Uribe now dead to me & a look at SS

I don't even want to write about this... I really don't.

What can I say, there is no honor among thieves and no loyalty in professional sports. I'm not just talking about the players either. There is a lack of loyalty at the management level as well.

As the hangover from our World Series victory begins to subside, we've experienced our first wakeup call. It was one of those shrill hotel room wake up calls that angers the hell out of you because it's just so goddamn unpleasant.

Why Uribe? Why the Dodgers? WHY! WHY!

I mean, yes, the money was excessive, and yes the Dodgers will regret giving him 3 years and $21MM, but the fact that we lost a key player to our hated, disgusting arch rivals is just unacceptable.

The Giants get a compensatory draft pick out of it because they offered Uribe, a Type B free agent, salary arbitration, but that doesn't lessen the sting of losing such a well-rounded player.

He is an above-average shortstop, an above-average hitter, and is the type of lineup and clubhouse glue that got us our first World Championship in San Francisco. He was just nearly as important as Aubrey Huff, who in my opinion got $2-3MM more per year than was necessary.

I understand why Uribe took the money. Money is good, and this will be his last chance to score a multi-year deal like this, I just wish the Giants would've tried harder to keep him. To me, it just sounds like they let him go... and that's a tough pill to swallow for fans like me who become so attached to players.

Now we'll have to see our beloved Uuuu-Ribe do his patented jazz hands in Dodger Blue, a thought that makes me seriously nauseous.

It's not quite Johnny Damon bolting Boston for Pinstripes but that's what it feels like. The last such thing we saw was Jason Schmidt signing for huge dollars with the Dodgers... a move that hamstrung them for years.

I will never be able to root for Uribe again, which is unfortunate. In addition, he will suffer horrible effects from the traitor's curse he brought upon himself. Like Schmidt did, Uribe will toil in both injury, mediocrity, malaise, or all 3. It is not that I wish this on him, it is just what will happen. His fate is sealed, and there's nothing he or anyone can do about it.

As for our shortstop options now... the market is not very attractive, hence the big contract for the newly hexed Juan Uribe. Here are the available shortstops, thanks as always for the ever-handy MLB Trade Rumors

Orlando Cabrera (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Juan Castro (39)
Craig Counsell (40)
Bobby Crosby (31)
Adam Everett (34)
Cristian Guzman (33)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (35)
Cesar Izturis (31)
Derek Jeter (37) - Type A, not offered arb
Julio Lugo (35)
Nick Punto (33)
Edgar Renteria (34)
Miguel Tejada (37) - Type A, not offered arb

That, my friends is one ugly list. The only people on that list that deserve a starting role are Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, maybe Nick Punto and possibly Izturis simply because of his defense.

Derek Jeter's agent has been contacted by the Giants, but he will not be signing with us. If Jeter and his camp even entertain a phone call from Brian Sabean, it will be solely to drive up his price with the Yankees and it will turn into a one-sided pissing contest. So forget Jeter. It's not worth thinking about.

Tejada is old balls as well, and although he can still hit, I wouldn't want him necessarily as an every day SS at age 37.

Basically, our options are in house guys like Manny Burriss (not a viable option), Brandon Crawford (who hit .241 in AA and is not close to being ready with the bat), or to make a trade.

See, this is why I wanted Uribe back... it's ugly out there.

The trade options include Jason Bartlett, who the Giants have discussed with Tampa Bay, and possibly Jose Reyes of the Mets, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Bartlett is the more likely scenario, but he's only a slightly above average player.

Bartlett will likely make $5MM via arbitration this year and Tampa has little use for him at that salary with Reid Brignac ready to step into a full-time gig.

There are other teams eying Bartlett, but that probably won't drive his price up too much. He is a good defender, gets on base at a decent rate, and won't hurt you, but he also can't hit it out or do anything spectacular. Although he a Bay Area native with ties to Mountain View and Stockton... so there's that.

As for Jose Reyes, he's a name I've heard floated recently. The Mets, who've dealt with Reyes's creaky hamstrings, occasional brilliance, and general disappointment, perhaps are ready to move on... especially with his pending free agency in '12 and totally new regime in place.

With Jonathan Sanchez likely available, this may be an intriguing deal to explore... And in case you're wondering, Sanchez becomes expendable due to the fact that Dan Runzler is being groomed as a starter.

Anyway, that's pretty much what we're looking at.

