Tim Hudson a good move for Giants, Javy Lopez close to deal

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We're picking up speed here.

Seemingly out of left field, Tim Hudson is a Giant, and I for one am pleased.

How can you go wrong with A) a proven competitor and good pitcher and B) a two year deal?

Yes, he's getting long in the tooth at 38, but he's still in great shape, should be fully recovered from his season-ending ankle injury last season, and he flat out knows how to pitch. With the starting pitching market in its currently absurd state, two years, $23MM for a 38 year old like Huddy seems like a not-so-bad proposition when compared to the 4 year hamstringing albatrosses in the $60MM range stiffs like Edwin Jackson and Ryan Dempster got and Ricky Nolasco will likely get.


Yep, that's where we are in baseball. We're to the point when $11.5MM a year for a 3rd/4th starter is a bargain. I don't know how we ended up here, but it just is what it is.

It's also a bargain when compared to Tim Lincecum, who will make a whole lot more for, as of now, worse statistics.

With Hudson, the Giants get a guy who knows how to pitch. Throughout his career, he's done a great job mixing speeds, and throwing a variety of pitches to keep hitters guessing. He's only lost a mile and a half on his fastball since 1999, and hasn't had a BB/9 average higher than 3 since 2006.

Most recently, Hudson had a 1.19 WHIP and opponents only hit .246 against him. Also, he has allowed a total of 56 HRs since 2006. In comparison, Lincecum has given up 110 round trippers... and he didn't make it to the majors until 2007.

So yeah, Tim Hudson is pretty damn good for an old guy I'd say.

How much of that plays into the fact that the Oakland Coliseum and Turner Field are cavernous pitcher's parks? Well, that's a valid argument to a certain extent.

Career stats have Hudson with a 3.04 ERA at home and a 3.82 ERA away. In 2013, the splits were sharply different with Hudson posting a 2.83 ERA at Turner and a 4.86 ERA elsewhere. 2012 seems to be a bit of an anomaly, with a lower ERA on the road, but 2011 sticks to the script, with 2.31/4.57 home/away splits.

The good news here is that he's pitching to another massive outfield like Atlanta and Oakland. There are trips to San Diego and LA to look forward to. But there's also Phoenix and Denver too... so let's hope these splits don't get too crazy. He's had only 2 seasons since 2002 where he's pitched better on the road.

Let's not make too, too much of this though. Many players pitch better at home. Just something to keep an eye on during those hot weather trips to the bandboxes of America's Heartland in the middle of the season.

Then there's the intangibles. Hudson is a hard-working guy who has refined his craft over the years and really hasn't dropped off at all, like many do at his age and with the amount of miles on his arm. He's yet another Southerner that will immediately fit in with leaders Cain, Posey, and Bumgarner, and here's the kicker: he wants to be here.

This isn't a high-bidder take all thing like Albert Pujols. Hudson expressed interest in being here, and he may have taken a lower offer to make that happen. It's a rarity these days, but I just love hearing that. Especially because the Giants have had a seriously difficult time wooing free agents in the past.

Buy hey, what pitcher wouldn't want to pitch for us? It's damn near impossible to give up a home run and you get to throw to Buster Posey. When his contract expires after 2015, hopefully some of our young arms will be ready to go. Sounds like a pretty sweet plan to me.

Welcome aboard sir!

Lopez near deal?

Bobby Evans told Jim Bowden that the Giants are about to re-sign Javier Lopez. Check out the MLBTR article here.

This is a great deal at nearly any cost. Lopez is as reliable as they get, and the Giants' bullpen would've been severely weakened if he had left. Unlike Jeremy Affeldt, Lopez can be counted on.

Now about that left fielder...

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.

One down, three to go...

As if there was any doubt, the Giants once again pulled out a close game. And once again, Cody Ross and Tim Lincecum showed up in a HUGE way.

You know I don't write recaps, I write observations and analyze the hell out of stuff. You all watched the game anyway. So here goes:

-- Lincecum looked a little out of sorts early and didn't have the command he showed in his shutout 14K performance against Atlanta. Much of this can probably be attributed to a blister problem on his pitching hand. Despite Giants management downplaying the issue, it was obviously bothering him.

As solidly as Roy Halladay pitched, Lincecum was better. Most impressive about that is that he basically did this with two pitches behind his back. His curve and slider were not there, so he was basically going at the most fearsome lineup in the NL with a fastball and changeup...

