This blog is dedicated first and foremost to the San Francisco Giants. Secondly it is devoted to the smearing and ripping of the most disgusting franchise in professional sports: The Los Angeles Dodgers.
The sooner you're able to say goodbye to Freddy Sanchez, the better.
Our most consistent hitter in 2011 has probably played the last effective baseball he'll play for our Giants this year.
He helped us win a World Series, he kept us afloat during dry streaks this year, but sadly, he's not going to be contributing much from here on out.
With the Buster, DeRosa, and Freddy all pretty much done this season, it seems like people have been dropping like flies. Almost everyone seems to have spent time on the shelf this year. And yet, we keep getting it done.
Hey, that's why good pitching is so important...
No, I don't know any inside information about Freddy's injury, but look, if you think he's coming back, you're kidding yourself.
The man has been a creaky hinge and a greaseless wheel since even before he was acquired from Pittsburgh. His joints don't work. He'll need some cream, clear, and some hardcore glucosamine geltabs to even sniff effective baseball this year. Hell, give him KY injections and put some Castrol High Mileage 10W-40 into his bloodstream. Anything to keep his joints intact.
When you dislocate your shoulder, screw up your capsule, etc., you're screwed. Especially when you play 2B and have to dive constantly (just like on the play in which he hurt himself). He can rehab all he wants, but it won't help. See "DeRosa, Mark" in the Giants Injury Encyclopedia ($659.99 at the Giants Dugout Store) if you want to see how un-rehabable injuries turn out when you try to play around with colored rubber bands, $70 ice packs, and electrolysis instead of going under the knife.
Frederick will be 34 at the start of next season, and unfortunately, thanks to an under-the-radar one year contract extension handed out to Freddy for no apparent reason in April, we will see Freddy back at 2B in 2012. Honestly, I don't remember hearing about Freddy being extended for another $6MM, and I don't get it, now that I'm discussing it in this forum.
It's not like we have a ML ready 2B being blocked by F-Sanch, but it's just a strange extension that bothers me a lot. His knees and shoulders are just a friggin mess, and although I expect him to be okay to begin 2012, history dictates that we have to pencil him in for at least one DL stint.
With a 2012 free agent second base class headlined by Kelly Johnson and Omar Infante, I feel a little comforted that we already have a solid veteran option. However, we can't really rely on him to stay on the field the whole season. That scares me.
As for right now, I guess we press on with Manny Burriss and Bill Hall... neither of which excite me all that much. Hall has pop and Manny has speed... too bad they can't be combined into one person. I could go for that...
Then there's the matter of Fontenot coming back (does Crawford go back down?), Tejada getting hot (but with Panda at 3B, does Tejada play 2B for the first time?).
Will Sabean try to grab Mark Ellis from Billy Beane for a case of Corona and a scrub to be named later?
Questions abound, but there's one answer I do have: Freddy Sanchez is done for 2011.
I know this is a little late, and borderline irrelevant, but I wanted to touch a little on Mark DeRosa's potentially career-ending wrist injury.
He's the type of player every team wants-- at least in theory... a versatile guy who can hit, is a hoot in the clubhouse, and is generally just a valuable piece to have on your baseball-themed chess board.
Well... that was 2008 Mark DeRosa... and to a lesser extent, 2009 Mark DeRosa.
The 2008 Mark DeRosa hit 21 dongs with 87 ribeye steaks. The 2009 Mark DeRosa, even with a little time on the DL with that stupid wrist problem hit 23 HR and 78 RBI. From 2006 to 2009, DeRo had a .291 BA. He still played all over the field. He was just a plain old good baseball player.
The Cleveland Indians of all people, saw that DeRosa's star was dimming in 2009 when they dealt him to St. Louis at midseason.
It was this trade that gave Cleveland their future closer in Chris Perez, and began the downfall of DeRo's wrist and career.
The 2 yr./ $12MM deal the Gyros gave DeRo really bothered a lot of fans. Coming off a wrist injury, was a 35 year-old without a truly good position a good idea? Many wrote off the deal as a typical Sabean move. I liked it at the time because he's the type of player I'd love to have on my fantasy team... and real team for that matter. Unfortunately, the deal ended up being the worst contract since Dave Roberts a few years ago.
That is just plain depressing. But I bet this breakdown will make you sick.
Here's the money breakdown for Mark DeRosa's contributions:
44 Games = $272,727 per game 24 Hits = $500,000 per hit 1 HR = $12,000,000 per home run 5 XBH = $2.4 MM per extra base hit
Ugh. Gross!
Regardless of how disturbing all this is, it's not fair to Mark to put all this crap on him. There's nothing he could have done to prevent the series of wrist injuries that befell him. He's a hard worker, a dedicated guy, and to accuse him or blame him for his lack of performance isn't fair.
It's rare that I feel bad for multi-millionaires with hot wives, but you know, I do feel for Mark in this case. His career is likely over. If your wrist doesn't work, you can't swing, and if you can't swing, you're gonna be playing basketball in your backyard pool and picking your kids up from elementary school for a living.
Hey. Could be worse.
Baseball is what he loves to do. It's his livelihood, his passion, and he was pretty damn good at it. It's incredibly frustrating to be limited physically when that prevents you from doing things you enjoy. It totally sucks.
And like Barry Zito, another expensive failure, there's no one more disappointed in their Giants career than Mark DeRosa.
With all that said, it's an unfortunate end to a scrappy and solid major league career, and if Mark DeRosa isn't a coach or color analyst for a pro team within the next few years, I'd be shocked.
Firstly, apologies for not writing much in the last couple weeks. This whole "job" thing is really putting a cramp in my evening sports watching/writing.
Secondly, the last post was about the "Dynamite" video with Keenan Cahill, Weez, and Boss Ross. I'd like to clarify:
Before that video, I'd never heard of Keenan Cahill. Secondly, I didn't watch the video all the way through to see the fundraiser thing at the end. I honestly thought he was a funny little 10 year old kid. Swear to God. So, if anyone was offended by me calling him a "chubby nerd", I hope you understand that I had no clue the kid had a disease or that he was an internet sensation. Obviously I should do more research on amusing internet videos. Now that that's out of the way...
The Giants, are well... still the Giants.
As the title says, we've seen all of this before:
-- Our proven veteran SS sucks major ass (Tejada instead of Renteria)
-- DeRosa's wrist is hurt (although he's in Tuesday night's lineup)
-- Pablo's contributions are missing (this time due to injury, rather than retardation)
-- Highly paid players struggling to start the year (Huff)
-- Zito contributing absolutely nothing in exchange for the Gross Domestic Product of Micronesia
-- Unexpected contributions from players expected to do nothing (Rowand, Fontenot)
-- A total random career minor leaguer making a major impact (Vogelsong instead of Torres)
-- Timmy is Timmy
-- A bunch of improbable comeback wins out of nowhere
It honestly goes on and on, and frickin on.
But hey, this is why we watch, and why we love these guys.
With a sweep of Colorads this past weekend, I really think things are starting to get better... at least I feel like consistency is setting in.
