Jose Guillen to Giants? Looks like it.

Twitter rumors are going nuts right now. Enrique Rojas, an ESPN reporter for ESPNDeportes is reporting via Twitter that the Giants and Royals are close to completing a deal for the right fielder.

As of 11:15pm Pacific, the real ESPN doesn't have anything up. However, ESPN Deportes has the following article up (in Spanish). I took the liberty of translating it. It can be found here.

From Enrique Rojas, ESPN Deportes

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants worked early Friday to complete a trade that sent outfielder Jose Guillen to the Bay Area, said a source told ESPNdeportes.com/

If the move is completed, Guillen would fly from Miami to San Francisco in time to debut in the series that begins Friday between Giants and San Diego Padres. The Giants began the weekend to 2.5 games behind the Padres, who lead the Western Division of the National League.

Guillen was designated for assignment last Thursday by the Royals. The club has a period of 10 days, which expires on Saturday, to change, dismiss or reinstate the player. Guillen hit .266 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs as a designated hitter this season. San Francisco would play him in right field.

Guillen is in the final season of a 3 year/$36 million contract with Kansas City.



So, what it really sounds like is a deal that will probably send a lower level prospect or two... purely speculation, but perhaps a Ryan Rohlinger type, maybe even someone less well known. Regardless, this is an offensive upgrade for little to no cost in prospects.

Guillen is past his prime, but is still a dangerous right handed hitter with a strong arm. He is rather limited defensively, but then again, people said that about Aubrey Huff in the OF too.

Guillen is a relatively high strikeout guy like many power hitters, but has found a lot of success during his career. His finest season came in '04 with Anaheim when he hit 27 HR and 104 RBI.

In Kansas City he was seen as a lazy malcontent at times, ripped his teammates publicly, and in most ways, did not live up to his huge FA deal. Nevertheless, he is a capable player that should help the Giants during the playoff stretch and he seems to have settled down since his public rant last season.

I am concerned that this makes the lineup very right-handed, but it is still a lot better than what we started the year with.

Manny Burriss is the likely guy to get sent down to make room for Guillen. He will be recalled during the September roster expansion time. However the acquisition of Mike Fontenot on Wednesday made Burriss expendable.

Best Projected Lineup:

CF Torres (S)
2B Sanchez (R)
1B Huff (L)
C Posey (R)
LF Burrell (R)
3B Sandoval (S)
RF Guillen (R)
SS Uribe (R)

Bench: Schierholtz OF (L), Fontenot INF (L), Rowand OF (R), Ishikawa 1B (L), Eli Whiteside C (R)

Rotation: Lincecum (R), Zito (L), Cain (R), Sanchez (L), Bumgarner (L)

Bullpen: Romo (R), Casilla (R), Javier Lopez (L), Ramon Ramirez (R), Guillermo Mota (R), Chris Ray (R), Brian Wilson (R)

DL: Edgar Renteria (SS), Jeremy Affeldt (LHP), Dan Runzler (LHP)

The good and the downright scary

Nothing like playing a going-nowhere team without its manager, best hitter, two traded-away middle infielders, and horrendous bullpen to really make you examine the state of your team.

I can't remember a Giants team changing its problems and strengths so frequently, and so unexpectedly. It's just so damned weird. We go to Atlanta, pitch pretty damn well, and can't hit a lick. We come home, pitch at an average to below average level, and smack the tar out of the ball like it's going out of style.

All the while, we managed to take 3 of 4 from a collective walking disaster called the Chicago Cubs. In all seriousness, this should have been a relatively easy sweep. On the other hand you've got to give Chicago a little credit for sacking up, having a little pride and playing their tails off. They know they suck, but their young players really stepped it up.

With this ESSENTIAL three game series against San Diago looming, we've gotta examine the good and the downright scary.

The Good: Pat Burrell & Pablo Sandoval

Doesn't it get your goat even more that Bochy was benching Burrell after his initial tear as a Giant? So dumb. The guy can flat out hit, and he's truly in a groove. Honestly, we haven't had 2 hitters like Huff and Burrell since the days of Bonds and Kent. Granted the Burrell/Huff combo of power hitters is a poor man's version of Barry and Jeff, but still. I just can't say enough about what Burrell has added to this team after his midseason acquisition.