HurriCAIN Matt & Company 2 games away...

I cannot say enough about Matt Cain. He shut down a team, that on paper is totally "unshutdownable". Just look how they managed to make a game of it on Wednesday after they'd been left for dead.

Cain was a steady hand on the wheel, guiding the Giants to within two measly games of their first title in San Francisco.

He isn't flashy. His biggest quirks are his high socks, funny puffball of a haircut, and his subtle Southern drawl. He is a blue chip talent with a blue collar attitude and work ethic. That is a set of qualities to be desired in any setting.

Cain has been steady all season long, a guy we could rely on when Sanchez, Timmy and Zito had their ups and downs. Without him, we are definitely not standing where we are today... two games away.

Thoughts & Observations

-- CJ Wilson pitched pretty damn well. Other than that HR he allowed to Renteria, he basically shut us down. He didn't have his best stuff, but still made it work. Impressive start.

-- Edgar Renteria may have earned $6MM of his $8MM dollar salary in the past two games. Hell, maybe all $8MM. His defense has been flawless (save for a mishandled throw on a steal attempt by Andrus), and he was the catalyst for a blowout of a Game 2 win. It really proves that you can't teach "clutch", and playoff heroes like him are still capable of doing it late into their careers.

-- Ron Washington was badly outmanaged by Bruce Bochy tonight. I know, it doesn't sound like something anyone would say... but it's true. Bochy made all the right moves, and Washington, well... uh...

Washington made his biggest mistakes with his bullpen. With Cody Ross coaxing an impressive walk out of starter CJ Wilson, Washington went to his veteran lefty Darren Oliver to face Aubrey Huff. Sure I get it, lefty on lefty. Okay. Oliver got Huff to ground out.

With righty O'Day ready in the bullpen, Washington opted to keep Oliver in the game to face Juan Uribe. This was the first head scratcher of many. I get that O'Day allowed that HR to Uribe on Wednesday, but he's a better option than Oliver, who immediately gave up an RBI double to Uribe.

Fast forward an inning.

O'Day gets two quick outs and allowed a single to Buster Posey. With Schierholtz on deck, Washington, burned by not playing lefty/righty matchups in the previous inning, decided to go with 24 year-old Derek Holland to face Schierholtz.

Holland couldn't find the zone and walked 3 consecutive Giants, including Cody Ross, who hit directly after Nate. Where was Ogundo? Where was Mark Lowe then? I didn't get any of it, and neither did Krukow and Kuiper.

Holland may be rendered useless now after being hung out to dry like that. It was reminded me of Brooks Conrad in the NLDS.

And hell, Bruce Bochy burned Mike Fontenot as a pinch hitter in order to get Rowand in there for a better matchup against the new lefty. And look how that worked out. Rowand hit a triple. That sealed the game as a real laugher.

Ron Washington just seemed totally overwhelmed and it looked like he second-guessed himself throughout the entire game. He didn't have guys ready to go with the bullpen, and seemed totally rattled by previous backfires.

He will rebound by Game 3, but it might already be too late.

-- Javier Lopez is an absolute monster. I did not come up with this nickname, but "The Silent Assassin" fits him well. He's like a biological weapon-- mustard gas or something... or carbon monoxide. The enemy knows we have him, but they don't realize they're choking to death and dying until it's too late.

Boom. Sit down Josh Hamilton. Love Javier Lopez.

-- Some sweet stats here:

-- The Giants have now scored 50 runs, 30 of which have come with two outs
-- Of those 50 runs, 20 have been scored in the first two games of the World Series
-- The 4 consecutive walks by Holland and Mark Lowe set a World Series record
-- Matt Cain has now thrown 21.1 innings in the playoffs and has yet to allow a run
-- Opponents are hitting .171 off of Cain this post season

Game 3

-- Jonathan Sanchez and Colby Lewis go head to head in Game 3. This game has to favor Texas, because Lewis has been pitching very well, while Sanchez, has been... well... "Bad Sanchez". I expect him to be on a VERY short leash.

In addition to a rabid crowd, the Rangers have a serious home field advantage. They've got their short porches, and their DH, as well as their comfort zone. The sheer confidence boost the Rangers will get from being at home will be significant.

Look at Ian Kinsler. That ball he hit in Game 2 would've been a HR in Arlington. He got A&T'd, and it gets guys down in the dumps when they think no matter how hard they hit the ball, they have no chance at a round tripper.