The early injuries to Brian Wilson, Sandoval, DeRosa, Ross, and Torres have really thrown a crazy ass monkey wrench into the unpredictable, yet well-oiled machine that is the San Francisco Giants.
Ross's Sunday offensive outburst and Wilson's rediscovered groove only lend credence to my theory.
Throw in Bumgarner and his last three starts (5 ER in past 3 starts after 16 ER in his first 4), and I think this team is trending in the right direction.
Huff is still struggling, Buster hasn't hit his stride, and Burrell is still a massive question mark, but overall, this team is making me feel more comfortable about life.
The emergence of Mike Fontenot as a serviceable SS and bizzarely-- as a decent 3rd place hitter, means the totally washed up Miguel Tejada can now join Mark DeRosa on the bench as one half of the righty-righty, sub-par backup-infielding $12.5MM combo known as DeJada.
Suddenly this whole Jose Reyes for Zach Wheeler nonsense sounds better.
Speaking of which...
Myke Urban single-handedly blew the Reyes "interest" and "internal discussion" thing totally out of frickin proportion.
I have had internal discussions about marrying Scarlett Johansson and taking Taylor Swift out to dinner too.
The point being...
OF COURSE THE GIANTS BRASS HAS TALKED ABOUT JOSE REYES. HE'S IN THE LAST YEAR OF AN EFFING CONTRACT AND HE'S A TOP 30 PLAYER. HE'S A WELL-DOCUMENTED TRADE PIECE OF A BANKRUPT, USELESS TEAM.
That being said, excellent job getting your name out there Myke. And I really do like him as a Bay Area sports personality... but look...
Jose Reyes is an injury-prone, money-hungry luxury item. Not only does he run on premium fuel, but when you buy him, his warranty only lasts 12,000 miles, you pay a $6,000 gas guzzler tax, his floormats run $600 apeice, and they nail you with a bogus California emissions fee.
It's like yeah, I'd love to buy a 500hp, $200K Aston Martin DBS convertible, but if I have to give up my high speed internet, and DVR service (Zach Wheeler) and have no guarantee of keeping the car long-term, I'm gonna opt for a $43k Dodger Challenger with 470hp.
You catch my drift?
Anyway, as I said, we've seen this all before, and we can't freak out about anything. This is a slightly different version of the same team we know and love. The frustrations will be there, the illogical struggles and surprising comebacks will continue.
As I said so many times last season: just sit back, and enjoy the ride. It's gonna take a while.
After 2 incredibly frustrating games to begin our title defense, 2011 is fun.
With the 10-0 drubbing of the Blue Bastards on Saturday, we all exhaled an elongated sigh of relief. Like our beloved Gyros, we all needed to get off the schneid too. Just because we sit around and eat and drink alcohol while watching other people exercise on TV doesn't mean we aren't physically involved in these games. I feel better already. It's like a weight off our shoulders. Almost like when you get off the treadmill and then walk around and you feel really light and weird and fast.
Anyway, Saturday's victory did other encouraging things.
It was great to see HurriCAIN Matt still in Postseason form. He was sharp from the beginning, and ended up allowing only 5 measly hits in 6 innings with no walks.
It really is a beautiful thing that we have such good pitching. Even Sanchez on Friday with his walks and bad defense, he was still dealing pretty well.
What I liked about Saturday was the way those 10 runs were produced. It was small ball... but I like to call it "effective ball". Getting on base. Not trying to pull the ball all over the place. Singling in runs. Amazing when that works.
I was shocked to see no Sandoval or Torres in the lineup this morning. I really was. I was like, "Well Torres AND Sandoval got two hits on Friday..."
But once I stop thinking like a fantasy baseball manager and start thinking like Bochy, I'm like, oh yeah, I forgot, Torres hit .226 against lefties last year and Sandoval hit .227.
Makes sense. There are a lot of reasons to sit those two against Ted Lilly, and it's pretty obvious that Bochy wants everyone to get in, shake the excitement off and get back to business. That's why Rowand and DeRosa played (in addition to them being righties). And hey, it worked. "DeRow", all $18MM of them went 4-10 with 3 runs scored. That's what we like to see! That's why Whiteside and Schierholtz replaced Posey and Huff, Torres came in later to force Burrell out, and Panda got a random end of the game at bat.
I can't say that I'm in favor of straight L/R platoons for Torres/Panda, especially because they're both switch hitters. The Giants are very deep this year, and while professionals like Rowand and DeRosa need to get in the game, the starters need a rhythm too.
As much as I railed on Boch last season (and he deserved it), when he finally stopped moving like a slug stuck in molasses with his lineup moves, he made all the right calls. I trust him now. He got it done, and for that we should give him more benefits of the doubt. It's natural to question these things, but we all just need to remain calm.
Anyway. It was nice to see the following things:
Tejada getting two hits, knocking in two dudes, and scoring twice
He was not exactly beloved by Giants fans in the first two games at Chavez Latrine. And it's pretty easy to see why. He looked a step slow at short, and looked like a GIDP waiting to happen. The defensive lapses were ugly, but we have to remember who this guy is.
He's not the MVP he used to be. He's old balls now, but he's still a serviceable SS and a veteran bat. He hit 15 HR last year. He's not Juan Uribe, but Boo-Ribe is now dead to us, so what does that matter? You can't compare Tejada to a dead ghost.
Saturday's game gave us hope that he will be an okay short-term player for us. The range at short is a concern, but if he's horrendous and costs us games, Sabean will take care of it. It's easy to find a light-hitting SS that won't hurt you on D.
He also looks really good in a Giants uni. Come on. You know you agree.
Brandon Belt could be our second ROY in a row...
It's been a series of firsts for Brandon Belt. First hit, first walk, first stolen base, first RBIs... but most impressively, his first home run. Wow. That was just awesome on Friday night wasn't it? I don't know about you, but it gave me chills. In only three games, Belt has answered the question I asked a couple days ago. He's not going anywhere. I know you hear the Front Office say things about their intentions with Belt, but once you see all this for yourself in meaningful games, you're like... "Whoa. This guy IS for real. And he's goodNOW!"
He's so patient; so poised. His swing is beautiful. I see a little Palmeiro in that swing. Maybe a touch of Will Clark. I think I've nailed down what he looks most like.
Belt, to me anyway, really looks like John Olerud. @JohnnyUtah530 suggested that to me on Twitter Friday and he was right on. We forget how good of a pure hitter Olerud was. The helmet in the field is his real legacy unfortunately.
And I know this seems like a lazy comparison, but Belt has a similar swing to Buster Posey. While Olerud's front foot is quiet and he takes a short stride toward the pitcher, Belt's is more like "stepping in the bucket" like Posey's. And yes, you can compare the lefty Belt to the righty Posey.
And here's Buster:
I'd say Belt's mechanics are combination of Olerud/Buster and he's got a beautiful damn swing.
Anyway, there's a ton to be excited about, and to get that first W, and to do it in 10-0 style with HurriCAIN Matt pitching like an ace, well that was just Cholula on the omelet (or icing on the cake to you weirdos that eat cake a lot).
Beat LA!
Random Thoughts
-- I feel teased by the fact we only got Kruk & Kuip for the game on Friday. I love being on National TV, but no one comes close to our collection of broadcasters. They're the best.
