Giant pitching questions this offseason

Firstly, I apologize for not writing much in the waning moments of the 2013 season. It just got too depressing, too frustrating, and the same issues were being discussed ad nauseum by every source and blog between here and Timbuktu (which is in Mali, in case you're wondering). Mali is the same place that "Would Be" Champions shirts get sent. Even they are discussing whether the Giants will re-sign Tim Lincecum, while clad in 2007 Rockies World Series Champions shirts.

The pitching issues facing the Giants following an embarrassing World Series defense-- if you call what they did in 2013 defending a championship-- are long and well-documented. But, let's do it again, just for old time's sake.

Under club control with buyouts

Barry Zito ($7MM buyout)
Ryan Vogelsong ($6.5MM club option w/$300k buyout)

Unrestricted FAs

Chad Gaudin
Javier Lopez
Tim Lincecum



"Analysis" (Look at me, I"m a blog analyst! I think I'm cool!)

To me, Zito is gone; he just has to be. He had his sendoff, he got his curtain calls, and we had the lovefest. Giants fans are the most sentimental in baseball, and that's fine. I love being part of such a loving group of fans. But let's be real. Enough is enough with Zeets. He's not good, he never really was, and yes we appreciate the great performances in the 2012 postseason. I wish him the best, but it can no longer be on my team as a player. I'd welcome him to the coaching staff.

Vogelsong is an interesting case. He showed signs after his return from injury that he was capable of being a starting pitcher. But he also showed some signs that he was the horrendous first half pitcher in 2013 during the back stretch. I know he's a stubborn, chainsaw-angry, motivated son of a bitch, so I'm willing to give him another shot if I'm Brian Sabean. However, I buy him out of his deal at $300k, and say, "Look man, we like you here, and we don't think you're finished, but based on last year, we can't justify $6.5 mil. We'll offer you the $300k, plus a base of $2 million, and we'll incentivize (is that a word?) the shit out of your contract. Cool? Now excuse me while I answer my Moto Razr flip phone."

If Vogey says no, then I wish him the best as well. He's a good dude, a better story, and was an inspiration.

Chad "Grope-din" is a guy I'd like back. Assuming this whole "groped a woman on a gurney at 4am in a Las Vegas hospital" thing was a misunderstanding-- or rather there was a better explanation than him being absolutely shitfaced and a complete scumbag, then I'd like him back.

Gaudin was an invaluable part of the Giants' staff last season, and kept things from getting completely "Houston Astros bad" when Vogelsong went down. That of course weakened the bullpen, but his versatility was a necessity in 2013. A 2-3 year deal in the $10MM range isn't out of the question, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets way more from another desperate team. He was obviously fatigued from all the extra groping innings that piled up on his arm, and is better suited as a long man in the pen and part time swingman starter. Regardless, he's a helpful piece, and I'd like him back.

Javier Lopez is an absolute necessity to be back. He sported better numbers than 2012 and shows no signs of slowing down-- especially against lefties. That's his job, he does it well, and a raise from the $4.25MM he made in 2013 is certainly warranted. If I'm Lopez, I look at the $5MM Affeldt is guaranteed through 2015 and say, "I'll have what he's having, plus a full tank of gas, a bloomin' onion from Outback with extra sauce MIND YOU. I'M TIRED OF RUNNING OUT OF BLOOMIN' ONION SAUCE."

Pay the man.

And now to Timmy.

I'm not going to go through why we like Lincecum, we all know his history with the team. As Tim McGraw might've said, "We like him, we love him, and some of us want some more of him."

Unlike Tim McGraw in his song about a hot chick, Giants brass and fans are a bit divided on whether bringing back Lincecum is the correct move.

He showed signs of life in 2013 after a 2012 regular season that could be described nicely as embarrassing. Still, he finished with a 4.37 ERA while making $22 million last year. Among the 79 qualified starters last year, that ERA mark is tied with Wily Peralta of the Brewers for 11th worst in baseball. If you're into WAR, which I'm not, he placed 16th in the league at 1.6 games above average. He walked people at the 10th highest rate in baseball, and his overall numbers are just hit and miss-- just like his starts.