As for the DH, I've already opined that it should be Sandoval. There simply is no way around it. Burrell doesn't like it, and he will be replaced defensively anyway. With righties Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter going in Games 3 & 4, Panda looks like a good bet to me, unless Bochy gets a wild hair up his nose and DH's Aubrey Huff in favor of the defensive Ishikawa at first.

Also, Vladdy Guerrero gets a chance to redeem himself doing what he does best... hit.

-- So now we finally hear why there was no Jose Guillen on the playoff roster. Apparently, Guillen has been linked to some sort of HGH/Performance Enhancing Drug investigation and the Giants were ordered by the commissioner's office to exclude the right fielder.

Although Guillen and HGH go hand in hand, it is fairly shocking that MLB would basically find a way to suspend a guy before he's been formally charged. The Player's Union I'm sure will have something to say about that.

As it turned out, the Giants didn't need him at all, although he would make a swell DH in Arlington. Just imagine if Guillen WAS included on the roster. He'd possibly have stolen at bats from Cody "Boss" Ross. God only knows what would've happened.

Although he was a good late season addition and we only gave up Kevin Pucetas, I cannot say anyone misses him, and Cody Ross did more in his spot than anyone else could have.

Thoughts before Game 1

This is what we've all been waiting for... another chance to finally win a championship.

Not in a million years did anyone expect a Giants-Rangers World Series, and this series is as intriguing and unpredictable as the matchup itself. But, I will see what I can do...

-- Cliff Lee is the best pitcher in baseball right now. He's pitching better than Lincecum, Halladay, Cain, or anyone else that has participated in the playoffs. He is straight filth, and he is more likely to know the lyrics of a Justin Bieber song than he is to walk a guy. That means neither is likely.

Games 1 and 5 will be up to clutch late-inning hitting and Tim Lincecum. Lincecum cannot give up more than 3 runs in either start, because Lee will allow 2 or less. The way to beat Texas in games Lee starts is to A) Get lucky or B) wear him out, take pitches, and beat Texas's inferior bullpen.

-- Josh Hamilton will beat us at some point (or two). The key is to minimize the damage caused by their other two boppers, Nelson Cruz and Vlad Guerrero.

-- Keep the deer off the basepaths. If the speedy Elvis Andrus and the beastly Ian Kinsler draw walks, smack singles, and do their cute little antler thing, we've got problems.

-- Much has been made of Bengie Molina's presence in the Texas clubhouse. Sure he knows signs, tendencies, and our pitchers. It is an advantage for sure. But this is baseball, not the NFL. This isn't a Gruden with Tampa against the Raiders situation.

Molina knows Cain and Lincecum intimately but never really saw Timmy's slider. He doesn't know much about Madison Bumgarner, and was not on the team with Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, Cody Ross, Mike Fontenot, and barely saw Buster Posey.

And another point that Chris Ray, the man Molina was traded for, is still on the team. He is not on the active roster, but that doesn't prevent him from sharing signs, tendencies, game plans, and tips on Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and company.

Another point is that everything is on HD video, and advanced scouting departments for each team do nothing but track tendencies.

The Giants will have changed their signs, and Bengie Molina's effect on the series will be minimal. He wont make Lincecum's changeup easier to hit or Brian Wilson's beard any less awesome.

-- Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez need to do a better job of setting the table and Pat Burrell needs to heat up again. He is due.

-- Please God, stay hot Cody Ross...

-- Casilla, Romo, and Ramirez scare the hell out of me. Good thing Jeremy Affeldt appears to be back...

-- Jonathan Sanchez will once again pitch on the road. Homeboy needs to find his control. Another 3 inning meltdown will sink us.

-- The DH thing is a concern. While Vlad Guerrero will probably bumble around in the outfield during the first 2 games in San Francisco, the Gyros will have a dilemma on their hands in Arlington.

Cliff Lee and CJ Wilson are Texas's best pitchers, but both are lefties. Had Ron Washington opted to throw Colby Lewis in Game 2, the Giants would have had to really improvise with their DH situation.

With two righties in Lewis and Tommy Hunter going in Games 3 and 4, it creates an ideal situation for Pablo Sandoval to DH.

Yes, Sandoval is a full-blown retard, but hitting left-handed is his stronger side, and maybe the lack of stress of playing 3rd base will help him.