-- Orel Hershiser, being the Dodger that he is, said on Thursday's ESPN game that Brandon Belt has "...a slow minor league bat...with only gap power."
How'd that dong to deep center look to you on Friday Orel? Or should I say ORAL. Because you suck big time. Belt rules.
-- I love how Huff made two dives in RF on Saturday and caught the second one. Karros was right to point out that he hit his face both times on the turf.
Aubrey Huff? Gamer. -- I'm scared about Zito starting on Sunday. The guy was in a neck brace two days ago... I mean, he wasn't very good when he was healthy, what makes us all think he can be okay with a sore body/neck?
-- Zeets has the sleaziest mustache ever. Cain says it's called "The Stache". I'm down. It's heinous, but aren't all mustaches? It's entertaining to me.
-- I will write a separate article regarding our fellow fans who were assaulted by felons in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. I have to really cool down about it because I don't want to be part of an FBI investigation because of something I said in blind rage.
*Deep breaths*
BEAT LA!
I think I'm going to continue running the "Live Blogging" thing on here. I may do it every game, or I may permanently incorporate it into the site so that it's always picking up fan takes and thoughts on the Giants from Twitter or from you directly on the site.
This is completely unexpected. Miguel Tejada will be a San Francisco Giant... perhaps coming full circle across the bay from where he began his impressive career. I didn't see this one coming. I said it yesterday. I thought Bartlett was the guy, especially with Ryan Theriot being dealt to the Cards and taking them out of the running. What does this mean?
Well, it's another $6.5MM alotted to another old guy with limited range to play SS. It really shows how desperate the SS market is when Tejada is being penciled in to play out there. That's $17.5 committed to Huff & Tejada thus far (for 2011) this offseason, with questions remaining about Panda, left field, and raises due via arbitration to Jon Sanchez, Cody Ross, Mike Fontenot, and Andres Torres.
We'll get into that later. Let's talk Tejada.
Assuming he will play the majority of his games at short, which he did last year after being traded to San Diego, we could certainly do worse. However, the man is damn near 40 and if the hot corner is manned by the Tai Chi Sloth (formerly Kung Fu Panda) or Mark DeRosa, I could see a lot of balls hit to the left side of the infield escaping into left.
Certainly Tejada can play 3rd, and has done so recently, but that would likely mean Tai Chi Sloth's days as a Giant would be numbered. Obviously then, a Jason Bartlett would still be necessary. Let's assume that doesn't happen.
It's a short-term fix for the SS position, and also a motivational tool in management's ongoing effort to get Sandoval's ass into gear. DeRosa's return to the active roster means theoretically, we wouldn't need Sandoval... something that better get his juices going-- hopefully not too much fruit juice though because of all the high fructose corn syrup added to them.
All accounts have Tejada as the Giants new SS, a role he played better than 3B last year interestingly... Here's how Tejada & Uribe compared in 2010.
It's really not a huge dropoff, save for HRs and 3B defense... but as I've pointed out, 3B really doesn't matter too much.
I'm not crazy about Tejada as our starting SS, but with limited options available, the move at least keeps us around the same level of production out of the position as 2010.
Annnnddddd... our dream of a "big bat" is one more veteran contract further away.
It's not perfect-- nothing is of course with our Giants and the backward state of the roster. Bochy at the helm has driven us all to drink, yell, spit, and burn up various internet posting outlets at one time or another. Indeed, he is slow, deliberate and frustrating in many ways.
Bochy is slow to make pitching changes, slow to walk to the mound, it even appears as though he would eat dinner slowly.
The slowest part of his behavior has been the excruciatingly slow, soccer-like execution of assembling the ideal lineup.
Interesting about this suddenly decent offense is that it is made up of modestly and/or appropriately paid players that were not expected to make up the everyday lineup card.
We all know the bummers that have befallen the Giants payroll. Renteria makes $8MM, and has been a combination of hurt and ineffective. Rowand makes $12.5MM, and is both ineffective and horrendous-- now he rides pine. DeRosa has been injured for nearly a month after hovering slightly above the Mendoza line for the first 7 weeks of the year. His $6MM salary is on the shelf, along with his wonky wrist, which for some unacceptable reason, has not been repaired yet.
Then of course there's Bengie Molina, who has been another disappointment, making around $4MM. Let's add it up. For those of you keeping score at home (by the way, who the hell would actually do that?), that's right around $30 meeelion dollars (**Dr. Evil pinky finger thing**) of nearly dead weight in 2010.
Now, I'm not exactly sure if I'm going anywhere with the Dr. Evil reference. Maybe Brian Sabean is Dr. Evil, maybe it's Bochy. I'm not sure.
With the bizarre Frankenstein lineup that we've ended up with, we can't be upset. The additions of Pat Burrell and Buster Posey are about as cost-efficient as it gets, and the trio of Huff/Uribe/Sanchez are now looking like complete bargains and two of them are worthy of all-star consideration.
All the Sabean haters ripped on each one of these signings with the exception of Posey and Uribe, but look, somehow, things are working.
What we cannot stand as fans is the fact that money is being wasted on players either too ineffective or too injured to contribute at all. It's like, why cant any of these big salary guys work out, while the cheap guys like Huff, Santiago Casilla, Andy Torres, and Billy Mota are? I don't get it. It's the same GM making these moves, and yet there are wildly varying degrees of success involved. Back to Bochy though...
Bochy is a slow old catcher, who likes slow old vets. He can't help himself because it's who he is. Rowand is "one of our guys", Renteria "has been around for a long time", and Bengie "handles the pitching staff well". It's almost as if it causes Boch physical pain to remove former "gamers" like Rowand from the lineup, and to move the slow-learning, ADHD-riddled Pablo Sandoval down in the lineup. It really angers knowledgeable fans like myself, and many that I talk to on Facebook/Twitter or in real life, that we've been saying things like "Call up Posey" and "drop Sandoval down in the order" and "play Nate Schierholtz" and "how do you expect John Bowker to ever hit lefties if he never faces one?"-- and being correct about them while Sloth Bochy and Sabean sit on their hands for WEEKS at a time over these decisions.
While Schierholtz is still not playing in favor of Bengie Molina, many of the things that we fans have harped on are finally being done. Posey was called up. Andy Torres leads off daily while Rowand sits. Pablo Sandoval has been yelled at and demoted in the order for being a retard, and the best players are now playing on an every day basis regardless of salary.
However, the true test of whether or not Bochy has rid himself of his foolish ways and habits will come within the next week. Yes, Gamer Renteria (I think Gamer is a biblical name), is coming off the DL, and I for one am scared as hell that he will ruin everything.
Today, everyone from Baggarly and Schulman to Amy G and Lou Seal relayed the information via Twitter that Juan Uribe would continue to start and that Renteria would not reclaim his starting spot. I'll believe it when I see it.
I can't even imagine who would sit in favor of Renteria. If it happens, it would be the most egregious injustice committed in sports since soccer was invented by fruitcakes on another continent who thought ties were an okay way to end a sporting event.