I say he's all even-steven with the Giants when you think big picture. He outperformed small salaries early in his career and underperformed with big salaries recently. He won 2 CYs, 2 Championships, threw a no-no, and if this is the last we see of him, I'm okay with that.

But, if he's willing to be reasonable about his value and accept a deal in the neighborhood of $6-8MM a year for 2-3 years with incentives, then I'm fine with having him back.

Anything more than that, and he can go back home to Seattle and toss fish around with Pete Carroll in the rain.

I hate the Seahawks.

Pitching staff big picture

Beyond Cain and Bumgarner, the future is murky.

Assuming Zito and Vogelsong are not back, and the potential departure of Lincecum, we're talking about replacing 60% of the rotation-- and possibly needing to place its insurance policy, Chad Gaudin.

Sabean has some work to do, and I just hope this team doesn't have to overpay for pitching in some sick Zito-like scenario just to plug a couple holes.

With its present outstanding questions, there's no way this team can be considered a World Series contender. If Vogey, Timmy, Gaudin, and Lopez all return, and someone like Petit gets a shot at the rotation, we're basically the same as last year.

And last year, we were terrible.

Let's not get hung up on names and remember that the goal is improve from year to year. Unfortunately, that's not easy, especially when you don't have Magic Johnson Guggenheim Time Warner Cable money to blow on expensive booze and unnecessary shiny things that break after a year of regular use-- like a Jaguar with 80,000 miles on it.

Free Agents aren't abundant this year, and the good ones (including Lincecum) will receive the dreaded "qualifying offer". Teams like the Giants are able to offer its FAs a Q.O., which is an average of the 125 top salaries in baseball-- almost like the NFL's "Franchise Tag". This season it works out to around $14MM.

If a team thinks it'll lose an FA and is okay with the possibility of that player accepting the 1 year, $14MM deal, then the team that signs said player will forfeit their 1st round pick (unless they have a top 10 pick), in which case they forfeit their 2nd rounder. The team that lost the FA then receives a "sandwich pick" in between rounds 1 and 2.

This may work to the Giants' advantage if they lose Lincecum to another team after offering him the QA. However, by the Giants stupidly winning games at the end of the season (I blame management), they are slated to have the 14th pick in the draft, which is unprotected.


If the Giants sign someone like, let's say, Bronson Arroyo, who always kills us and would put up great numbers in a big ballpark like AT&T, the Giants will lose their 1st rounder to Cin
cinnati (assuming the Reds have offered Bronson the Q.O.

Arroyo would also fit in perfectly, as we have one departing guitar player in Zito. Plugging in another guitar player ensures that the McCovey Cove Starship won't miss a beat.


------Side rant-------

In case you're wondering, the Giants (SO STUPIDLY) won 2-3 games more than they should've. Had they benched their starters and tanked, they'd have had a protected top 10 pick.

I will never in my life understand the benefit of winning any games in a lost season like 2013, especially when this scenario was at stake. They needed to take a page from other sports like the Indianapolis Colts in their "Suck For Luck" year.

I never want to see my team lose, but winning those extra 3-5 games that they did at the end of the season only hurt their situation this offseason and weakened their hand.

------End of rant-------

Notable Free Agents starting pitchers include:

Roy Halladay (37), Josh Johnson (30), Matt Garza (30), Ervin Santana (31), Ricky Nolasco (31), Chien-Ming Wang (34), Bronson Arroyo (37), Paul Maholm (32), AJ Burnett (37), Hiroki Kuroda (39)...

There are others, but they aren't worth really mentioning on this list.

Check out MLBTR 2014 FAs here.

As you can see, the list isn't extensive, and Lincecum will likely benefit from this. However, if the Giants are able to re-sign Timmy for a reasonable rate, plug an effective Yusmeiro Petit in as a 5th starter, and add someone like Bronson Arroyo, we'd be talking about a pretty solid rotation. Not amazing, but goddamned solid.