Even Huff, who himself is a clubhouse sparkplug, seems re-energized by Burrell. My favorite part of the veteran Burrell is his even-keel approach to hitting. As Krook has pointed out, the guy's demeanor is dialed in, unfazeable, and simply professional-- for lack of a better term.

Take the grand slam he hit in the final game of the Chicago series. He calmly stood in the box. There was no fidgeting, no long walks outside the box, no batting glove readjustments. He stoically took two fairly close pitches. Boom. 2-0. Hitters count.

He knew he had to get something good to hit, or else he'd let it go. Hence the hitters count-- the pitcher either comes in to steal a strike, or risks running up a 3-0 count with the sacks full of Gyros.

We all know how that ended. Yup. Great scene.

Here I am, gushing like a schoolgirl again. OMG! OMG! Pat Burrell!

Perhaps Burrell's patient success has something to do with Panda's recent resurgence.

Now look. I'm going to be EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS about Pandoval and his recent play. The man tripled and donged one into McCovey Cove on Thursday. He drove the ball on Wednesday. He is 13 for his last 35 at Mays Field (.371 avg). In fact, his pattern of non-awfulness stems back to the Mets series about a month ago. From that time through the Cubs series, Pablo is hitting .284 with 11 extra base hits. Most importantly, he tripled and homered on Thursday, finally... FINALLY driving the ball like a man!

Again, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about him. I was seriously on the verge of writing an article advocating that the Giants send him to Fresno for a week to send a message. Honestly. I was like 5 or 6 more groundouts away from doing it. Instead, he somehow managed to stop swinging at crap 100% of the time and actually waited for the ball to reach the plate before swinging.

Honestly, the difference between Panda's swings on those two hits versus the Cubs was night and frickin day to the garbage he's been pulling the whole season. He was relaxed, waited on the pitches, and transferred his power from the back leg to his front leg, and effing turned on those pitches... LIKE A REAL HITTER!

It was so beautiful, I nearly teared up watching the replays. That's the swing. That's was it. Now quick, do it again.

That's my main concern with Panda. I've seriously advocated for a medical evaluation of him for a couple months. As 22Gigantes pointed out a few days ago, ritalin is the main reason for Andres Torres's development as a baseball player. Before the pill popping, Torres was a distracted career minor leaguer. With hard work and the help of the medication, he's now a top line leadoff hitter and gold glove candidate in CF.

This relates to Panda because he has an uncanny ability to totally forget about his past successes and failures as fast as I change GAC when a Rascal Flatts music video comes on. I just worry that as soon as he's found his stroke, it'll disappear again into a grey washout of dribblers and 6-3 putouts. Let's hope I'm wrong, and that Panda really is back.

The Downright Scary: Tim Lincecum

I don't even know what to say. The other 3,447 Giants blogs out there have talked about it ad nauseum, so I'm not going to go through stuff you already know. That's why you read this one and not that other regurgitated crap on the internet.

There are a number of theories as to what exactly is wrong with Timmy. Some just say he needs to start smoking dope again. Some think he doesn't take his workouts and mechanics seriously enough. Some say he's been overworked and that he has a tired arm. People think his velocity is down because he can't control a 95 mph fastball anymore. The likely theory that's been floated is that he simply has lost his fine-tuned mechanics and hasn't been able to find them on his own.

Coming off two Cy Young seasons, this is just not the type of article I ever expected to have to write.

Carl Steward of the Merc really made a good point filling in for Baggs the other day, and it's an idea that the blogging public has floated as well (including myself). The guy needs his dad to put in for some vacation days up at Boeing and fly his ass down here to work with Timmy.

This is something that Dave Righetti can't fix. Why Tim has always been so amazing is his crazy windup and his crazy torso torquing and over-extension. The analogy is that he's a finely-tuned sports car, and you don't bring that into the Speedee Oil Change & Tuneup for service.

The interesting aspect of this story is that it seems like Timmy and his dad Chris aren't getting along these days for whatever reason. A lot of it has to do with the fact that fathers and sons have been pains in each other's asses for thousands of years. Timmy just wants to fix it himself, but unfortunately Chris knows best, and is the only one who can fix him and his complicated ass.

I would even go so far as to suggest that Lincecum should skip the start against San Diego on Sunday. I know you may think I'm nuts, but he's not right, and he didn't last 4 innings against the Cubs. If Zito can go Sunday on 3 days rest, and a day off Monday, this would give Timmy time to rest, and hopefully work out his kinks.