(See how I ripped on the World Cup there while remaining relevant? Damn I'm good.)
The whole point is that Bochy, after weeks of torturous lineup cards, has finally figured it out. Step two is playing Posey at catcher, putting Huff at first, Nate in right, and banishing Renteria, Rowand, and Molina to the pine, where they belong.
Things are looking up.
PS: Pat Burrell could be the "big bat" we were looking for. Imagine that. Who advocated his acquisition months ago? Yeah, it was me.
Sorry for the delay in getting a post up guys. Every now and then it just seems like too much of a pain. I hope you suffered in the absence of my wisdom. That would make me feel pretty cool. Now, on to important things: The State of Stuff.
There is so much stuff to talk about, and so much has changed since my last post, that I feel like we're dealing with another season or something. I'm going to segment this up, so here we go:
Andres Torres Finally, we can say that we have a legitimate leadoff man in a Giants uni. It has been a long time in coming, and I pray that Andy doesn't flame out or begin struggling any time soon. In many ways, Torres has been a gift from the baseball gods, and he's doing his damndest to take full advantage of his first exclusive starting gig in his long meandering career.
There is so much to like about him as a player, especially his speed. As they say, speed is something you can't teach. In addition to utilizing his blazing talents, the man is flat out hitting, and running the bases like a champ. I've even picked him up in a couple fantasy leagues, and he's currently starting over Carlos Lee in one of them. It's truly an amazing development.
In the last month, Torres is hitting .302 with an astoundingly high .922 OPS-- much of which is augmented by a great on base percentage. The man is simply a catalyst, and has been involved the "offensive resurgence" that we've seen over the past two weeks. The second man involved in the resurgence is...
Freddy Sanchez
Wow, a legitimate leadoff man AND a textbook #2 hitter? In a row? And Bochy figured this out on his own?
Like Torres, Sanchez does everything you can ask of a second place hitter. He has excellent bat control, he goes the other way in a excellent manner, and he's smart in situational situations. Situational situations. You heard me.
Plus, he's on a 9 game hitting streak, where he's hitting .500 (16 for 32). You know what Krook would say...
"Stay hot Freddy Sanchez."
Huff & Uribe: The Dike Pluggers
Look, I know they're not exactly A-Rod/Teixeira or Braun/Fielder but...
...All of the sudden, I feel wave of something that almost feels like some strange combination of relief and confidence. I'm not used to this, so I don't know if I'm even describing it properly. I never was one for sharing feelings. I can't say enough about Uribe and Huff. They are the definition of "Gamers"-- not Aaron Rowand or Bengie Molina. Gamers are the ones who play hurt, listen to coaches, and don't complain about playing multiple positions-- all while actually hitting the goddamn ball. Hitting the ball is something that supposed "gamers" Rowand and Molina are currently incapable of, and basically have been for awhile.
Huff & Uribe or "Hurrribe!" have basically kept this team afloat, and seem to be thriving as dike pluggers. Hey man, get your head out of the gutter. Dike plugging is a serious issue in Holland!
Buster & Burrell: Killer B's?
Buster Posey was called up too late. It is a fact. I understand the "Super 2" issue. I understand the idea that he needs reps behind the plate and at 1B in Fresno--- believe, me, I get all of that. However, it just shows that the front office really just doesn't know what it's doing half the time. What I've been saying, what you've been saying, what this guy, and that guy, and this other guy have been saying is:
CALL UP POSEY NOW. WE CANNOT HIT. HE CAN. WTF ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
I can't complain as much now that he's up, but it was obviously three weeks (or more) too late. As we've seen in his 30 or so AB's, is that not only can he play a decent 1B and learn on the fly, but that yes, he really can hit. I doubt he will ever be a 30 HR hitter, and the power will come at some point, but he's just a flat out smart hitter. He takes pitches, he has a good eye, and he doesn't swing at garbage. He's the antithesis of the type of player who has embodied Giants baseball for the past two seasons.
As for Pat Burrell, I absolutely must praise the move. This is a guy who just two years ago hit 33 dongs in a Philadelphia uniform. I know that he's not that guy anymore, but hey, this worked with Aubrey Huff didn't it? Remember the season he had two years ago? Then he sucked? Now he's good again? Remember?
If nothing else, Pat the Bat is a solid right-handed bat off the bench that is a little scarier than Eli Whiteside or Matt Downs.
Honestly, based on the kind of shape he's in, and the handful of AB's he's had in the orange & black, I say give the guy an every day shot. Seriously. Rowand is simply horrendous in every way, and I will sacrifice a little D in order to have a functioning Pat Burrell in our lineup hitting 6th or 7th and playing LF.
I know many of you were down on the signing, citing his poor defense and steep offensive decline. The defense aside, some hitters just have an incredibly difficult time adjusting to another league (See: Holliday, Matt; 2009).
Burrell is not meant to be a life-saver or the "big bat" that we need, but he's a good player, he's cheap, and if he sucks, we're not hamstrung by the loss of top prospects or an extreme salary. Trust me, he will help us.
Pablo Sandoval
Let me preface this rant by saying that I love Pablo and I want nothing more for him than to succeed and be a perennial all-star. With that said, allow me to rip him mercilessly.
Pablo Sandoval is not smart. He has the mind of an 8 year-old child in a large man's body. He doesn't listen to coaches, he doesn't use his brain, and he hacks at slop nightly. If I were Larry Krueger, I'd have been fired for these comments.
In addition, Pablo has zero power, and is not a third place hitter. He is incapable of using his body to drive the ball, and hits off his front foot because he needs ritalin, and no one has taken the time to give him a psychological exam.
I'm serious. He has ADHD, and he needs medication. I'm not laughing. Anyone who is incapable of waiting .005 seconds more for a pitch to reach the plate has some sort of issue.
Now-- judging by his 2 hit day against the Pirates Sunday (a day after being demoted to the 8th slot by our resident genius Bruce Bochy), it's possible that he may begin to understand this whole "pitch-taking" and "pitch-waiting" thing-- much like an infant realizes that if they cry, their mother comes to hold them.
If he calms down at the plate at some point, it's possible that he could hit 25 HR a season. Until then, I'd much rather that his singles and doubles power be utilized in the 5th spot in the order, a spot where he has the potential to knock in a run or two. His penchant for grounding into double plays has killed 14 potential rallies already this season, and that enough is reason to move him the eff down in the order.
On that note, time for the...
Dream Lineup
Torres CF Sanchez 2B Posey C Huff 1B Sandoval 3B Uribe SS Burrell LF Schierholtz RF
Notice who's missing? (Other than the injured DeRosa)
Yeah, our resident "gamers" Rowand, Molina, and Renteria. They simply don't belong in the starting lineup any more and this type of thing is exactly what drives us Giants fans absolutely crazy about Bochy. The past three weeks has really lead me to believe that his brain, much like Felipe Alou's did, has turned into Cream of Wheat.
Bochy's bizarre use of Buster Posey and Bengie Molina in the lineups, as well as the "Sandoval hitting 8th" thing leads me to believe that this man is no longer fit to lead. Take the pinch running incident that took place Sunday in Pittsburgh. You know the one. The one where Bochy pinch-runs for Posey, one of the guys who can hit, in the 7th inning of a tie game.