Josh Johnson also intrigues me, but the guy is a walking injury report, and his 2013 campaign in Toronto was horrendous in the starts that he did make. He had bone spurs removed from his forearm a week ago, and may be a good buy low opportunity for someone with a decent contingency plan (like Chad Gaudin or Ryan Vogelsong).

There are more questions than answers at this point in regard to the pitching staff, and it's going to take money to fix. Heath Hembree will likely be a part of the bullpen, and that will help, but we can't depend on the Eric Surkamps and Mike Kickhams of the world to step into the rotation anytime soon.

There's a gap in the starting pitching pipeline right now, and the best talent not named Cain or Bumgarner the Giants have right now isn't in the form of Major League ready starting pitching. They have 3 guys-- Kyle Crick, Clayton Blackburn, and Chris Stratton-- that all project to be good big leaguers, but they're just not quite ready. All have yet to pitch above High A San Jose, and are a year or two away.

When they are ready to pair with Cain and Bumgarner though, we're looking at a talented group. Until then we're in full-blown hole-filling mode.

As I said... more questions than answers this offseason.

Giants simply must play better or else

As I write this, the Giants sit within striking distance of the NL West at 5.5 GB. They're still 7 games under .500, and they still aren't hitting on all cylinders, but they're alive.

With Timmy's no-hitter heading into the break and grabbing 2 of 3 to open the "so-called second half" (as Dave Flemming would put it) against Arizona, things appear to be trending in an upward fashion.

Clearly, they have their work cut out for them, with a capable Arizona team and the hyper-streaking Doyers sitting ahead of them in the standings.

Affeldt is now on the DL, resulting in more Jean Machi appearances, and the starting lineup is still mired in mediocrity, but I refuse to believe that Pablo, Pence, and Crawford will continue to hit at well below average clips.

As those three guys go, the Giants too will go.

It's clear that LF is still an issue, with 2B-turned OF Kensuke Tanaka not an overall upgrade over Andres Torres, and Francoeur still an unknown quantity. Personally, I'd like to see if a full-time Frenchy can get it going. At least he's got a cannon in LF, if nothing else.

The pitching staff is inconsistent, but is performing better than the beginning of the season.

The problem is this team has to play better with what they have before Brian Sabean can justify making any significant moves to upgrade this roster. Obviously, it's easier said than done in both respects, but it's crystal clear that this currently isn't a team that can make a run at this division without an immediate improvement from within.

Unfortunately, the whole lightning in a bottle thing that won two titles has yet to be captured, and there is no quick fix available. The theory that the Giants sold their soul to win in '10 and '12 certainly looks like there's a little merit to it as game after game, they're unable to put it all together.

As I mentioned in previous posts, this team needs an immediate infusion of pitching of some kind, and there's nothing available internally that will solve this issue right now.

As we speak, there are only 5 guys on the Fresno Grizzlies roster that have an ERA under 3. And of those 5, Jake Dunning, Sandy Rosario, and Jean Machi are already on the big league roster, and the other two guys have a combined 3 appearances. Heath Hembree if you're wondering, has 21 saves, but has an ERA hovering around 4.50. Obviously, AAA has been cashed out, and there aren't really any standouts in AA either.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the minors have little in the way of ML ready talent, and that puts the front office in a bit of a quandary.

Do they deal some A Ball level pitching prospects to get better now, in a season that is not guaranteed by any stretch? I would lean toward no.

The opportunity to add arms by taking on money for a middling prospect is likely the route that Sabean will have to go, unless the asking price for guys like Bud Norris come down.

With Zito (team option), Lincecum, Vogelsong (team option), and Chad "Gurney" Gaudin all set to hit the free agent market at the end of this season, it would behoove the Giants to make a meaningful move to secure controllable pitching that could help anchor the rotation beyond 2013.

A name that has recently surfaced as a possibility, is Kansas City's Ervin Santana (formerly of the Angels). Due to be a free agent, Santana is 6-6 with a 3.18 ERA. He should probably be available, although the Royals are apparently not ready to give up on the season yet. He's due somewhere around $5.5MM for the rest of the season.