Pat Burrell makes sense as a DH (possibly in Game 5 against Lee) but the last time he tried that, he hit .211 with 2 HR and was fired by Tampa Bay. He hates it.

-- I know he wont read this, but I'd like to apologize to Bruce Bochy. At points this season, I declared him "unfit to lead". I even wanted him fired. I was wrong Boch.

I disagree and second guess more than half your lineups and in game moves, but you've gotten us to within 4 games of a championship. If you get this done, I will be forever in your debt...

Predictions: Giants will win in 6 games. The torture will continue, but so will the clutch performances at the plate and on the mound for San Francisco. The Rangers have the hottest pitcher on earth and a superior offense in every way. It only seems logical that they'd win.

Unfortunately for them, they've earned a chance to face the most illogical team ever assembled. The Giants aren't supposed to win, and that's precisely why they will.

PS: I dyed my beard jet black in honor of Brian Wilson. I am applying a second coat tomorrow before the game.

If you have not seen my "Giants Win the Pennant" video, you're missing out. In just over 48 hours, it's received nearly 1,200 hits. It's epic, and will get you fired up for the World Series even more than you already are!



The Giants Win the Pennant!
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Clutch plays and Conrad overcome impotence and Bochy

Speechless.

That's the only way I could describe my feelings after game 2. You know me well enough to know that I am rarely, RARELY speechless.

I second-guessed Bochy's move to bring in Romo over Casilla or Ramirez and expect Wilson to get another 2 inning save. I second guessed his borderline OCD tic of removing Pat Burrell in the 6th inning. I questioned the move of pinch hitting for Fontenot with Renteria. All of it. But let's not talk about that. Rick Ankiel and Alex Gonzalez and Big Head Bochy are sealed up into a nice forgettable little Game 2 package.

On Sunday, Game 3 happened.

It was an incredible performance by Jonathan Sanchez on the mound, another impotent day at the plate against an other-worldly Tim Hudson and nasty Atlanta bullpen, another head-shaking, profanity-inducing string of decisions by Bruce Bochy, and an improbable comeback by our boys in Orange & Black. Observations are as such:

-- Jonathan Sanchez may have finally turned the corner as a big league pitcher... and a big game pitcher. His 11 K performance was the most prolific strikeout total by a Giants left hander in postseason history, and only one other Giants lefty has ever had 10. The Giants organization has been around almost 140 years, and Sanchez was the guy to set the record.

Not only that, but he had a no-hitter going into the 6th inning that had to be broken up by Timmy Hudson himself!

Even more so than Dirrrty Sanchez's no-hitter last season, this performance perhaps announced the arrival of "good Sanchez" for, well, good. He appears to be a confident son of a bitch out there, delivering a stankeye to Rick Ankiel after striking him out in the 3rd, and then throwing one over his head in the 6th.

Consistency has never been Sanchez's middle name, but my Lord, when he is good, he is GOOD.

-- Mike Fontenot and his Jon Miller-described "Hugh Jackman Wolverine Beard" proved to be a good start, and thank God BHH (Big Head Bochy) figured that out. Pablo Sandoval is a liability. He is an idiot in the field (running into Posey in game 2 and throwing the ball all over creation), and an idiot at the plate (double play specialist, strike out artist). Sandoval is not "back", I never declared him "back", and he will never be "back". He had one flukey season as a rookie, the league adjusted to him, and he's too stupid to adjust back. For Giants fans that aren't 14 year old girls with Panda hats, he's testing our patience to the last rope. If he got traded for Alex Gordon or Chris Davis or Johnny Venters, I'd say. Okay. Sounds good. You can sell Panda hats in KC, Texas, and Atlanta. He's your problem now.

Back to Fontenot.

His triple led to our first run (barely), and I'm shocked by how close it came to a dinger. In addition, it also may have injured Jason Heyward, which is a blessing in a not-so-good disguise.

Fontenot also played a good 3B.

-- Bochy is a hard-headed fool. He's been doing these things all year. He's an old-school guy who makes old-man decisions. Nearly all the Giants fans I talk to on Twitter basically groaned in unison as Romo was carted out to face Eric Hinske.

In fact, here is a string of my Twitterings (left column down, then right column)



And right after "Come on Serge", Hinske crushed a terrible pitch up into RF.