Memo to Bruce: Posey is not slow. Just because you and Bengie and Whiteside are slow, doesn't make Buster slow too. Leave him in the game. Aggghhhh! Exasperating.
And how about Bengie Molina hitting 4th and Posey hitting 7th? Huh? Are you high?
I'm sorry. I'm officially on the "Fire Bruce Bochy" bandwagon. He has to go. This is ridiculous. He's acting like Tom Cable taking orders from the ghost of Al Davis. Nothing makes sense.
This next thing makes even less sense...
Mark DeRosa
The DeRosa DeLemma is officially pissing me off.
What we need to do right now is forget about the wasted $6MM we paid this dude this year. I like DeRosa, and he's a very good complementary player when healthy.
Unfortunately, he was never healthy, and the Giants made a mistake. I won't say they made a mistake with Freddy Sanchez, because he's currently worth his weight in a metal worth less than gold, but more than silver. Maybe copper? Anyway...
DeRosa needs to stop trying to be a "gamer" and just get the goddamn tendon sheath repaired, and he needs to do it two weeks ago.
This is an injury, that as he knows, takes 3 months to recover from, and 5 months to be normal again. Every day that management has wasted by trying to save face by putting him in Fresno, is a day that he's unavailable for the stretch run.
This man should have been under the knife the day he was put on the DL and not a day later. With that timetable, he could've returned, potentially healthy by mid-September. Now? Maybe 2011.
Again, it's just incredibly frustrating that we, the fans, know better than management with lineups, DeRosa, Posey, Wellemeyer, etc.
Isn't that crazy?
Lincecum
Lincecum has a combination of issues going on. Firstly, he absolutely HAS a blister problem. Someone close to the situation told someone else, who told me. That's good enough for a fan blogger like me. The reason that they've all downplayed it is because Timmy also has mechanical problems, mainly out of his windup. Something is amiss, and since his father is the only one who can fix it, we need to get Chris Lincecum to SF immediately, an idea that this dude had last week.
Lincey is walking too many dudes, his control has been off, and he's been average at best. Unfortunately teams have begun to adjust, and have been taking a ton of pitches, rather than be overly aggressive-- the previous approach to taking on the Timster.
My question is, why exactly, if Timmy has a blister problem, didn't he get one of his starts skipped? Food for thought.
The Wellemeyer Experiment is over I won't get into any of the stats. We all know they're bad. Wellemeyer cannot be relied upon to be a 5th starter. He's okay at home, but basically throws like Chet Steadman in the last Rookie of the Year scene without the theatrical shoulder grabbing by Gary Busey.
The question is not whether Wellemeyer needs to leave the rotation, but whether we cut ties with him completely, put him in the bullpen, or send him down to Fresno. The secondary question is, who do we call up in his place?
Knowing the team we're dealing with, it's safe to say that Madison Bumgarner will not get the call. Although he's been dealing pretty solidly against PCL competition and hasn't allowed more than three earnies in his last 9 starts (and did that only once), I have a feeling the 'tards up in the front office will be too gun-shy to promote the 21 year-old after his ridiculously poor Spring Training.
My opinion? Bring the kid up. Seems like he's gotten it together.
Unfortunately for Hacker, his window may have passed. Until his last three starts, he'd had an ERA under 3 and a K/9 of nearly 9. His last 3 starts have yielded 18 earned runs. Soooo.... yeah, he's out.
J-Mart is sporting a 3.32 ERA and threw a complete game 9 hitter against the Las Vegas Bastards a couple days ago (Dodgers AAA team), and looks like he's ready for the big club again.
Either of these dudes should get the call, if not both, should a bullpen injury occur.
Obviously, there are a million more things I could talk about, but that's about as many words as I can string together without losing all of you. I hope you enjoyed the State of Stuff and remember to follow on Twitter @TheDodgerhater.
Wow, Sunday really sucked. I mean, really, really sucked.
There we were, just cruising along, thoroughly enjoying another gem by Zeets, shutting out the Blue Bastards on the field and shutting up the criminals in the stands at the same time. Then, just like that, we were punched in the gut. It wasn't even a normal punch in the gut, it was a sucker punch, totally out of nowhere. Just like that, the game was over. We were still left breathless and confused, just like at the end of the Sharks game last night. It's like, are you effing kidding me? A bottom of the 8th pinch hit dong by The One Who Shall Not Be Named, followed by a hockey playoff game where we outshoot the opposition 50-16, and end up scoring the only goal of the game on ourselves in overtime?
Sunday, April 18th, was one of the worst Bay Area sports days in recent memory.
As for the Giants, this first Padres game represents the first true challenge of the year. Until the Dodger series, where we easily could've swept, there has been little to no adversity in this young 2010 season. As the video below (at 1:08) will reinforce, the Giants were indeed "Drivin' along, drivin' along", until we hit a truck tire in the middle of the road." Let's just hope we bought our brake pads from Callahan Auto instead of the other guys.
As we know, how a team rebounds from sucker punches, and the fashion in which they respond to injuries dictates how far they go. Mental toughness, resolve, and a short memory are all huge parts of a successful baseball team, especially because it is one long-ass haul.
With Rowand on the DL with those pesky facial fractures, DeRosa's tender hammy, and Romo's confidence shaken, the San Diego series will be huge.
It's not so much what we've lost in Rowand, but how we'll replace him, and how we're able to keep chugging along. Monday in San Diego, it will be the Geno Velez show, and I assume Schierholtz and Torres as well against the lefty Clayton Richard. Velez has been a huge surprise with his hitting thus far. The guy affectionately known as A.U., Geno, The Somali Pirate, and the Pharaoh has 4 extra base hits, 7 RBI, and hitting .350. Not only that, but the guy has taken a few walks, and is sporting a stat nerd-arousing .435 on base percentage. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm comfortable with A.U. playing every day until Rowand returns.
Back to the Dodgers series for a minute.
The fact that no Dodger was drilled is totally unacceptable. Whether that waste of life known as Vicente Padilla intentionally drilled Rowand in the head is beside the point. It's baseball etiquette. You hit one of our guys, we hit one of yours. Hell, even throw it totally behind them, and if it's a close game, hit them the next day. I was wholly shocked that Zito, who plunked Prince Fielder in spring, didn't nail Matt Kemp or that jerkoff Casey Blake during Sunday's game. If the plunked Dodger became enraged, began gesturing wildly towards the mound while spewing expletives and the benches cleared, that's what I refer to as a team-building exercise. Even without a brawl, any "Us Versus Them" activity breeds unity, and it no longer becomes about retaliation, but about trust in one another and the bigger purpose of survival as one unit.
Try finding a stat for that.
Despite technically dropping two of three from the Doyers, I still saw a ton of character from these guys in each game. As I said before, there's something different about this team, and I no longer believe we're ever out of a game-- not like last year.
Let's plow through San Diago and get back on track!
Quick note: BOCHY! FREE JOHN BOWKER! LET THE GUY PLAY! HOW WILL HE EVER HIT LEFTIES IF YOU NEVER LET HIM TRY! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASSSSEEEE!
