Shinjo as DH

Shinjo has had hamstring problems since the summer. This has obviously hurt his speed and outfield play. The Giants got Kenny Lofton to take Shinjo's spot in the outfield.

Despite the injury, I think Shinjo was still the better outfielder. Lofton, in fact, had also suffered a hamstring injury early in the season. The consensus was that Lofton, who is a notorious cry-baby, may have demanded that the manager play him in the field, or perhaps the manager just let him play in the field out of respect. This often happens in the majors - for example Giambi is not as good a first baseman as Nick Johnson but he played most of the games at first for whatever reason.

Get real? Shinjo a better outfielder than Lofton. I suffered through a year of Shinjo, excellent fielder, but horrible at the plate. His on base and batting percentage are laughable. If you watched the San Francisco Giants in the playoffs, there is no way you would make this statement. Shinjo's swing is too long and he is looking to hit the long ball when he should just try to slap the ball around like Ichiro. He is also too impatient for a leadoff hitter. Lofton, although a liability in the field, has more patience and his on base and batting average are a lot better than Shinjo. Thus ... the SF Giants released Shinjo about a week ago.

Uh...
Nobody here was saying Shinjo's a better all-around player, just a better "outfielder."

Great Point. Thanks for explaining why Shinjo was DHed.