The truth of the matter is that there isn't a ton out there in the ways of starting pitching, and the guys that are there are either really expensive prospect-wise like Jake Peavy, or really in demand.

The little wrinkle in this is that Ryan Vogelsong is supposed to be ready to go in 2-3 weeks. We can't forget how awful he was before he went down, but he's certainly capable of helping this team if he's back on track. This simple addition from within could really change the entire landscape of the pitching staff-- enabling either Vogey, Gaudin, or possibly the struggling Zito to become a reliever and bumping Machi down to Fresno.

As it stands, we can't count on that and the best solution may be to add a reliever.With the non-waiver trade deadline in less than two weeks, I fully expect that to happenr. A lefty would be optimal, but a righty like John Axford from Milwaukee would certainly fit the bill.

I know, I know, but he's only given up one earned run since May 15th.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Brian Wilson again, who is reportedly on track to showcase himself to teams in the next few weeks. The Giants have been reported as being interested in kicking his crazy tires once again.

It sounds like a broken record-- and it really is-- but the Giants are going to have play better with what they have rather than expecting some kind of miracle acquisition from the outside.

Are they capable of improvement? Of course, but we just haven't seen it, and they're running out of time.

Making sense of these Giants and the trade deadline

It's safe to say this second time around, that repeating as World Series Champions is easier said than done. Sure we basically brought back the exact same team, but if they don't perform at the same level, you're going to get a completely different result. That's what we're dealing with now.

The Giants have been struck by the Injury Bug, something that we haven't had to deal with much in the last couple years. We've been lucky.

We've also been struck by the Bad Pitching Demon and the Unable to Get Timely Hits Fairy. All of those things considered, the Giants are in this, and they can win this division again. There's just no question about it.

The NL West isn't weak-- no that wouldn't be the right word. It is suffering from a bizarre case of NFL-like parity brought on by severe under and overachieving by all 5 teams. The Giants/Snakes/Bastards are all underachieving, while the Rockpile and Madres are playing out of their gourds. Arizona seems to be the weirdest case of all. I mean, how do you underachieve in first place? Well they are-- led by underachieving pitching. That seems to be the common thread.

If you all thought the NL West would look like this around the all-star break, raise your hands. Stop lying. Put your arm down. Jerks...

It certainly is a strange scene.

But hey! The bright side is that the Giants are literally 3 games out of first place. It doesn't make sense I know. I've seen all the terrible baseball that you've seen, and yet, here we are, within one series of reclaiming our rightful position atop the NL West.

Sometimes, rather than stewing over losses, losing streaks, and Jeremy Affeldt appearances, we need to just take a deep breath of air, take a deep gulp of beer, and look at the goddamn standings for a while.

There are a lot of things that this team hasn't done very well this season, but there's still another half of baseball to be played, and moves to be made.

Dissecting Giant Needs via Trade

Do you listen to Marty Lurie on the weekends? You need to if you don't. He's like a kind, patient Grandfather/Psychotherapist for all of Giantsland. He lets everyone and anyone call up and say stupid things, and then he nicely tells them they're crazy and that they need to stop fantasizing about video game trades or talks them off ledges. My favorite part of his shows-- which simultaneously drives me nuts-- is when people say stuff like, "Let's trade Sandoval and Lincecum for Verlander" and absurd things like that. It makes me laugh. Anyway, let's identify our greatest needs here:

#1  STARTING PITCHER

This has to be our number one priority. I know Vogey is coming back soon, but he was absolutely awful this year, and he cannot be trusted. Lincecum is also unreliable and would be best served moving into a long relief role or late inning strikeout specialist. He did it last year in the playoffs and was very successful. Let's see if he can do it again. Also, adding a starter would give the Giants flexibility in the event that Vogey comes back in as badly as he went out.

Obviously this team has had trouble hitting sometimes, but starting pitching has been everything from bad, to atrocious this year, and you know it.