One of the points I've continually harped on of the past few weeks is simply the following mantra: We are so much better than last year already.
No, we didn't have the honor of overpaying Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, and yes, it looks like we signed a few more Aaron Rowands (this is like a new term I think).
----Sidebar----
The definition of an Aaron Rowand is officially the following:
A player near or past the age of 30 who is either: coming off a career year, plays the game "the right way", is a "good clubhouse guy", or would be considered an excellent complementary player on a team where he is the fourth or fifth best player.
--End Sidebar--
Well, with the all-knowing Fangraphs at my disposal, I've decided to show, in only two stat categories, how we're already better than 2009 based on 4 acquisitions and who they replaced. I will use the stat "O-Swing%" which is the percent of swings that a player reaches outside the strike zone for a pitch. I will also use the stat "Clutch Index" which is some obscure amalgamation of situational percentages and assorted nonsense that apparently calculates how clutch a player is. Yes I know, they have that now. Basically I'm attempting to show you that we have a much more disciplined team that will draw more walks and will swing at fewer horrendous pitches. Also that we've acquired some documented clutch players.
I am also taking the unusual step of adding a player that is not on the roster, but may damn well end up a Giant. I'm making Yorvit Torrealba part of the list. I just don't think Posey is ready no matter how many times Sabean and Bochy lie to our faces about it. I think Torrealba signing here is a formality. Plus we really don't know what stats to use for Posey. His terrible and extremely limited stats as a pro? His gaudy minor league stats? We just don't know. With that said, let the nerdery begin!
If you are reading this on an email newsfeed or Facebook, click here to go to the site. You need to see the tables below. Just do it, it's the whole point of the article.
Before I say anything, I'd like to point out that out of every time Bengie Molina swung the bat last year... he did so out of the strike zone 44% of the time. FORTY-FOUR PERCENT OF THE TIME HE SWUNG AT BALLS!
In case you're wondering, Rowand only did it 32% of the time. Luis Castillo of the Mets led the league in '09 only swinging at balls 12.2% of the time.
You can look at this one of two ways. You can say, "Hmm, looks like Sabean picked up some decent players, and we are better."
Or you can say, "None of this means jack. We still don't have a big hitter."
I say that we've improved our plate discipline significantly, and I believe we can expect Pablo's discipline to improve in 2010 as he gets better and better. By bringing in DeRosa, Huff, and Freddy Sanchez, we've increased our plate discipline by nearly 5 percent. It doesn't seem like much, but consider that every 100 pitches, we will have taken 5 more balls as a team. Think about how many 3-2 pitches that could turn into walks over the course of a year. Last year they were strikeouts or double play grounders. The more pitches the 2010 Giants take, the higher the collective on base percentage, a figure that was the most horrendous in the entire league last year (.309). Then you take a look at the Clutch Index. Say what you will, and I'm skeptical about the stat as well, but those 4 new guys have a full point worth of clutchness on their side over their predecessors. In fact, in '09 Pablo Sandoval was 10th best in all of MLB, while DeRosa was ranked 12th and Huff 15th.
Also, these numbers include Yorvit Torrealba, who is still being contacted by the Giants. He's getting back from Venezuela next week, and will play make a deal at that time. Take it the bank, he's going to be a Giant.
Again, you can say what you will about Fangraphs and their stats, but we're looking at 3 guys in the top 15 in the Clutch Index. Not too shabby.
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic has an article filled with informational nuggets. First, he writes that LaRoche took less money to sign in Arizona because of the ballpark dimensions.
"I like (Chase Field) first because it's a dome, and I like the climate," LaRoche said on a conference call. "I don't know if it's the backdrop, the batter's eye, but it's a really good park to see the ball. I like playing here.
"Not to bash (the Giants) at all, I just had to weigh it. Was it worth going there for a couple of years or just riding it out and seeing what kind of options were available? They kind of started dwindling fast. When (the Diamondbacks' offer) came out, when I first heard about it, I remember telling my agent, 'Let's try to get this done.' This is a chance that I didn't want to waste."
Regarding his multiple two-year offers, LaRoche said, "They just happened to be in places I wasn't excited about."
The next piece of info from both Piecoro and Shea has to do with Eric Byrnes, who was released by the Snakes. Once a few more days go by, Arizona will be on the hook for the rest of his salary and they'll probably release him, making him free to sign with whomever he wants.
"It's not a real secret (that) I'd definitely be interested," Byrnes said in a phone interview. "The Giants, of course, that's the best fit geographically."
Byrnes was a Giants fan as a kid, graduated from Mountain View's St. Francis High and makes his offseason home in the Bay Area. He has had memorable games at the Giants' park, where he's a .295 hitter in 132 at-bats (five homers, 20 RBIs, 6-for-6 in steals) and hit for the cycle in June 2003 with the A's.
Thoughts on LaRoche and Byrnes? I'd be happy with Byrnsey being a platoon guy in right field, plus he'd be minimum salary cheap. I'd be more comfortable with him in RF than Schierholtz or Bowker. I'd love to hear what you people have to think. I don't see how it could backfire...
This is definitely one name that I hadn't heard throughout this seemingly interminable offseason.
Look, before we piss and bitch, moan and groan, let's just throw out a couple things to get them out of the way.
-- Huff is a career American Leaguer other than a 68 game tour with the Astros in '06
-- He is 33 years old
-- Huff has played significant amounts of RF in addition to being primarily a 1B/3B
-- He has a career line of .282/.340/.472 (.812 OPS)
-- He's never hit less than 15HR in a season since 2001 (his 1st year as a starter)
-- He's never had more than 53 walks in a season
-- He's one season removed (2008) from a 32 HR, 108 RBI, 48 double, .912 OPS season
-- Huff's career BABIP (Batting average on balls hit in play) is .296 (not too shabby)
-- His career UZR\150 numbers: 1B: -4.0; 3B: -4.4; RF: -9.8(1B w/BAL in '09 was -.3.5
-- Bill James predicts him to go for 20HR/66RBI with a .267 average
Now that you have some background, let's look a little deeper into this.
First of all, this is a textbook "low-risk, high-reward" signing. Yes Huff is 33, and yes, he had a horrendous year last year split between the Baltimore Orange Birds and the Detroit Philanderers. There is no defending that. I will not get into any specifics, because it was by far his worst season, and based on the man's track record, it was negative fluke. For 1 year and $3MM, you could do A LOT WORSE.
Not to say that this could be a waste. With another primary infielder added to the mix, we are certainly looking at a fullish looking roster (without even getting into the 40 man roster business). As the MLBTR article says, it looks like Huff is going to be primarily a first baseman, although he's capable of playing 3rd.
In 2006 when Huff last played at least 90 games at the hot corner, he posted a -7.4 UZR/150 rating. That compares well with Kung Fu's '09 rating of -6.4, DeRosa's '09 rating of -8.7, and Juan Uribe's number of +4.8 (in only 44 games). It shouldn't matter much, as Huff should rarely see 3rd. I was simply illustrating that he's capable.
Plus, Huff's arrival pushes DeRosa to LF, his best defensive position.
