O'Donnell was right after all, Pence to Giants

A couple nights ago, Dennis O'Donnell of KPIX twittered about that the Giants "have acquired Hunter Pence".

It started a wildfire of retweets (re-posts for you old people not on Twitter), by everyone and their mother, including Andy Baggarly of CSN. 

With fans going nuts over this apparent news, KPIX ran the story even after Baggarly had confirmed with Bobby Evans of the Giants' front office that a deal was not in fact completed. They even did some quick photoshop work.

Well, I think we all owe old Denny O'D an apology for skewering him. He was right after all. But with the way Twitter works these days, any member of the media that says anything-- even personal speculation-- about a trade or acquisition, needs to be very careful. It spreads like a diseased game of telephone and all bets are off. People gain and lose credibility constantly.

Regardless, Giants fans have the impact hitter they've been clamoring for. He should at least counter the Handjob Ramirez move by the Blue Bastards, and will instantly make the lineup more formidable.

He's not a prototypical 3 or 4 hitter, and is not type of guy to build an offense around, but he has real pop, and has an above average arm in right field. He is an upgrade over Schierholtz/Blanco in most ways, and plays the game hard.

Furthermore, his 17 dongs with Philadelphia this season are instantly the most on the team, something that is no surprise to a fanbase starved for the longball.

As you know, the Giants paid a fairly high price for the intense right-hander. Going to Philly are Schierholtz, Double A catching prospect Tommy Joseph and Single A pitcher Seth Rosin.

Most shocking to me is the sudden about face by Giants management. They've taken on the remainder of Pence's $10.4MM arbitration deal from this season-- somewhere around $4.5MM-- something that they said they wouldn't be "able" to do.

If anything, the Dodgers did us a major favor by reaming us for three games and acquiring half of baseball in the process (Handjob, Victorino, League).

It really showed ownership that to keep up, they needed to act immediately and that they needed to spend a few more million. 

It is not a cheap acquisition monetarily as Pence is under Giants control next season, but will be due an arbitration raise in the $12-15MM range. If they like what they see, they also have the option to lock him up beyond arbitration years like they did with Bumgarner.

With so little available next offseason in terms of free agents, this type of move has to be a no brainer, despite the committed money they've taken on.

Pence is a career .290 hitter who since breaking onto the scene with Houston in 2007, has averaged 23 HR and 82 RBI-- something that we can't say we've had very much of lately.

He doesn't walk at a rapid pace, but his 37 BBs this year puts him right up with Giants leaders Belt/Blanco (38), and Posey (36). He also strikes out a fair amount (19% K Percentage, 0.44 K:BB ratio).

The only other concern I'd have is how quickly he'll pick up the complicated RF at AT&T Park. Schierholtz played it with a grace and skill that is not easily duplicated. Pence has a plus arm and is a decent defender, but the unpredictable archways and bullpen mounds out there can make you look stupid sometimes. Let's hope he picks that up quickly.

By all accounts, Pence is a great teammate, and he plays hard. For you nerds out there, he also loves computer games like World of Warcraft and has been known to have a big computer on his kitchen table. He also has been known to never blink and wears one batting glove-- sometimes none. Call him the most interesting acquisition in the world.

Hey it's a good move and is Dodgerhater approved, but Sabean cannot stop here. Romo and Casilla are hurting right now, and they need a big time late innings bullpen guy to settle things down.

Thank you ownership for committing to improvement. We all appreciate it.

Real time live blogging tonight!

I haven't tried this before but this is a cool new way to see what everyone is saying about the Giants during the game. You'd be surprised how awesome it is when you're getting a bunch of different fan viewpoints during the game. Definitely enhances it. Soooo. Here is the window. It will go live at 7:00 PM Pacific. I have included about 15 good Giants fans that I talk to on Twitter, if you'd like your twitterings to appear on the live blog, tag it with #BeatLA and it should show up! Hope this is fun!