-- I couldn't believe Bochy trotted Lincey out there to pitch the 7th inning after he was "leaking oil" (Krukowism) in the 6th. Again, the guy proves everyone wrong by perhaps establishing his best rhythm of the entire game, going 1-2-3, and even mixing in a couple soft-breaking sliders. To me, that is the epitome of guts and "leaving it all out on the field". Throwing sliders hurt his finger, he was over 100 pitches, he had 45,000 sleazebags whistling at him, and he pulled out that 7th inning like a stud.

The guy never ceases to amaze and surprise me.

-- If you didn't get the whole whistling at Lincecum thing, Philly fans were catcalling at Lincecum due to his magnificent, lustrous hair. It was if they were drunken, union construction workers sexually harassing an attractive woman walking by during their 2 hour lunch break.

Obviously Phillie fans have a thing for guys with long hair. Haha.

-- Tim Lincecum on the whistles from Phillies fans: "I was thinkin I must have a really nice butt, because I sure heard a lot of em."

-- Cody Ross was an absolute gem of a pickup (as if we didn't already know that). It is truly remarkable how a guy Sabean picked up simply to prevent the Padres from improving has now carried the offense through the NLDS and now onto the NLCS.

He was meant to be a 4th outfielder, a free pickup meant to replace Jose Guillen in the 6th inning as a defensive replacement. Now look at him. Ripping the Braves, killing the Phils.

-- Cody Ross became the first 8th place hitter to hit two dongs from the 8th spot in the playoffs since Chad Curtis did it in 1999.

-- Ross joins Garrett Anderson, Marlon Anderson, Luke Scott, and Corey Hart as the only guys to ever hit two dongs off of Halladay in the same game... regular season or playoffs. (Thanks to Cam Inman for that one)

-- Yes. It's true. Cody Ross, "The Pride of New Mexico" wanted to be a rodeo clown as a kid.

-- The Giants once again failed to bring home a runner from 3rd base with less than 2 outs. Not only that, but Andres Torres struck out in Panda-like fashion against the erratic Brad Lidge.

-- Speaking of Torres. He got one to fall, but the man ain't right. I don't know if he's tired, his appendectomy is bothering him, or if he's just too nervous. Perhaps the playoffs are really meshing with his ADHD to create a perfect storm of ineffectiveness. Regardless, I am worried about him.

-- Andres Torres is now 5-21 in the postseason, with 1 stolen base, 0 runs, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts. He's been a catalyst all season. This is killing our mojo. Thank God for Cody Ross.

-- Javier Lopez is an absolute monster to lefties. He made Ryan Howard look like an medicated old schoolmarm. This particular deal by Sabean, perhaps the least heralded, ranks just behind Burrell and Ross in importance to the team.

Since Lopez's arrival to San Francisco for Joe Martinez and John Bowker, he has thrown 19.2 innings of 1.40 ERA ball, with a 19 K's and an opposing batting average below .160

-- There are a lot of horrendous home plate umpires out there, namely Crawford, Bucknor, and West, but Darryl Cousins is up there with the worst of the worst.

It's as if the man has zero peripheral vision, cannot bend his neck to look down, and believes all strikes are around the letters. There were no corners or strikes around the knees and he was just plain all over the place. He was screwing both sides all night, and guys like him should not be affecting playoff games. There simply needs to be more accountability for lousy home plate umpires.

-- Raul Ibanez is a liability for the Phils in LF. He's like a statue out there missed a catchable ball by Burrell to "blow the game open"

-- Nice to see Juan Uribe finally get a clutch hit and drive in a run

-- Check out this video of a Phillies fan puking onto the field during a Freddy Sanchez foul ball. At least he didn't puke on an off-duty cop and his children like the last time.


Perhaps nearly as epic as Ashkon's "Don't Stop Believin'" Giants remix, is Frankie Boots's "Lincecum, F Yeah"... set to the tune of Team America's "America, F Yeah"

Probably not safe for work... Good thing it's the weekend.



-- If you were complaining about Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly, well, you're still complaining about the announcing.

My quote is "Joe Buck and Tim McCarver: Ruining baseball since 1996".