(----> Huff is on the left. Come on. How can you not like this guy? If nothing else, Brian Wilson has a new beer pong partner for Wasted Wednesdays at Bar None. Check out the link at the bottom of the article for the story after you read it all!)
"Great." you say, "More mediocre old guys.
If by "mediocre old guys" you mean guys past the age of 32 who can't steal any bases or hit more than 25 dongs, then yes. We have another mediocre old guy.
Without looking at what positives Huff could bring to the table, I'm already expecting to see Grant over at McCovey Chronicles pulling his hair out through his blog post.
The anti-Sabean movement among hardcore Giants fans (read: blog-reading, obsessive fanatics like us), seems to have been getting worse and worse. I mean, yeah, I get it, but who would you have preferred?
Personally, I would have preferred Carlos Delgado, who hit 38 dongs in '08 with a -3.4 UZR/150 at first base. However, while Huff was having a dreadful season in '09 at the plate, Delgado was recovering from severe hip surgery. In addition, he would not have come for $3MM and one year. He certainly would've required 2 years, at something more like $12-16MM. Which naturally would have spurred raucous complaining about signing old guys to long contracts among the legions of unrealistic fans out there. Of course, we'll see how Delgado's situation turns out, but Huff's one year deal is indicative of the "New Sabean".
Like many of us, changing how we operate is difficult. Sabean has doled out so many bad contracts to 30+ year old free agents (Winn, Rowand, Roberts, etc.), that he is no longer capable of signing anyone to anything more than a 2 year deal, while still not capable of avoiding 30+ somethings altogether. He's simply too gunshy at this point-- and with good reason. He'll still get blasted by the anti-Sabean mafia, but he's in a no-win situation. Just be grateful that Adam LaRoche blew off our offer this past week.
And hell, if Huff hits 12 home runs and plays average defense, he's gone next year without hurting us too badly. So let's just look at what we've got in our bag of tricks... I mean, collection of thirty somethings:
CF Rowand 2B Sanchez 3B Sandoval LF DeRosa 1B Huff RF Schierholtz/Bowker SS Renteria C Posey/Whiteside
Util: Juan Uribe, Travis Ishikawa, Andres Torres, etc.
Hey, I don't hate it. What the lunatic fringe needs to understand is that this is SOOOOO much better than last year. Remember? A.U. Velez? Fred Lewis? Matt Downs?
If you still can't stand it, at least Huff is a part of Bill Simmons's "Lindsey Hunter all-stars". Of course that being male athletes with names that sound like chicks. This list includes Andrea Bargniani, Ashley Lelie, Shannon Sharpe, Kelly Washington, Brook & Robin Lopez, etc.
That and, uh, this:
And here is the link to the story behind Aubrey Huff and that topless hottie. If you are gay or under 18, don't click on it. Seriously, don't make me the weirdo here.
Things got a little weird when Aubrey was in studio for "Bubba and the Love Sponge".
The ever more upsetting and frustrating Bay Area sports landscape has managed to finally disgruntle most of Giants Nation...
...or at least that's what it seems like to me.
Most of us are just disgusted with all the losing associated with being a fan in this area. Lord knows fans in other cities like Cleveland have suffered much more than us-- but at least they have LeBron (for the time being).
Who do we have here? We've got Patrick Willis, Monta Ellis, Lincecum, and I guess Nnamdi Asomughua (if you want to count the Raiders as a professional team). Of course we have an all-star hockey roster toiling in relative anonymity in San Jose, but even the Sharks continually rip my heart out every postseason. It's just a tough place to be a fan right now. Even with the surprising season from our Gyros in '09, it ended in a bitter fashion. With this distaste on our palettes (I'm thinking gross-ass Indian food the day after not brushing your teeth), we shifted our focus to the NFL season at hand. For those of us upstanding Giants/49ers fans, it was hope and elation, leading up to a fateful afternoon in Minneapolis when Brett Favre threw a spiraling pigskin ball that burst our exuberant bubble on its way into Greg Lewis's hands. The bright spots have been few and far between. Other than the steady Willis and Gore, a few bright spots like Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, and Dashon Goldson come to mind; glowing embers amongst a darkened abyss of abject failure and missed opportunities.
Living amongst the tall grasses surrounding Bay Area wetlands lives an extremely rare creature. This creature is confused, unhappy, and lives a solitary nocturnal life. This bizarre species is known as the Giants/Raiders fan. There are less than 2,000 of these oddball hybrids left, as 50 have died from self-inflicted injuries brought on by the sight of JaMarcus Russell attempting to play football and the thought of Darrius Heyward-Bey being picked ahead of Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin. And don't even get me started on the Warriors. I don't have words for it anymore. I really don't. It's indescribable.
Not that you didn't know any of these things already. We've been in collective pain for years. Other than Lincecum and the time the Warriors made the playoffs that one time, there's been nothing to cheer about. Everything North of HP Pavilion is a wasteland-- something like Central Nevada or Afghanistan.
With the Giants, the frustration is possibly at its highest levels since Armando Benitez had a job. It's frustration with ownership, frustration with Sabean, frustration with the system.
It's a helpless feeling most of us have. We look at our improbable attempt at a Wild Card berth last year in what was, without a doubt, the most atrocious offense the Giants have ever had. Basic problem solving: identify the problem. Step two is solving the problem in the best possible way.
Problem: No hitting, no power
Ideal Solution: Matt Holliday or Jason Bay
The realistic solution is what has driven 70% of Giants fans into a state of anger and delirium. It's not so much Mark DeRosa that is upsetting these people. What's really upsetting them is the seemingly never-ending cycle of replacing inadequate or used-up parts with slightly used or slightly more adequate ones.
This process is something akin to trading in a 1990 Plymouth Voyager for a 1995 Dodge Grand Caravan. What's next? A 2000 Chrysler Town & Country?
More succinctly, management has continued to add, as Raising Matt Cain would say, "One-Aaron-Rowand-at-a-time". Meaning, a vicious cycle of adding average, complementary veterans every year-- veterans that would be absolutely killer in a lineup where they are the 4th or 5th best hitter.
We all understand this. I know. I know.
In spite of the apparent mediocrity, the DeRosa signing is a step in the right direction. No, he isn't Bay or Holliday. But God dammit you guys, how many times do Brian Sabean and I need to tell you this... WE CANNOT SIGN THOSE GUYS/WE ARE NOT INTERESTED!
Sorry, I'm not rubbing it in, and its basis may be on a scale somewhere between "It sucks to be us" and "That's BS!", but it's the way it is.
Just like we were spoiled by the 49ers' dominance through the '80s and '90s, we were spoiled by Barry Bonds. Sabean made a brilliant buy low trade that turned into Jeff Kent (so don't say Sabes never takes you anywhere!). From there, a carousel of complementary veterans and mid-priced guys drove us to the brink of a World Series victory.
As we all know, Barry was a once in a lifetime player, and anchored this team for years. In addition to that note is that Jeff Kent was a once in a lifetime trade acquisition. Not very often do GM's pull off things like that. Perhaps not since the great Bartolo Colon for Grady Sizemore/Cliff Lee/Brandon Phillips heist of '99 has such a thing happened.