Click here to open this in a new window

Jose Guillen to Giants? Looks like it.

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

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

From Enrique Rojas, ESPN Deportes

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

Best Projected Lineup:

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

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

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

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

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

From Behind Enemy Lines, Part II

Just got back from SoCal on Sunday evening, and would like to share my experience of Dodger Stadium with you. If you're already following me on Twitter, you probably saw my in-game twittering about the disturbing things going on around me at the park. If you don't, I'll fill you in here.

I'll preface this report by saying that I hadn't been to Dodger Stadium (I'm pretty sure) since 1993. As I spent 4 years of my early childhood in Thousand Oaks and my father had company tickets, we went to games a few times a year there to take in baseball... mostly Giants games as I recall. I pride myself on my ability to remember crazy details about things from long ago, and this story is just as crazy.

The last game I went to at that stadium was the final game of 1993-- the Solomon Torres game.

Even at a young age, I knew what was at stake, and I remember going to the game with my dad and procuring tickets from sleazy scalpers. The game was so in demand, that we couldn't even find seats together. Although the end result was crushing, it was a vivid Giants-Dodgers memory from long ago. I remember the fans doing the wave and the beach balls, just as well as the fascist ushers who stabbed the balls immediately. To a little kid, it is amusing, but to a baseball fan, it's just disgusting. With that said, here's my little in game diary, beginning with my arrival to the park with my quoted twitterings from the game against the Pirates on Saturday.

WARNING: Giants fans will be sickened.

We arrived about 10 minutes before start time, and not only was the traffic on I-5 non-existant (in a bizarre scene), but Stadium Way was smooth sailing, and there weren't any sleazes in the parks on the way to the parking lot. The dudes I went to the game with had never seen it like that before, and I always remembered the drive in there as awful. They characterized it as "eerie". Obviously, fans couldn't be bothered to show up on a nice Saturday night.

We paid our $15 bucks to park in the lot and proceeded to park between two cars, about 300 yards from the exit. As I had previously read an article about the Dodgers cracking down on stadium violence and excessive drunkenness, I knew that we probably couldn't get out of the car and drink outdoors, as is the American custom.

What I didn't know, is that the Blue Bastards have morphed from a bad organization to something even more twisted and heinous--- a cross between the DMV, a 5'5 crooked CHP officer who got beat up in high school, and Robert Mugabe.

My buddy Sisto's friends who were with us warned me to keep our beers down as we hunkered down in the car... you know, just trying to drink a Coors Light tallboy before going in. There were jerkoffs in golf carts zipping around the massive parking lot, which was about two thirds full of cars, but totally devoid of any fans.

Just then, a dude comes up and knocks on my window as I hastily hide the beer in the cupholder under some sort of Google Maps printout that had been long ago designated useless.

Parking Lot Nazi: Hey, how you guys doing? Got any alcohol in here with you?

Us: No sir, just a couple of empties. We were just listening to some music.

Parking Lot Nazi: Yeah? Okay. (peering around, pressing his face up against the glass of the rear passenger glass). Well what about that one there in the cupholder? That's not an empty.

Us: Well, no, okay, you got me.

Parking Lot Nazi: Pour it out. All of it. Yeah, just throw it on the ground, scavengers will come and and get it.

The two parking lot nazis then wrote down all of our names, our places of residence, noted the year, make, model, and license plate of Sisto's car, while stating that we wouldn't be cited.

The nazi then said, "Okay. Go into the stadium now. You can't stay out here anymore--"

"But, we already poured out our beer, can we at least get some tunes going, and smoke a cigarette or get a lipper going?" I interjected.

"No." The nazi said flatly. "You have to go into the stadium now, or we'll have to ask you to leave."


