handed hitters.  His new home has a similar effect on batting average but suppresses right-handed home runs by about 4%.

The pitchers Hillenbrand faced this year with the Blue Jays allowed an aggregate line of .260/.345/.416.  Every Giants hitter with more than 200 plate appearances has faced tougher pitching than that.  Another interesting fact: Hillenbrand is one of the most likely double play victims in the game. 

Defensively, the Fielding Bible rates Hillenbrand as the fourth-worst first baseman in baseball, ahead of Giambi, Delgado, and Sexson.  The Giants currently boast the third-best defensive efficiency mark in the NL, however.

The Blue Jays threw in Vinnie Chulk in the deal and received Jeremy Accardo.  Baseball Prospectus notes that Accardo "finally made The Show on the basis of a mid-90s fastball, a developing slider, and a filthy cutter that some compare to Mariano Rivera's bat-sawing Frisbee."

Accardo appears to be an upgrade from Chulk, who is three years older and has mediocre stuff.

Comments

[Dev0]

Well From basicly everyone I'm hearing the jays just fleeced the Giants. However Hillenbrand will help the Giants he's done some nice clutch hitting for the jays this year and vastly improves their offence at 1st base.

Jays still need a shortstop and a 4th-5th starter innings eater type. I keep saying a good fit is Paul Byrd I'm suprized his name hasn't come up yet in trade rumors.

[Baseball Mike]

I think Accardo could be a really good pickup. Especially in this trade environment.

I don't think the trade was awful from the Giants perspective. It was a cheap and easy way to stop the bleeding at first base.

[Dev0]

well the Jays pen has been over worked alot, but I think the main purpose of the deal was to setup a Battle for Ryans setup man next season. Justin Speier is in his contract year and I think they want either Brandon League OR now Accardo to be the setup man next season. Let them battle it out and see who takes the job.

But I agree the deal wasn;t awful for the Giants. Plus if you look at Chulks numbers from last year he did pretty well.

[start_wearing_purple]

Chulk is one of those guys ten years from now you'll look at his career numbers and say "wow, he's played for that many teams." I think this was the trade that might give the giants the final push towards taking the division.

In other news, even though I hate him (and not just because I'm a rabbid sox fan), congrats a-rod on the milestones. Now what's this I hear about some people saying he's got the chuck knoblach syndrome...

[Dev0]

his is from ESPN Insider Keith Law. He was a special assistant to JP up until this Spring.

Shea it is so for San Francisco
posted: Saturday, July 22, 2006

Although this trade is being billed as the Shea Hillenbrand trade, it's largely a swap of right-handed relievers, with a free Hillenbrand thrown in for San Francisco. While the Blue Jays did get a small reliever upgrade in the deal, their main benefit from the trade is a savings of about $2 million that they would have owed to Hillenbrand had they been forced to release him.
Jeremy Accardo has only been pitching full-time since the start of 2004, as he was a shortstop in college who pitched a little out of the bullpen. Unlike a lot of converted guys, he has a solid second pitch, a cutter in the upper 80s that's effective against right-handed batters, but he has a long arm action that results in some inconsistency with the pitch. He also has a low-90s fastball and has excellent control, with just 43 unintentional walks issued in 177 pro innings. Accardo's major advantage over Vinnie Chulk is the fact that he has options remaining, whereas Chulk is out of options after this season.

Chulk is your standard, fungible right-handed reliever, although he can run his fastball up to 95-96 mph at times. He and Jason Frasor have often been the scapegoats for the Blue Jays' bullpen problems this year, earning frequent trips to the Syracuse gulag, but the reality is that he hasn't pitched that badly and is enough of a strike-thrower to do well in a pitchers' park in the weaker league. Accardo is a slightly better pitcher, but the difference between the two over the course of a season is likely to be a win or less.

Shea Hillenbrand more than makes up the difference between the two relievers, although he was included in this deal for reasons beyond his ability. Hillenbrand's best attribute as a hitter is his durability, as he is seldom hurt and doesn't ask out of the lineup. He'd make an ideal platoon partner for current first baseman Mark Sweeney, a left-handed batter who doesn't hit lefties at all, but Hillenbrand has made it clear he's not happy as a part-time player. He could also spell Pedro Feliz, a player with a similar offensive skill set to Hillenbrand's but with even less patience at the plate, at third base. I expect that the Giants will instead play Hillenbrand at first every day and push Sweeney back into a part-time role, a slight improvement that's worth maybe half a win to the Giants for the balance of this season.