The point of bringing up history is that there is no quick fix out there. There is no Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez on the market; no one that would drive ownership to the brink of financial peril at the thought of adding such a talent.
We all know that Bay and Holliday would help. But these are not the types of players that lead you to the promised land. These are not the guys that you say, "This is it. This is our one guy. He will be the solution to all our problems for the next 5 or 6 years."
Trust me, in two or three years when Bay's defense is so bad that the Mets are forced to try him at 1st base, or in two years when the Cardinals cannot afford to match the Red Sox's offer to Albert Pujols because they signed Matt Holliday to a $90MM deal, you will understand. Then St. Louis will see what a mistake they made by stretching their payroll beyond its abilities and boundaries.
Such behavior with the Giants could cause us to lose our own future hall of famer in Timmy Lincecum. That's not something anyone could live with. The thought of it makes me sick.
As for DeRosa, look, baseball-wise, he's a perfect fit on any team. He may not do anything at an elite level, but the man is the essence of a baseball player and human glue. And yes, I know you jaded fans will remind me that "essence of baseball player" is the same cologne we slapped on when we signed Aaron Rowand. Trust me, I know.
And yes, we all scoff at the idea of M.D. (Can we call him "The Doctor" or "Dr. DeRosa"?) playing 3B when left is occupied by an unholy platoon of A.U. and Torres. Unfortunately, Bruce Bochy is a stubborn son of a bitch and is extremely deliberate. His lineups can be maddening; at times unconscionable. With that in mind, it may take a month of two for DeRosa to fully usurp the left field position-- but rest assured that it WILL happen at some point. My last two points begin with this: The offseason is not over yet, and we don't know what is yet to come. It most certainly will not include Matt Holliday, so just please, knock it off for your own mental health. It is possible that a player like Adam LaRoche could come in to play first and a guy like Miguel Olivo could come in to play catcher.
It is also highly conceivable that the Gyros acquire Pat Burrell from Tampa Bay in a prospect-light salary dump. Burrell is due $9MM this year (FA in '11), and a mid-level prospect would go Tampa's way, while Burrell and $4MM would come this way. Say what you want about Pat the Bat, but he's a Bay Area Native, and in 2008, he slugged his way to a .250/.367/.507 line. Granted he was sandwiched into an absurd lineup, but the man could always hit at a decent clip. Certainly a better clip than anyone not named Panda, Kung Fu.
His season in Tampa last year was a relative disaster, but he was playing DH in the American League, so I believe he was never fully comfortable.
This isn't just something out of left field (although Burrell plays left ironically). The Rays need to dump his salary to keep in line with their own budget constraints in their quest to re-sign Carl Crawford. He was linked to the Cubs' effort to rid themselves of Malignant Bradley before Chicago agreed to take the corpse of Carlos Silva instead.
This scenario is something that crossed my mind earlier this offseason, but the Uggla rumors took over. This discussion on MLBTR jogged my interest in a Burrell deal. Look, Burrell is not a great fielder, and I will not post his UZR ratings, because they are fugly. Let's say that he's got a great arm, and made only 2 errors in 2008. Okay? What the hell is UZR anyway?
Point two is as simple as this-- are we currently better or worse than last year? With Uribe inevitably coming back, and the addition of DeRosa, you honestly cannot say we're worse.
Maybe Uribe hits a few less dongs. But, maybe a healthy Renteria his a few more. Maybe Aaron Rowand gets on HGH or Ishikawa learns how to hit on the road. Maybe Nate Schierholtz or John Bowker figure it out. Maybe Buster Posey is ready to play.
Yes, it's a lot of ifs, but dude, how could Renteria/Rowand/Schierholtz/Bowker/Ishikawa be that much worse than last year? It's just unlikely.
And just think about how friggin close we were to the playoffs last year. Maybe DeRosa's 15-20 dingers could be the difference. Think of all the goddamn 1 and 2 run losses we had.
The bottom line is yes, we are all frustrated, and not just because of the Giants. These are indeed frustrating times across the board. What we need to do is look at the positives in this situation.
The '10 Giants are already better than the '09 version. My advice? Stop complaining and start looking forward to April.
I thought I'd fire off a quick post here, just to make sure everyone's paying attention. You awake? Okay. Good.
If only we could all purchase a Sabean scanner-- you know, like a police scanner. Some little radio that would pick up all chatter and activity coming out of his office. Honestly, if we had kind of thing, no one would work again.
If we could hear what our oft-maligned GM was doing, we'd probably be just as bored as we are now. I imagine Sabean's day to break down into the following allotments: 3 hours worth of tire kicking, 3 hours worth of "checking up" on a situation (ie. praying to God that the player's price has come down within the last week), and the rest of the day consists of power lunches, cursing Scott Boras, pouring Stoli into Jamba Juice cups, and semi-silent prayer. The lack of production doesn't necessarily mean that he's not doing anything, because we all know that to be false. What's happening, like last season, is that the big bats have entered smaller markets for their services than they had hoped two years ago. Despite the fact that Bay and Holliday are the far-and-away best players on the wire, there are only 4 teams interested in each of them due to monetary constraints. And since the Gyros are one of those four teams, you can basically draw it down to 3 teams each.
With that said, these two guys are going to set the market, and it's not going to be until January at the earliest. These guys, due to their agents' hubris, believe that a bidding war will somehow ensue and they will both end up with a contract somewhere between Carlos Lee money and Mark Teixeira money.
It is because of this delay, that the rest of the action is delayed. Even guys who shouldn't be affected by an outfield market will stand pat. For example, the Mariners want to keep Adrian Beltre at 3B. However, they also want Jason Bay. If they sign Beltre (who won't sign yet because his agent is Scott Boras), then they're out of Bay stakes. Then Bay has 3 teams to choose from (if you include the Giants)... meanwhile, Beltre is out there somewhere dismissing overtures from teams for good money, even though his market just shrank with the Bay signing (by whomever). Then of course there is the arbitration issue. The Giants are the most affected team by arbitration in the league. The Blue Bastards have their arby issues too, but who the hell cares about their problems.
For Sabean, it's a guessing game. Depending on how much Lincecum/Wilson/Sanchez get, that's how much they really have to spend. As I wrote here a couple months ago, we shouldn't expect any miracles this offseason, and that once the arby hearings go through and those guys get their raises, we'll have a real figure of $10-16MM to spend this offseason.
So, if you take the conservative look at salary availability ($10-12MM), and look at the recent 2yr./$12MM offer to Mark DeRosa, you can see that there will probably be between $4-6MM left over if DeRosa signs. The DeRosa offer is reasonable and can definitely be filed under the category of positive action. For that I'm glad.
The only problem is, we're competing directly against the Yankees who just stole Nick Johnson away from us like some rich jock steals a prom date.
If DeRosa falls through, I don't know where the Giants turn next. But Lord knows that overpaying Adrian Beltre is not the answer. And, as we know, even if they want to overpay him, it's not happening until mid-January... so find a comfortable seat and make sure to dress warmly, because the hot stove is not nearly hot enough yet.
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