The reason I say this is because, yeah, I don't know if you've looked at our upcoming schedule, but, what can I say, it's a bear.

Following San Diego, we have 3 in Philadelphia and St. Louis. Both are playoff-bound teams in hot weather cities. Then we have the potentially playoff-bound Cincinnata Reds in San Francisco for 3. Those are 3 powerful teams all fighting for playoff position, and a bad Lincecum would not help our cause... at all.

Look, I know it's a radical suggestion, but it's just one skipped start...

Think about it?

Giants make huge trade... for Mike Fontenot

No, we didn't get Adam Dunn or Jose Guillen. What we did get is a little dude by the name of Mike Fontenot that I believe can only help the Giants.

Is he a sexy name? No. He's also 5'8, from Louisiana and is funny looking. What he does bring to the table is defensive versatility, smart play, and fundamentals. Again, this is not game changer and is the furthest thing from a power hitter, but our bench has been perteptually thin -- especially now with Renteria injured, Uribe's tender hammy acting up, Sanchez slumping badly, and Manny Burriss as nothing more than a fast question mark.

Fontenot, played with fellow NL Westers Ryan Theriot and Brad Hawpe at LSU (Also Brian Wilson's alma mater). He was also hilariously and absurdly connected to Megan Fox romantically at one time, which makes me simultaneously chuckle and wish it was true. Here's a link:

http://www.thecubsbrickyard.com/2008/12/17/megan-fox-panties/

Theriot it a plus defender at 3 positions-- 2B, SS, and 3B. In split duty this year (in limited time), he has only made 6 errors and has a .984 career fielding percentage. Practically, he fits a need for a lefty off the bench and someone who can fill in for Panda, Uribe, or Sanchez at any time. Scrappy players like Fontenot are great assets to have-- not game changers by any means, but do not take anything away from you.

For you Sabermetric fruitcakes, his WAR is -0.1. Not that it effing matters. Go back to pleauring yourselves to Fangraphs if you want to know his ZXYO--SwingUZR¥$ Percentage.

In exchange for Fontenot, the Gyros traded A-Baller OF Evan Crawford to Chicago. Crawford's numbers are unimpressive, but he was a former 9th rounder for the Giants a couple years ago.

Fontenot made $1MM this season and is arbitration eligible for a few more years, so if desired, he could be an inexpensive backup infield option for years to come.

Since I am blogging on my Moto Droid out of the house right now (God Bless America), I can't add any fancy linked text. So you'll have to click on a long ass old-fashioned link for Fontenot's stat page. Sorry.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fontemi01.shtml

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.1

These guys don't give up...

This is a quick late night post-- something I never do.

But this is not a recap, this is just an exuberant exaltation of a Giants fan that had to consume a couple rally cocktails to push his team over the top for the victory.


In typical Giants style, this opening match against the dysfunctional Cubs was neither enjoyable or smooth for most of the game. It began with all kinds of weirdness and ended with weirdness.

Firstly there was the unknown factor of "Jerry Garcia Night", obviously a first in the history of mankind-- let alone professional baseball. Perhaps all the burned out communists in the stands got just high enough on dope to convey just enough good vibes onto the field for the win.

To add even more weirdness to the start of the game, there was Carlos Zambrano, the human powder keg. A guy who doesn't need drugs to act like a raving psycho. It was his first start since his historically bizarre and verbally violent dugout eruption in June.

And surprisingly, he pitched fairly well. To be fair, the Gyros haven't swung the bats well since their 10-0 dismantling of Colorado last week. That's neither here nor there though. We expected the same old mantra to ring true: Giants Baseball... TORTURE!

And speaking of torture, Duane Kuiper was mysteriously absent for the entire top of the 1st inning, and part of the bottom of the inning as well (if my memory serves me right at this late hour). So instead of an emergency deployment of Dave Flemming over to the Comcast side, Mike Krukow, who we all love as a color guy, was left by himself to cover the play by play while Kuip was either puking hardcore or hitting the dumper down the hall. Crude but true, and later on, Krook so tactfully put it:

"Kuip is suffering from a little bit of the 'Southern Crud'."

The awkwardness of Krukow alone in the booth was just the beginning of a night that transitioned into a familiarly frustrating game of groundouts and Twitter outbursts by yours truly about Pablo Sandoval being a retard.

We all know how the game ended, and what happened in order for us to win... that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to accentuate the the manner in which we won.