Buck sounds like a depressed, blase, out of work actor with a trust fund and McCarver sounds like a senile old drunk. Fox is the worst. It wouldn't be so bad, but the KNBR feed is even further off live TV for Fox than it was for TBS. I'm talking 12 or 13 seconds ahead. I find myself only watching the TV for replays. It's truly unbelievable that in today's society with all this technology, we have to deal with this kind of mind-numbing and frustrating commentary. I swear to God I would do a better job sitting at home in my underwear doing play by play with my dog Rosie as the color commentator.

Does anyone have a way of "DVR'ing" the radio to slow it down??

Looking forward to game 2 and Oswalt versus Sanchez:

-- Oswalt has a career 3.61 ERA against the Giants. Interesting that in teams in which Roy has 15 or more starts starts against, he has surrenders the second highest ERA against San Francisco.

Oswalt Career ERA (15+ starts)

CHC, 3.82
SF, 3.61
MIL, 3.59
STL, 3.19
WAS, 3.10
PIT, 2.54
CIN, 2.81

In 2010, Oswalt is 1-3 in 4 starts against the Giants, and he has a 3.33 ERA. His last start, a win, came as a member of the Phillies. Also of note is that King Roy has a 1.76 ERA at Citizen's Bank Park in 2010.

As for Jonathan Sanchez, his road ERA is noticeably lower than his home ERA (2.86/3.26).

In addition to that, Sanchez is 2-0 against Philadelphia in 2010 with an incredible 1.38 ERA (2 ER in 13 IP) and a .114 BAA.

Looks like a great matchup to me!

And BTW, I predicted on Facebook/Twitter before the game that the Giants would win Game 1 3-1, beat Oswalt in Game 2, and lose to Hamels in Game 3. Giants in 6. Proof below.

Time to raise a glass to Brian Sabean

Let's tip our hats, and raise our glasses of cold, cold beer. They say we're fading, but we're still waving that flag around here...

I had to paraphrase a little Eric Church there to help express how we should be feeling both about the Giants and the job Brian Sabean has done to improve this roster.

It was not long ago that Sabes could do no right in the eyes of many-- seen as a has been, a hack, or a never was.

I'll say this. The man has swung and missed on a number of big contracts over the years. Edgardo Alfonzo, Armando Benitez, Barry Zito, Aaron Rowand, Mark DeRosa, and possibly Jeremy Affeldt's 2010 off-season extension. Although these type of contracts have hamstrung the payroll, it's the little pieces that seem to even things out.

Despite Sabean's high-dollar mistakes, he has managed to outsmart and out-gamble the entire league in respect to shrewd pickups and "Aw, what the hell? Why not?" moves. What I am most impressed by, especially this season, has been the organizational ability to resurrect careers and launch others simply by giving guys a shot.

In the fluidity of the interminably long baseball season, we forget the changes that have taken place, and just accept them as normal... as if they'd been there all along. It's difficult not to. For God's sake, April was what? Five months ago? Just to refresh our collective memory, let's look at the 2010 San Francisco Giants Opening Day Roster (*Renel voice*)!


Position Players:

Aubrey Huff, Travis Ishikawa, Edgar Renteria, Pablo Sandoval, Juan Uribe, John Bowker, Mark DeRosa, Aaron Rowand, Nate Schierholtz, Eugenio Velez, Andres Torres, Bengie Molina, Eli Whiteside

Disabled List:

Freddy Sanchez, Fred Lewis, Manny Burriss

Bullpen:

Jeremy Affeldt, Waldis Joaquin, Brandon Medders, Sergio Romo, Guillermo Mota, Dan Runzler, Brian Wilson

Starting Rotation:

Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Todd Wellemeyer

By my count, that is 4 guys either with another organization or out of baseball, 1 guy on the DL for the season, and 4 guys in the minors with no reason to be brought back up.

Then of course there was Denny Bautista, a righty out of the pen trying to make it back, whose stint with the Giants was highlighted by an asinine performance in Colorado, and a next day release.

And, look! How gross was this opening day lineup?

CF Rowand
SS Renteria
3B Sandoval
1B Huff
LF DeRosa
C Molina
RF Bowker
SS Uribe

The mere sight of Aaron Rowand makes us sick these days, and Renteria isn't far behind. With these two at the top of the lineup, we were guaranteed a championship! Man...

So many things have happened since then! Bear with me! It's worth it!