Assuming we add someone, the rotation (with Vogey back obviously) is Cain, Bum, New Guy, Zeets, Vogey, with Gaudin and Timmy in the pen. If Vogey sucks, they can move him to the pen, make up an injury, or figure something out, then bring back either Gaudin or Lincecum back from the pen. It makes sense to me.

The best part about adding a starter is that it immediately strengthens the bullpen.

Who to get? There are plenty of guys out there that have been spoken about: Ricky Nolasco, Bud Norris, Yovani Gallardo, etc.

You have to look at the future when making trades for the present, so which makes the most sense? Nolasco is an impending free agent, so to me, I don't want the risk. Gallardo really doesn't have great numbers this year and has struggled to be the beast that we've all seen him be. He's also the biggest name out there (aside from Cliff Lee, whom I won't bother discussing because it's not realistic) and Gallardo will have about $2.6MM remaining in 2013 salary at the July trade deadline, and then is owed $11.25MM in 2014 and has a $13MM club option with a $600K buyout for 2015.

To me, if we were to go after a Brewers pitcher, it should be Kyle Lohse, so is signed through 2015 with $7MM deferred until 2016-18). He has a lower ERA than Gallardo, and is from Chico. It's not a bad contract, and Lohse would benefit from playing in a pitcher's park for once in his life. That being said, he's getting a little long in the tooth (34) and the Brewers may prefer to keep him due to his decent contract. Another plus, is that he wouldn't take the type of prospects that a younger, sexier pitcher like Gallardo would.

Speaking of local guys (you knew it was coming), I want the Giants to get Bud Norris. Full disclosure is that I know him, and yeah, that makes me biased, but there's a good case to be made for the Budman.

He's 28, grew up a Giants fan in Novato, and has already admitted to the media that playing at home for the Giants would "be a dream come true".

Not only is he a good guy, but he's a hard worker, and all he wants to do is win. Oh yeah, and  he's currently sporting a 3.35 ERA, lowest among any of the guys I've mentioned above.

In fact, if you threw out two bad outings against Oakland and Detroit, his ERA would be 2.33.

Obviously I have closely followed his career, and it's pretty clear to me that he's learned how to be a pitcher in his fourth full season in the bigs. He's cut down his walk rate, his HR rate, and has stayed away from the big inning more often-- something that killed a lot of decent starts in the past. Interestingly enough, his strikeout rate is way down this year-- something I consider to be a good thing, because he's been able to pitch more to contact, and gotten more outs that way, rather than trying to get hitters to chase his plus-slider or trying to blow a fastball by them.

Biased or not, it's clear to me that Norris is the best move for the Giants. He's in his prime, he's affordable (made $3MM this yr) and is arbitration eligible next year. If the Giants want to keep him then, I think they have a better chance to do that than with someone like Nolasco.

As I watch Mike Kickham get kicked around in Cincinnati right now, I can't stress enough that this move needs to be made immediately.


#2 CORNER OUTFIELDER

With Pagan out, we just have to assume we're going to go forward with Blanco manning CF for the most part, and that's fine, because he's as good a CF as there is in baseball. Unfortunately, this new found thinness in the OF has exposed a weak LF that had been covered up by makeup and Botox until Pagan's injury.

Jeff Francoeur is out there floating around, and I wouldn't mind him as a 4th OF, but as a starter, he's not the answer. He was hitting .208 in KC, and they just cut him loose. I would welcome him as a short-term addition as he's a great clubhouse guy with a great nickname and a great arm. I hear about "scrunched faces" in regard to his OF play, but despite a poor 2012 in the OF, he's basically rated as average this season based on regular fielding stats and some of the crazy advanced ones.

The guy the Giants need to get is Alex Rios, and it sounds like they're looking to do that-- as they've sent scouts to watch him the last couple weeks. He's owed some money (about $5.5MM the rest of this year, $12.5MM next year and $13.5MM in '15 with a $1MM buyout). So basically, the Giants can give up a little less if they're willing to pay a little more-- something that surprisingly they've said they're willing to do. In the end, it would be a $19MM gamble for a guy that's actually playing pretty well.

