来源: The Mercury News
网址: https://tinyurl.com/yc9w6633
Better with age? Why the Giants keep acquiring older players
酒越陈越香? 为啥巨人都在招老人?
When the Giants reversed their fortunes in 1986 behind a group of vibrant
youngsters such as Will Clark and Robby Thompson, the team launched a clever
marketing slogan: “You Gotta Like These Kids!”
巨人在1986年在一群年轻球员，包括Will Clark跟Robby Thompson，打出了不错的战绩，
那时候球团有个蛮聪明的口号: “你一定会喜欢这群小伙子！”
Now, as the Giants put the final touches on their don’
t-trust-anyone-under-30 lineup, there’s an easy update for 2018: “You Gotta
Like These Coots!”
时至今日，巨人球团摆出来的名单，意思就像是说"不相信年纪低于30岁的球员"。所以，
1986那时候的口号现在可以改成，“你一定会喜欢这群老家伙！”
Having already landed Andrew McCutchen, 31, and Evan Longoria, 32, the Giants
signed backup outfielder Austin Jackson to a two-year, $6 million contract.
Jackson doesn’t turn 31 until Feb. 1, so he can provide some youthful energy
off the bench.
先是招募了31岁的Andrew McCutchen，然后是32岁的Evan Longoria，现在巨人又签下替补
外野手Austin Jackson，两年6百万。Jackson到二月一日满31岁，所以他可以提供一些"年
轻"的冲劲。
The Giants pledged to get younger and more athletic this season. Instead,
they look older and more arthritic.
巨人球团本季本来誓言要找年轻一点，更有活力的球员；然而，他们现在找的都是一些老
抠抠，关节可能都发炎的老球员了。
Oh, and they’re also infinitely better.
喔，这些球员也比较好。
“I talked to Buster Posey today. He’s pumped,” manager Bruce Bochy said on
a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “He’s excited, as he should be.
Sure, it’s a club that needed some help — and we certainly got it.
“我今天跟Buster Posey谈过，他很兴奋，”总教练Bruce Bochy星期二在与记者的会谈上
说到。“他很兴奋。没错，球队需要帮手，而我们也得到了帮手。”
“If you’d have told me after the season that we would have gotten this much
done and added these types of players, I couldn’t have been happier. I
really like where we’re at.”
“如果跟我说在正规赛季后我们会做那么多努力跟得到这些球员，我真的会很高兴的，而
我现在很满意我们的状况。”
The Giants remain in pursuit of an everyday center fielder, almost certainly
a low-cost option who can play reliable defense. As executive vice president
Brian Sabean explained on the call, Jackson fits in more as a super backup
who can fill in at all three outfield spots.
巨人还在找先发中外野手，但是要便宜而且要守的不错的。如执行副总裁Brian Sabean在
电话上说的，Austin Jackson比较像是超级替补，他外野三个位置都能守。
Asked about the starting center field outlook, Sabean said: “We don’t know
what’s going to transpire between now and spring training, or how (Steven)
Duggar may or may not rear his head.
在被问到寻找先发中外野手时，Sabean说：“我不知道从现在到春训之间还会有什么进
展，然后或是Steven Duggar能不能成长成先发中外野。”
“(Jackson) is certainly a viable option. Did we get him to be our everyday
center fielder? Probably not. I don’t know in his recent history he’s been
able to go out there in that fashion.”
“Jackson当然会是个选择，但是把他放在每日先发中外野? 大概不会。依照他过去的状
况，他大概不能以那种方式出赛。”
Duggar, 24, a hard-charging prospect and blossoming defensive player, has an
increased chance to make the team out of spring training. Or the Giants can
get creative by finding someone with the sliver of space they have remaining
under the $197 million competitive balance tax threshold.
24岁的Duggar，非常努力的潜力球员，逐渐成为一个防守型球员，有可能在春训后成为队
上的球员。或者，巨人球团可以在不超过1亿9700万镁的豪华税门槛，在那少少的薪资空间
里，很有创意的找到可用的球员。
But as the roster comes together, it should be clear by now that neither
Sabean nor general manager Bobby Evans are going to sweat the fine print on
the birth certificate.
但是把目前的名单摊开来看，很明白的，副总裁Sabean或是总管Bobby Evans，都不会因为
看到球员的出生证明上的小字冒汗。
“I don’t know that the industry or us as an organization has a handle on
how you define age, individually or collectively,” Sabean said. “I don’t
know if age is relative to a number as far as how as someone is able to
perform.”