This is a team that has fought back all year, overcoming late inning deficits in a way we're simply not used to. This team is prone to slumps and groundouts, as we all know. Interestingly enough though, they are also prone to magical comebacks complete with a seemingly new hero each time.

As they say: It's magic inside.

As I wrote in my last article, "Adversity breeds character, and character wins games in September and October."

Now I'm no Vince Lombardi or Al Michaels or anything, and I'm not much for cheesy motivational quotes, but I have to hand it to myself on that one. It's pretty damn good.

Look at what these guys did. They got their asses handed to them in Atlanta in 3 out of 4 games, then got on a 5.5 hour plane ride from Hartsfield-Jackson airport on Sunday night, only to show up huge in the 11th inning. If you don't think those guys were dog tired and came out flat because of that brutal scheduling, you're kidding yourselves.

The character that these Giants continue to show me is impressive. It was impressive when they beat Billy Wagner and the Braves the other day, and it was impressive last night when they overcame the bizarre dysfunction of the Northside Baby Bears, in addition to a foolish wave-in of Travis Ishikawa by 3rd base coach Tim Flannery.

It's as if this team is training like Rocky Balboa for a bout with Ivan Drago. They may not have a cool gym or a bunch of high tech equipment or shiny names on their roster, but they've got the will. This part of the season is like the part of the training montage in Rocky IV when they're working out in the barn and running up the snow hill in Russia.



Yes. I love Rocky IV, and will refer to it any chance I get.

Also. Do you see how much these guys like each other? Do you see the chemistry? Guys like Andy Torres, Aubrey Huff, and Pat Burrell are flat out gamers, and each has their own interesting storyline.

I swore last article that I wouldn't gush like a schoolgirl... but ah, screw it, I'm doing it anyway. What a cool win for a great group of guys. It's exciting boys and girls. Get used to it.

Curbing Our Enthusiasm Sucks

"...adversity breeds character, and character wins ballgames in September and October."



I waited to write something this week. Mainly because it's been uncomfortable until now to sit at a desk. Sad I know. The other reason is simple... it's a lot easier to write stuff about a team on an absolute roll; a team that looked World Series-bound and like a team of destiny. I see people Twittering about "This reminds me of '93" or "This feels a little like 2000" or "Man, we have better pitching now than we did in '02".

It sure easy to gush like a schoolgirl when the team wins 20 of 25 games, and Buster Posey looks like the next coming of an blessed love child between Joe Mauer and Derek Jeter. It's easy to gush like a schoolgirl when Andy Torres is hitting 410 foot home runs every 3 days.

This is why you hold off. I learned my lesson about that. You can be excited all you want about what you see. You can text and Twitter all you want about how much ass we're kicking, but the season is too long, and this team is too imperfect to declare too many things before the 140 game mark.

Take this for example. I said this back on April 9th:

"Renteria really looks like a beast among boys out there right now and appears to be the same player who had a .330 season for the Braves in '07."

I also praised Aaron Rowand at the time, and said he looked like a .270 hitter... a compliment when it comes to him.

Why did I bring up these things that make me look stupid? Because things were going swimmingly back on April 9th, just like they were before we faced Yabalda Jimenez on our way to Atlanta.

And you know what? I'm glad we got our asses kicked in ATL. I'm also glad that it happened in 95 degree heat and 60% humidity. I'm glad we faced Atlanta's best pitchers, on the road, in as hostile and uncomfortable an environment as Atlanta's notoriously, horrendously lame fans could provide.

The simple reason is that adversity breeds character, and character wins ballgames in September and October.

No one can say that this team has lacked scrapiness or resolve-- especially compared to the disaster last season. Remember that? Remember when a 2-0 deficit in the 7th inning meant game over? We don't have that problem anymore.

Every team loses 2-0 to Timmy Hudson from time to time. Hell, the Yankees got shut out by James Shields on August 1st 3-0. The same James Shields that allowed 6 dongs to Toronto on Saturday. It happens. That's baseball.

What you need to be concerned about are patterns that seem to revolve like an a bad Cyndi Lauper cassette playing on an auto-reverse tape deck.