The only issue is that he's played a total of 1 game in his professional career in LF. But, considering he was a full time CF in '10 and '11 with the White Sox, he can handle LF just fine. For Christ's sake, the Giants played Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell there over the years. Alex Rios wouldn't be an issue-- especially with Blanco's amazing range playing next to him and Brandon Crawford playing in front of him.

In 6 career games in San Francisco, he has a .937 OPS.

Aside from Rios, there aren't a ton of OFs that jump out as being available and affordable to the Giants (ie. money not prospects), so this may drive up the price.

#3 RELIEF PITCHER

It may seem like we need a reliever badly, but if we take care of problem #1 and add an SP, we gain an automatic bullpen arm. Plus, there's the matter of Santiago Casilla returning soon. Casilla is more important to this team than anyone could have imagined, and with this knee cyst problem taken care of, maybe he'll be better than ever. These two "inside additions" could be enough to nurse the pen back to health-- that is if Affeldt and Romo settle down and stop scaring us.

Relievers are the easiest positions to add, because there are tons of dudes out there. They're also key positions, as we've learned from previous stretch runs.

There are 4 current or former closers that jump out as possibly being available: Glen Perkins (MIN), Bobby Parnell (NYM), Francisco Rodriguez (MIL), and John Axford (MIL).

While most of us want nothing to do with the artist formerly known as K-Rod and the Ax-Man, Axford has experienced a bit a of re-birth as of late as a middle reliever and totally hasn't sucked. Neither has K-Rod.

K-Rod has 6 saves in 17 innings with a 1.02 ERA and Axford has only allowed 5 ER in his last 23.2 IP. I know neither inspires confidence, but they're more affordable than these next two guys.

Perkins and Parnell are the two current closers that a lot of teams would love to have. Both are having good seasons, and both extremely affordable. Perkins just signed an extension with Minny last year, so I'd be surprised if he was traded, despite their lameness on the field. He's only due $7.5MM total over the next two years and has a friendly club option for 2016. Parnell on the other hand is under team control through 2015 season, as he just entered his first year of arby this season. Unfortunately, that makes Parnell a hot commodity and the Mets, who've said they intent to keep him, would have to be bowled over with an offer. Similar language surrounds the affordable Perkins, who the Twins would be better off keeping, unless they received a sweet deal.

That leaves guys like Steve Cishek (MIA), Matt Lindstrom (CHW), Jose Veras (HOU), or Jose Valverde (FA).

Oh yeah, there's also some guy out there named Brian Wilson who no one has seen hind nor hair of in months. I know he kinda burned his bridges here and he's a big distraction, but this is the time of year when he said he'd be ready. Just an intriguing thought.

Final Thoughts

This season is clearly not a wash, a lost cause, or anything else. This team is only 3 games out despite its obvious flaws and inconsistent play. But we're lucky enough to play in a weird division that's there for the taking. It's time for Sabes to make a couple of moves, and I believe I've outlined them above. Trade for Rios and eat his money, stick him in LF, then trade for Bud Norris. This allows two of the Gaudin/Lincecum/Vogelsong trio to strengthen the bullpen along with Santiago Casilla, and everyone lives happily ever after. Deal?

Deal.

Drawn out ceremonies, Timmy & Hector, St. Louis, & other early observations

Well, it's been a few games now, and we've gotten to know our 2013 Giants a little better. Sure, they're almost the same team as last year, but every year is different. Guys get better, guys regress, and you just never know how things will shake out. Here's what I've seen so far:

-- Starting pitching has been a little up and down. Cain had one great start against LA, then gave up a historic 9 ER against St. Louis. Timmy won a game while walking 7. Bumgarner was a monster against the Dodgers and was a little shaky against Colorado. Vogelsong got lit up pretty badly.

The only guy with an unblemished statline thus far is Barry Zito, who apparently now owns the Cardinals. Let's hope this dominant Zito sticks around all year.

...Speaking of the Cardinals and our home opening series...

-- They got a little revenge for last season's NLCS. Believe me, these fans and that team are still bitter at their collapse, and they immediately got subjected to a three game, pre-game lovefest the likes unseen by Major League Baseball.