IS THAT UNBELIEVABLE OR WHAT?????????? I obviously wore my Giants hat to the game, but it was on backwards at the time, so there was no way that he saw it. They're just jerks to everyone. $15 for parking, $30 tickets, and God knows how much on beer and dogs and whatever, and the Dodgers organization just gives its fans the finger. No wonder these people are so damned miserable. Sucks to be you!!!! Suckers...


Now for the twitterings and pictures of this vile place beginning with buying tallboys at Ralph's in Burbank:

@TheDodgerhater: Dude. There is an illegal underground car washing operation going on in the subterranean Ralph's parking lot in Burbank.

@TheDodgerhater:Parking lot nazis stole our beer within 5 minutes of our arrival and the usher pointed me the wrong way.

@TheDodgerhater:Just ordered a "Giants Dog" and paid with my BofA Giants debit card at Dodger stadium. Reed Johnson's entrance song is Cypress Hill.

@TheDodgerhater:Dodger fans have finally stopped filling the stands here in the bottom of the 4th and have begun the wave while their team hits.

@TheDodgerhater:Fans have moved on from the wave to watching a beach ball get hit around in the stands. Morons.

@TheDodgerhater:Dodger fans are now throwing napkins, bags, and other assorted garbage from the upper deck to the loge to see it float down.

@TheDodgerhater:A paper airplane thrown from the upper deck missed Hong Chih Kuo's head in the bullpen by 3 inches. Unbelievable.

@TheDodgerhater:The left field pavilion boos the rest of the fans lustily when they can't sustain the wave all the way around.

@TheDodgerhater:And in the top of the 8th with an apparently insurmountable 5-1 lead of the Pirates, the fans have begun streaming out.

@TheDodgerhater:Just knocked a beach ball over the railing and yelled GO GIANTS! I got booed by the whole section and part of the pavilion. Got 1 cup thrown at me.


I tell you folks, after witnessing this place again after so many years, I just thank my lucky stars I was born a Giants fan. We've got it so good. Not only do we live in God's country, but our stadium is soooo much better, our fans are decent human beings, and although the parking lots cost waaaaay too much, at least they leave you alone out there to booze and hang out, the way it was meant to be.

Expect some real team articles this week.

I invite you to share your own experiences from Chavez Latrine in the comment section.

More questions than answers

How quickly a week changes things, huh?

This is just a perfect example of why you just can't react to every little thing during your team's 162 game season. Where were we last Thursday? We were five losses lighter, that's where we were.


Look, it's just a matter of peaks and valleys, and this team doesn't appear to be one of those smooth sailers. I mentioned in my last post on Monday, that it was gut-check time, and that this Padres series would be a solid indication of where this team really is.

With the smooth sailing of the few series in the review mirror, it was time for the Gyros to step up-- on the road, without Rowand and a healthy DeRosa, and after a devastating loss to their arch rivals. A couple guys showed up in the San Diego series, namely Cain, Sanchez, and to a lesser extent, Uribe, but it just wasn't enough. This of course is saying something, because the Giants were swept by a final score of 9-4. No, that wasn't the final score of Wednesday's game, those were all the runs scored the entire series.

I believe this 2010 team to be different from last year's model, because up until this grisly San Diago disaster, I saw a vastly improved team. Hell, even in the Eckstein game, Juan Uribe donged one off of one of the best closers in the game in Heath Bell to tie up the game. That was huge, and it just wasn't something we saw last year.

Let's talk Wellemeyer for a minute.

Todd Wellemeyer is not the good version from two seasons ago. This is a "Spring Training Superstar" who's lost his marbles and his command. This quote from Baggarly via Twitter doesn't make me feel good:

"I didn't think Todd Wellemeyer could punt his rotation spot on the basis of three starts. This first inning is making me think otherwise."

You know when a non-knee jerk baseball authority is freaked out, it's time to really freak the eff out.

You don't need to see any stats to know that the dude is off his rocker, and is walking waaaaay too many dudes. But hey, people like stats, so let's look at how gross they really are. The guy is averaging almost 7 walks per 9 innings, an obscene 8.16 ERA, and a a WHIP just below 2. It's just fugly...