-- Fred Lewis was traded to the Blue Jays
-- 2B Freddy Sanchez returns from injury
-- DeRosa underwent surgery, out for season
-- Bowker never got to play, even though he won the job
-- Bowker sent down to Fresno
-- Andres Torres steals starts in CF from Rowand
-- Todd Wellemeyer draws the ire of Giants fans
-- Wellemeyer begins receiving threats
-- Torres takes over full time for Rowand in CF and leading off
-- Guillermo Mota, signed for nearly nothing, becomes important bullpen arm
-- Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff carry the team
-- Santiago Casilla, who signed for nothing, is called up
-- Wellemeyer is injured in Cincinnati
-- Joe Martinez, not Madison Bumgarner is brought up to start
-- Posey is called up after feasting in Fresno
-- Joe Martinez is not very good
-- Pat Burrell is signed for the veteran's minimum after being released
-- Madison Bumgarner is called up
-- Wellemeyer is released
-- Bengie Molina is traded to Texas for Chris Ray
-- Pat Burrell becomes full-time LF
-- Denny Bautista is brought up to the bullpen
-- Bautista sucked
-- Bautista is released
-- Dontrelle Willis picked up off scrap heap and assigned to minors
-- Brian Wilson debuts his orange shoes

-- Posey is an absolute monster
-- Torres rules
-- Burrell is a beast
-- Runzler and Affeldt get hurt
-- Bowker and Martinez traded for Javier Lopez
-- Daniel Turpen traded to Red Sox for Ramon Ramirez
-- Evan Crawford traded to Cubs for Mike Fontenot
-- Jose Guillen acquired from Kansas City
-- Guillen trade finalized. Giants get slab of ribs. Royals get a fungo bat.
-- Cody Ross acquired

Pretty incredible transformation, I would say... and for what? Next to nothing!



Not only that, but geez, look at our bench now! (excluding Sept. callups)

Schierholtz, Rowand, Ishikawa, Renteria, Ross, Fontenot, Whiteside

Is it perfect? No. But it's as deep and defensive as anyone else's. Guys like Cody Ross and Mike Fontenot are luxury items off the bench... while Rowand is more of a $60MM lemon whose warranty just expired.

I don't want to ramble here, but we need to give credit where it's due. Sabean acquired/signed Santiago Casilla, Guillermo Mota, Pat Burrell, Chris Ray, Jose Guillen, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, Mike Fontenot, and Cody Ross for nearly nothing, and he deserves some plaudits.

Throw in the callups of Posey and Bumgarner, and that's like an entirely new team, all within the framework of 3 months.

Despite Sabean's shortcomings in doling out big contracts to old losers, I don't know too many GM's that can remake nearly half a roster in 3 months for next to nothing in blood and treasure, and get that new team into first place by September 21st. Not only that, but Sabean also managed to somehow IMPROVE clubhouse chemistry. It truly is unbelievable.

So cheers to Brian Sabean. You did good buddy. You did real good.

Quick Trade Update, Giants get 2 Pitchers

I'm still on the DO, and I'm actually updating this from my Moto Droid with my leg in this crazy motorized bending machine.

Anyway, Sabean, perhaps too gunshy from backfired deadline deals such as Shea Hillenbrand and Ryan Garko, decided to play this one safe-- if not overly lame.

The Giants we're connected to a ton of players. Adam Dunn, Scotty Downs, Jose Bautista, Corey Hart, Scotty Podsednik as well as a multitude of others. With the bullpen the most glaring issue, Sabean added two relievers, a matching lefty/righty combo with Hispanic names.

Firstly, John Bowker and Joe Martinez we're sent to Pittsburgh for LHP Javier Lopez.

Lopez is a lefty specialist that is under control for 2011. This year he has a 2.79 ERA in 38.2 innings. Obviously this was a huge need and I really hope Johnny Bowker gets a real shot to succeed in Pittsburgh, something I constantly harped on this year.

Here's the link for Lopez: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lopezja02.shtml

Ramon Ramirez from the Red Sox is a veteran righty who had some good years in Kansas City, but has only average numbers in Boston this year. In 42.1 IP this season, Ramirez has a 4.46 ERA. Which, we have to remember is in the absurdly difficult AL East. A lower level prospect, who's name escapes me in my Norco-infused haze, was sent to Boston. No one we know or love...

Ramirez is arbitration eligible for next season and it appears that he is under team control till 2013. Here's the link.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ramirra02.shtml

Beat LA!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.8