What really concerns me? Not the offense as a whole. It will slump from time to time. There are individual pieces that have to be worrisome:

1) Pablo Sandoval

Every time we think "The big bat we've been looking for" gets a hit, we think he may finally be snapping out of it. He isn't. He won't. I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic. Pablo Sandoval is a little kid that gets too excited at the plate to do anything productive. I've said it before and I will say it again... and I'm dead serious. He needs medication, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. There are a lot of things out there that will allow him to slow his mind down and become more cerebral, without taking away his goofy personality. I'm not as concerned about his weight as others are. "It's 80% mental and 40% physical." (Little Giants quote...)

2) Bruce Bochy

I've been on the "Fire Bochy" train for a couple months now, and I'm not getting off. The man is a bumbling fool and continues to both bewilder and enrage all fans that know their ass from a hole in the ground.

The newest twist to the Bochy saga is an unconscionable 13 man pitching staff, complete with Denny Bautista... who has been dispatched correctly...

Only...

...it was for TODD WELLEMEYER! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?

Who is calling the shots here? Anyone with a brain knows two things: 1) Wellemeyer sucks and 2) a 13 man pitching staff with a 4 man bench is asinine.

Even worse than having the likes of Bautista and Wellemeyer on our team is Bochy inexplicably giving up on games before they're over, conceding them, and bringing in Denny or Welley.

Case and point, Wednesday August 4th in Colorado, the Ubaldo gem.

After Madison Bumgarner gave up the 2-run HR to Carlos Gonzalez, Bochy brought in Bautista. The game was still within striking distance at 4-0. Bautista promptly hit Melvin Mora, threw a wild pitch, then hit Chris Iannetta before intentionally walking Barmes. He got lucky, and got out the inning.

Instead of removing the shaky/retarded Bautista for the 6th, Big Head left him in the game... a game that was now only a 4-1 deficit. And we all know how that ended... back to back dongs to CarGo and Tulo. Game over.

Example #2

Sunday in Atlanta with Derek Lowe on the mound. It was hot, Lowe's sinker was sinking, and with Sanchez on the mound, we were going to have to score runs to win.

As we had Bad Sanchez on the mound instead of Good Sanchez, a reliever was needed from our 8 man bullpen. And who trots out to the mound? Todd Freakin Wellemeyer.

We know how it went. 4 straight singles. Then Santiago Casilla and Aubrey Huff managed to combine for 3 solid outs to keep the game within striking distance.

Now that we've established the two recent bonehead moves by Bochy in regard to the bullpen, it doesn't hurt to mention that we basically have 3 guys on the bench on any given day. Oh, Renteria's banged up? Oh Uribe's hamstring is tender? Oh, so we really have 3 guys on the bench? Our two right-handed options off the bench are Whiteside and Rowand or Rowand and Renteria, and our only left hander is Schierholtz when Ishikawa plays?

I'm exasperated just talking about this. DFA Wellemyer immediately and eat the $400k he's due. You signed him to a low-risk high reward $1MM deal. It didn't work out. Dump his ass and bring up someone else. Rohlinger, Pill, Belt, Ford, I don't care. Bring up another body, and do it now. Morons.

3) Freddy Sanchez

Sanchy has struggled mightily for nearly 6 weeks now. He hasn't been Rowand bad, but he's been fairly worthless at the plate for awhile. Despite this fact, the Gyros were still able to score more runs than anyone in the Majors for July, an incredible feat for a team with a scuffling 2nd place hitter.

He's only had 3 doubles since June 18th, scored only 13 runs in July, and has seen his average drop from .279 to .258 since the all-star break. Freddy's .315 OBP% and .638 OPS are disturbing as well.

We know the guy can hit. He won a batting title, and we saw Sanchy have a stellar June. It's a deep slump, and I think he needs to sacrifice a chicken or an Aaron Rowand or something to bust out of it. The lineup is simply less effective when Freddy is not up at the top setting the table for Aubrey and Buster.

Other than those things, I would say that this team is pretty solid. And it's a fact that they own the Major's best record since July 5th (22-9). And hey, I make it sound a lot worse than it really is for a reason. These issues need to be resolved and addressed in order for this team to compete on all cylinders for a playoff spot.

Not only that, but it was great to see a potential playoff foe like Atlanta on top of their respective game. Now you know what you're up against in October boys. Go and get it.


And hey, Jonathan Sanchez is down. He is not only down, but he's throwing down guarantees.

"We're going to play San Diego, and we're going to beat them three times," Sanchez said. "If we get to first place, we're not going to look back. We are definitely going to make the playoffs."

I dig brother. I dig.