It's not like the guy is just giving up Texas Leaguers, seeing-eye grounders and running into bad luck. He's allowing more baserunners than should be legal, and is paying dearly for it.

Let's assume worst case scenario here for a minute, and that the guy needs to be replaced. There are a few options: Kevin Pucetas (AAA), Joe Martinez (AAA), Pedro Martinez (Free Agent), Jarrod Washburn (Free Agent).

None of them are particularly attractive to me, but hey, we're talking 5th starter here. We need a guy who won't pitch us out of ballgames. While the Pedro/Washburn route is certainly intriguing, it's unlikely. Pucetas is likely the guy, since he did indeed have solid spring.

However, Pucetas has given up 17 hits and 8 walks in 16 innings (3.94 ERA) so far in Fresno, which is certainly not something that makes me feel a whole lot better. After all, T-Dub's problem is baserunners, and that's the last thing we need while the offense struggles.

Joe Martinez, on the other hand is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings thus far.

To be mentioned also is that there's some dude named Eric Hacker in AAA that is absolutely beasting around. Truth be told, I've never heard of the guy before, but he's 3-0 with a 1.10 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 16 K in only 16.1 innings. So for what it's worth, we've got this 27 year-old unknown down there mowing down the PCL.

Whatever the decision is, it probably needs to be made quickly, because we've got the Cards, Phils, and the damned dirty Rockies coming into town beginning on Friday.

Other random thoughts:

-- Is it possible that the Padres are a better team than they appear to be?

-- I bet the Gyros don't get swept by the Madres if Zito plunked a Dodger, resulting in a bench clearing confrontation

-- Velez is not a good outfielder

-- If Bruce Bochy refuses to play Bowker every day, how will we ever know if the guy can play every day? How do we know he really can't hit lefties? He's only gotten 3 ABs against them this year. Yes, he's gone 0-3 in those AB's, but it's like come on dude. If he was like 0-20, against lefties, then I'd say, "Okay, I understand."

This is the same confidence-shattering crap that we see time and time again from this organization. Stick his ass out there, and let him effing play. If he sucks after 150 ABs, then fine, do something else. God, I'm so sick of this.

-- My buddy proposed a hypothetical trade today. Assuming Madison Bumgarner stops sucking so bad and regains trade value... would you trade him for Carl Crawford, assuming we could sign Crawf longterm? He's eligible to be a free agent next season. Food for thought. That would be a lottaaaaa triples.

-- If you're like, "We'll sign a big bat this coming offseason." Let me tell you now, that you're dreaming. Here's the list of 2011 free agents. There's Carl Crawford and a whole lotta nothing.

Anything we get to improve this offense in the long term will have to come via trade, at a steep price. This is why there is such a high premium on great young hitters.

-- I hate the Dodgers all over again...

-- Is it possible that we suck on the road? Yeah we swept a terrible Houston team in Texas, but, yeah... we haven't done well since then outside SF...

-- If you're not on Twitter, I think you should, especially if you like venting frustrations during games. It's almost like a Giants chat room at times. I like to talk Giants a lot, so obviously it works for me.

-- Here's a great example of Twitter can be cool. I had this "conversation" with Nick Mangold, starting center for the New York Jets:

The Dodgerhater: PETA freaks protesting outside the KFC in San Rafael. This may be a perfect time to try that new Double Down. Haha! @NickMangold is down.

Nick Mangold: @TheDodgerhater where do I sign up?

The Dodgerhater: We could organize an eat in. Gotta check to see where the PETA jerks are going, then march an army of dudes into the KFC.

Nick Mangold: I like it dude

Shut up! How many starting NFL players did you talk about KFC and PETA with on Twitter? Hmm? Oh zero, that's what I thought!

-- Go Giants, Go Sharks.