“我不知道棒球界或是我们球团对于年纪有个清楚的规范，不管是个别看还是总体来
看，”Sabean说。“我不知道，若是一个球员表现好不好，跟年纪是否有关系。”
Or, as C. Montgomery Burns once put it: “It’s not important how old you are
on parchment, it’s how old you feel in the humours.”
或者，像是辛普森卡通里的Mr. Burns说的：“在出生证明上的数字的老并不重要，重要的
是你对幽默的感受的退化才是真老。”
As it stands, the Giants’ only regular position player under 30 will be
second baseman Joe Panik, at 27. (That is, after Brandon Belt’s milestone
birthday on April 20.) Their team photo could be labeled “Fifty Shades of
Gray.”
所以摊开来看，先发正规位置里年纪低于30岁的只剩27岁的二垒手Joe Panik。(Brandon
Belt在4/20也要迈入30岁大关卡) 巨人的团体照片可以加上个标题：
“白头发的50道阴影。”
But Sabean noted that 30 doesn’t mean what it used to. Modern players enjoy
the benefits of more scheduled days off and more luxurious travel. Moreover,
breakthroughs in sports science have allowed players to be smarter about
diet, sleep, training and recovery.
但是Sabean提醒说，现在的30岁跟以前不太一样了。现在的球员出赛比较好，可以有固定
的休息日，客场征战旅途也比以前舒适。而且，现在运动科技的进步让球员在饮
食，睡眠，训练跟体能恢复上都比以前的球员来的好。
“You have so many factors to help a player through his career,” Sabean
said. “I think that what we’ve been able to do is add experience within the
facelift.”
“现在有很多方式帮助球员在职业生涯表现更好，”Sabean说。“我认为在球队换血的过
程中，我们能做的是加上ㄧ些有经验的球员。”
Jackson’s role remains to be determined because his defensive metrics
suggest that having him patrol AT&T Park on an everyday basis would be
unwise. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic pointed out that Jackson ranked 60th
among 72 center fielders last season in defensive runs above average (minimum
100 innings). In terms of season-adjusted ultimate zone rating, Jackson
ranked 67th.
Jackson在巨人球队上要担任的角色还未确定，因为他在防守的数据上显示，若是让他在巨
人主场每天出赛的话会是不明智的。记者Andrew Baggarly指出，Jackson在上一季在72个
外野手里，照defensive runs above average排序，他排名在第60位。若是在Ultimating
zone rating，依照赛季调整后，他的排序更掉到第67位。
But the right-handed hitter also mashed left-handers last year, batting .352
with a 1.013 OPS. And Jackson embraces his versatility, making 38 starts in
center field last season, 29 in left and 12 in right.
但是Jackson这位右打者很能打左投，去年打击率是.352，OPS是1.013。而Jackson也很善
用他的多功能角色，去年38次出场守中外野，29次守左外，12次守右外。
Whatever his role, Jackson represents another significant upgrade for an
offense that needed punch. McCutchen (.486 slugging percentage last year),
Longoria (.424) and Jackson (.482, in 280 at-bats) ride in as the cavalry for
a team that finished last in almost every power category last season.
不管Jackson的角色会是如何，他代表的将会是升级巨人原本残弱的打击火力。McCutchen
(去年是.486的长打率)，Longoria (.424) 跟Jackson (在280 at bats是.482)这三人火力
部队将会帮助巨人，巨人去年几乎在每一项打击数据都是排名垫底。
Evans managed to get them all by staying patiently aggressive in an otherwise
slow Hot Stove League.
比起目前缓慢的休赛季，总管Evans很有耐心但是积极的把这三个人招进来。
“I think to Bobby’s credit, what we’ve been able to accomplish is to
adjust this roster and give it a facelift and still stay under the threshold
to this point,” Sabean said.
“我认为就我们现在得到的球员，调整我们的球员名单，帮助球队换血，然后还不超过豪
华税门槛，那是总管Bobby Evans的功劳。”
Bochy took it a step further by sizing up the National League West.
总教练Bochy对于国联西区做了更进一步的分析。
“It’s a very tough division,” he said. “But with what’s happened with
us, we feel like we can play with anybody.”
“这一区竞争很激烈，”他说。“但是就我们目前所做的，我认为我们可以跟任何一队匹
敌。”
Old is the new black.
老将要开始夯了。