Monday, May 24, 2010

It's time to freak out, Giants fans

It was a shocking weekend. Just shocking. It didn't help that the Sharks got swept either, but my God...

ONE RUN IN THREE GAMES.

ONE RUN!

Usually, I'm the one against freaking out, and keeping our composure, but this-- this is not gonna work anymore...

This display against the very beatable Athletics even drew the interest of the great ESPN for once (which might as well be an unholy marriage between NESN and YES at this point). I was delighted that they chose to throw a little "Did You Know?" stat about our futility out there. Yeah, the Giants hadn't scored so little in so many games since like '49. It's just totally unreal.

Now that the dust has settled a little bit on the season, we can say for sure that the Giants' quick, heavy-hitting start out of the gate was indeed a fraud. That was us at our absolute best. Renteria and Rowand were raking, Bengie was kicking ass... that was the best that this team could play. It's like a chick peaking at age 16. That's all gone. Now, we're most likely witnessing the worst they can play. Not cool Giants.

The bullpen is not holding leads (or keeping games close), and our poor starters, who are still going strong, are being left high and dry, which does God-knows-what to their mental state and confidence. It's just not going well at all.

You know I'm not usually like this. You know... the whole negativity thing. Unfortunately there is little to no silver lining to be discovered right now... and management seems to have zero clue as to how to fix the problem.

Even now, after managing one run in three games, Sabean and Co. refuse to consider calling up Posey. There is such an obvious disconnect between those in charge of the organization and reality, that I wonder if we're all actually living in some dreadful, non-linear drama on ABC like FlashForward or Lost.

I know I'll take a little heat for the Lost rip, but that's not the point. The point is that our beloved team has a problem-- an obvious problem-- and it is simply not being addressed. Not only is it not being addressed, but there has been almost no attempt at addressation (that's not a word, but I think it should be).

It's quite simple really. Let me break it down so that even a caveman could do it.

We cannot score runs.

Solution?

Add hitter, change lineup. Score runs.

I'm tired of the money excuse for Aaron Rowand and Bengie Molina. Yes, they are gamers, and I like their effort and veterany-ness, but they aren't playing well. Just because these guys (and Renteria) are making too much money, doesn't mean they get a free pass. If I'm in charge of the Giants, this is what I do until DeRosa gets back, and Posey at catcher full time be damned. Bengie is still a good bat. We're trying to win, remember? And I know this would never happen in a million years, but does it not make sense? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?




1) Andres Torres CF
2) Freddy Sanchez 2B
3) Pablo Sandoval 3B
4) Aubrey Huff LF
5) Buster Posey 1B
6) Juan Uribe SS
7) Bengie Molina C
8) Nate Schierholtz RF

Yeah, there could be a couple flip-flops in the order, but how on earth is that worse than the BS being run out there right now? I'm sorry, but the longer management waits on Posey, the further we will slip into mediocrity. Notice how good that lineup looks with no Aaron Rowand?

Hank Schulman of the Chronicle suggested today that "big changes" would be coming to the lineup. Oh yeah? If Bochy considers this "big changes", then I'm a monkey's uncle. From The Splash:

"This is how it might work until left fielder Mark DeRosa returns: Freddy Sanchez would move to third base, allowing Juan Uribe to play second now that shortstop Edgar Renteria is back. (Alternatively, Uribe could play third and Sanchez could stay at second.) Pablo Sandoval would shift from third base to first base, and Aubrey Huff would move to left field. Andres Torres will play right, leaving John Bowker and Nate Schierholtz on the bench."


I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Basically, if I'm following this correctly, to solve the problem of not hitting, they've decided to move Huff from his best position to one of lesser skill, move Freddy Sanchez to a position of lesser skill, put our "mega-super-ultra" utilityman Uribe at Sanchez's position, and add Edgar Renteria to the lineup.

Excuse me while I scream into a pillow.

We all must admit to ourselves that Posey may not be the answer. It's possible that with the pressure and inexperience, he could crack. Remember, he only got two hits in 17 ABs and looked overmatched at the plate while briefly up last year. Obviously it's a small sample size, and he will rake at some point, but we can't just add Buster to the big league lineup and assume we'll start scoring like the Phillies.

And people, as tempting as "name-brand" veterans like Pat Burrell, Jermaine Dye, and Austin Kearns are, they are not the answer.

The answer, unfortunately lies in a trade, and the price will be steep. Someone near and dear to our hearts will have to be traded, and it will not be pretty at first, but it must be done. We will have to part with Madison Bumgarner and will have to include a Thomas Neal or a Brandon Crawford, or both. We have another 3-4 years to win with this group of pitchers, and we are well behind schedule in overall team development.