Dodgerhater on Twitter

I've resisted as long as I could. For those of you on Twitter, you can now follow the blog at @thedodgerhater. I'm thinking that I'll use this for smaller news and links. I'll make sure that links to new posts get put up there too.

It's a crazy world...

Also, quick note on yesterday's post. I wrote that we'd signed the WRONG Tony Pena. We didn't sign the reliever, it was the light-hitting shortstop formerly of Kansas City. My bad!

That's what I'm talking about... Giants on verge of signing Wagner Mateo

First of all, let us all bask in the failures of Los Doyers. They sucked so bad against the Phillies, that we could not help but beam with pride and malevolence toward them. Good effing riddance. Looks like a Yanks-Phils Series. Don't particularly want either city to win, just because they're so obnoxious, but we gotta got Phils here. If for no other reason than they sent the Dodgers home crying.

Onto more important Gyros-related news:

According to Jorge Arangure (via Twitter) and MLBTradeRumors.com, the Giants are on the verge of signing 16 year old center fielder Wagner Mateo out of the Dominican.

This is a pretty legit report because Arangure is a senior writer for ESPN The Mag and covers the Latin American baseball scene.

This is a particularly interesting story because in September, the Cardinals had Mateo all locked up to a $3.1MM bonus, but ended up voiding the contract almost immediately after. Wagner failed the physical because of vision problems. Just their luck. The biggest amateur bonus ever given to a Latin American player and the guy can't see...

Here's an excerpt from Joe Strauss' piece from the Post-Dispatch:

"...the Cardinals learned that Mateo wore corrective lenses and that without them he could not read past the 'E' on the eye chart.

Mateo was found to possess 20/200 vision. Even with contact lenses, Mateo's vision was 20/30, good enough for most professions but considered deficient among major league players.

The Cardinals said nothing at the time but other organizations heard of a problem.

For most of a month, Mateo shuttled between eye specialists in St. Louis, Baltimore and Boston. Specialists at Johns Hopkins and Harvard reached the same conclusion as those in St. Louis: Mateo's vision could not be improved.

General manager John Mozeliak had little to say on Sept. 18 when the Post-Dispatch reported that the club was investigating whether it could void Mateo's contract. No money had yet exchanged hands. And language in the agreement allowed for an out in the event of physical defect or pre-existing injury. Mateo's eyesight represented a defect, according to the club. Damage caused by ill-fitting contacts to his eyes represented an injury. Mateo was not deemed a fit for Lasik surgery, according to sources familiar with the club's medical findings."

Okay, fair enough. But this kid with 20/30 vision is still a huge prospect. For a 16 year old, based on the vids below, he appears to be extremely well-built, polished, and physically developed in a way that very few 16 year olds can be.

Apparently the Gyros had their eye on the kid the whole time and were in a bit of a bidding war with St. Louis, but "got cold feet" at the last minute and backed out. Perhaps now they can get him a little bit more of a bargain. Interestingly enough, the Giants were offering $3.5MM to Mateo versus the $3.1MM of the Cards. This kid is among the top 3-5 prospects in Latin America, even with his supposed vision issues.

For God's sake, the kid is 6'2, 190 at age 16. We'll get him some decent contact lenses or send him into Genentech to get some eye implants or some hocus pocus crap.

Also, I may add, that the Giants' organizational philosophy has changed so much in the last three years. During the Bonds era, this would not have happened. I have an article coming soon about this, but do not discount these changes. The questions about why we never produced positional players from our farm system are not going to be an issue in near future. So, in my opinion, the negativity coming from some of the big sites, (ahem... you know, the "other Chronicle"...) is getting old and more irrelevant by the day.

Anyway, I like this deal. I hope we get this kid on board. He seriously looks like a left handed Alfonso Soriano.

Click here to directly visit The Dodgerhater.



And this one. Again, you're gonna wanna check these out, so click here if you can't see the videos.

Wagner Mateo from Kiley McDaniel on Vimeo.