There's been some talk about the three ceremonies and how they were a little much. I agree.

Three days of flag raising, Buster, and an extended ring ceremony is deserved, but a little much when they last 20-30 minutes apiece and delay the beginning of the game. Again, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy every second of  it and that I didn't tear up when they raised that championship flag, but I wouldn't want the Giants to get stuck with another team's home opening series and 3 extravagant ceremonies in a row.

I feel like the flag-raising and the ring ceremony could've all been on the same day (Friday) and that Buster's MVP ceremony could've been pushed back to the Rockies series or on Sunday. Just my opinion.

-- Interesting factoid: The Cardinals also were at AT&T Park in 2011 for the Giants home opening series in which they watched the Giants ring ceremony. And then won the WS themselves in '11.

-- The Dodgers still suck. They've got all kinds of fancy toys that will cost them an arm and a leg for years, and the only one worth a damn is Clayton Kershaw, who they haven't even paid yet. Pathetic.

-- I like Chad Gaudin. He's looked good thus far. Andres Torres on the other hand...

-- There's still a "thing" between Timmy and Buster, whether anyone in the Giants' clubhouse wants to admit it or not. Sanchez caught Lincecum in his 1st two starts, and this brilliant Baseball Prospectus article (which you need to read) basically breaks down how and why Hector Sanchez is an unacceptable catcher thus far in his young career, especially for Lincecum. A lot of it has to do with framing, but the thing that gets me is that Buster has to sit or displace Belty in order for this to happen.

All this why there's a 3rd catcher named Quiznos sitting on the bench, useless.to the world and to himself. He should be getting reps in the minors.

Whether Bochy just wants to avoid Buster getting beaten up by crazy breaking pitches in the dirt, or whether Lincecum just can't handle being told what to do, this thing is detrimental to both the Giants' offense and defense.

I think a lot of us have this feeling that Hector Sanchez can hit, and he's still just a baby, but the fact remains that he hit .280 last year, but had a .685 OPS to go along with it. That's like backup middle infielder territory...

-- Brian Wilson didn't respond to the Giants' invitation to be included in the ring ceremony. That was the final nail in the coffin to his career in with the Orange & Black. It was immature and unacceptable. We loved that weirdo and he'll never be as happy with anyone else as he was here. If he wasn't so obsessed with himself, he'd have signed a minor league deal with the Giants and pitched his way back into a setup role. Instead, he made it about him, and still thinks that despite the fact he isn't capable of pitching, that he should be offered guaranteed millions. Good luck Wilson. I won't even call you Weez anymore.

It was nice while it lasted... all two years of it.

-- Speaking of which, where was Barry Bonds on Buster's MVP Day? For as much controversy as his name conjures up, he should've still been there. Jeff Kent, might have been a great Giant,but he also played for the effing Dodgers willingly-- Bonds never did that. Who better to give a keynote MVP speech to Buster than a guy who won 7 of them and lost an 8th to Jeff Kent.

I know he's a salty bastard and he has outstanding legal issues, but the Giants give rings to Kruk and Kuip and bring back Gaylord Perry all the time. Bonds deserves to be there. He built that ballpark and paved the way for these two Championships.

-- The Giants need to start their own division of eBay for highly sought-after giveaways like the Buster bobblehead. Nevermind the fact that they were giving away 40k of them, there will still morons lined up for LITERALLY a mile down the Embarcadero before the gates were opened. All for a bobblehead.

Crazier still was that there were sleaze merchants with garbage bags waiting inside the gates offering everyone $15-$20 for their bobbleheads. Last time I checked, they were going for $40-$50 on eBay. Just crazy.

Buster is protecting my flavored booze section now.

-- Stay hot Hunter Pence, catch fire Marco Scutaro... pretty self-explanatory, Pence has been a monst, and Scoots doesn't look comfortable at all. Also, Pagan is off to a hot start, giving me plenty of opportunities to use my #PaganWorship hashtag on Twitter.

Remember to read this Baseball Prospectus article about Timmy and Hector.