Also of utmost importance is to rid ourselves of Aaron Rowand. It is another article for another day, but if we were to eat $8MM of his deal for the remainder of his deal ($24MM), it would be better than having him on the roster, and crazily, it would save us $12MM total ($4MM/year). How sickening is that? But seriously. He's part of the problem, and is a big reason why we are financially constrained.

Anyway, let's all enjoy the day off from offensive mediocrity and pray that Bochy, Sabean, Neukom, and the rest of those bean counters stop acting like such a-holes and do what needs to be done.

8 comments:

  1. I like your line up. I would add Downs in there somewhere. I would cut Rowand, Renteria ... just send them away and eat their money. FIRE BOCHY AND SABEAN ASAP!!! FIRE THEM!!!!!

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  2. Unfortunately, the so called "liberal" Bay Area has one of the most conservative approaches in all of baseball. They are, and always have been penny wise and pound foolish.

    Not only that, but they destroy or trade away much of the talent the have. Sabean and company are so worried about the fragile egos of young players that they refuse to make any kind of truly "bold" move - like damn the torpedoes and bring up Posey and Baumgardner. If not that, trade Baumgardner and others now, for a serious bopper that can run and play defense!

    How is it that teams like Florida have completely retooled championship level teams twice in 15 years and still end up with a more intriguing product than ours?

    We throw our dollars at "almost" big stars and "almost" every time we end up on the losing end. What would a DeRosa, Huff and Molina paycheck combined gotten us? How about an uninjured Jason Bay? Or maybe an Adrian Beltre? In 2009 Carl Crawford was available...

    We were stuck with conservative Horace C. Stoneham for what seemed like forever - whose only bold moves were to be conned into going to California on the Dodger's coattails (and move into a stadium whose location and construction were so ill-conceived that it appears to have been managed by the mafia) and to bring up a guy named Willie who had to hit over 400 to get promoted!

    IT'S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE!

    Either trade away some prospects for a real hitter or make some major changes now! Bengie should be Posey's back up (teaching him the game) starting in June. There is a long list of minor leaguers who should get the nod over Wellemeyer!

    All in all, I am convinced that there have been several prospects like Bowker who have had their careers ruined by the lack of solid commitment given to them. If Bowker might be great someday, put him in the outfield for a year and let him show it! Most major league teams wouldn't have traded for guys like DeRosa when they have a bowker available! They would have just put that kid out in left and let him play!

    Giants fans want to see Posey and other kids play. We are tired of all the re-treads - especially after last year being told we were going to go "young".

    I like Huff and DeRosa, but they don't make me want to buy a ticket, you duffusses!

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  3. Dan,

    Great blog! We (fans) have to understand how hard it is to win a ring (minus the wonderful niner run from '81-'94) and not get all worked up over losing some of our prospects. I'd trade 1 ring and a full year of celebrating with my brethern vs any of the 3 you mentioned making the Hall of Fame, in freaking heart beat. We should've one it in '87, got beat by a better team in '89, fucked in '93 fucked again by Baker in '02...it's really getting old. BTW, do we start talking about changing the coaching staff and upper mgnt? Remember 3-4 years. Keep up the good Work!

    Go Giants!

    MattyC

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  4. Dan,

    There's no way in hell that the Giants are going to send Rowand and Renteria to the bench, you know that. The way Torres is playing right now, I agree that he's the better option at the leadoff spot. And Uribe certainly provides more punch than Judy Renteria. But....you're kidding yourself if you think Bochy would actually throw that proposed lineup out there.

    As for Posey, I'm a little scared to thrust him into the Savior role. That usually doesn't bode well for young'ens. I think the Giants need to ease the Poseter child in, let him steal a few games a week behind the plate and first base. As he gets more comfortable, his role could expand (provided he is showing Savior potential).

    Truthfully, I wouldn't mind seeing the Giants pull off a blockbuster trade and exchange one of our great arms for a bona fide fence buster. But again, who are we kidding right?

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  5. Yeah, I know that lineup would never happen unless rowand renteria were injured or gone, but a Guy can dream right? And ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

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  6. Great blog, just to start. You know, LOST just ended on Sunday and now I feel like we are all dead on the field! I have defended some of the moves and Boachy in general to my wife, but just like most things in my house, I have to eat my words! This is getting to be where big changes need to be made, or we start seeing the backs of many teams unis when it comes to the division race.

    Cheers to the Gamers...

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  7. Welcome back to earth, Giants! Next week I predict 4th place as the Rockies take 3rd.

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  8. The Rockies probably will pass the Giants in the next week or two, but the Giants will end up better than fourth, SD is not nearly as good as they have looked so far.

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