Romo is no longer a viable 8th inning option, and let's be honest, that basically lost us the game. If it weren't for Bobby Cox and poor Brooks Conrad, the second loss in a row would've been on Romo and Bochy. Amazing how baseball works.

-- Burrell needs to play 8 innings. Again, we came up in the 9th inning, needing to score and Pat Burrell was no longer in the game with Nate Schierholtz in his place. No. Bochy. NO!

-- Cody Ross should not hit 8th, Uribe should, until further notice

-- Both Brian McCann and Jason Heyward got banged up on Sunday and may not play at 100% tomorrow. No Billy Wagner worked to our advantage today, and with these two guys banged up, I like our chances.

-- It is a amazing how Sanchez and Huff were struggling so badly, and yet, those two, plus the cold Ishikawa walking off the bench, again, along with Brooks Conrad managed to somehow, ridiculously pull off two runs in the 9th inning.

-- There were two outs, two strikes, and we were almost done. We were literally down to our last strike. Freddy Sanchez came through.

-- Brooks Conrad will be forced into therapy soon. Atlanta is a bad sports town with a lot of fairweather bandwagoners, but they get fired up about stuff that matters, like Braves playoff games and Georgia football. You can bet they won't forget Conrad's 4 NLDS errors (3 in Game 3).

Like Duane Kuiper said on KNBR right after Conrad committed the lead-taking error on Buster Posey's routine grounder,

"I'm gonna take the kid off the hook. He should not have been out there playing second base."

And he's right. It's rare to feel bad for an opposing player. Nick Anderson missing all those free throws back in '95 against Houston comes to mind, and to a lesser extent, Bill Buckner, but this one shouldn't be on Brooks Conrad. Here's why.

--He's not a second baseman by trade, he's a 3rd baseman. It is true that he has not been good at 3B this year, committing 7 errors in 2010, but why, oh why, would a bad performance at 3B translate into a better performance at 2B?

My question to Old Man Cox is, "Why, after the 2nd error or 3rd error in the series do you leave the guy out there?"

Not only that, but the guy was asked to sacrifice bunt, and popped it up foul to Mike Fontenot in foul territory before he committed the final two errors. His confidence was shot, and yet, Cox carted him out there.

The alternative is putting Troy Glaus, a career 3B at third with sub-par range, and Omar Infante, a career middle infielder at 2B. Boom. Problem solved.

Braves fans are putting this loss on Cox like we put Romo and Sandoval's mistakes on Bochy.

-- Wilson was nails out there in the 9th. And thank God, because we needed that from him, not only because of the obvious, but because he needed a good outing to get his "Awesomness" back in to full swing.

Romo should shave his beard though. He can start growing it back, but you need to shave it now.

-- Andres Torres and Juan Uribe are a concern. Their at bats do not look great. They are swinging and missing too much and reaching for pitches. The same can be said for Huff and Freddy Sanchez, but perhaps their 9th inning success got them some mojo back.

And like Jerry Springer, my final thought.

On Saturday morning, after one of the most deflating losses of my Giants fan career, I flipped on my DirecTV box and looked through my DVR for something to watch before the Georgia-Tennessee game. Sure enough, there was 30 for 30 from last week: "4 Days in October".

If you haven't seen it, ask around, and see how you can watch it. Either online, or on your friend's DVR. It's worth it.

I actually wouldn't mind having it on DVD for my own purposes, but that is irrelevant.

This particular 30 for 30 was about the 2004 Boston Red Sox who improbably came back from a 3-0 ALCS deficit to beat the Yankees, in New York, to go on to the World Series where they swept the Cardinals.

I'm not a Red Sox fan. I guess I like them more than the Yankees, but who doesn't? Regardless, it was the most incredible comebacks in all of sports history, and was done by a cast of characters and outcasts with beards who called themselves "The Idiots."

Those Red Sox had Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling. They also had Kevin Millar, who is strikingly similar to Aubrey Huff in many ways. Martinez, Schilling, and Lowe in their primes are pretty damn similar to Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez, who are all entering their primes. The Sox had Johnny Damon, whose beard made him look like a caveman. We have Brian Wilson whose beard makes him look like a cross between Charlie Sheen in Major League and Billy Mays back from grave.

They are not the same team, and I know that the comparison is a reach. What I will say, is that those 2004 Red Sox were the underdogs who were loose and goofy in the clubhouse. They had weird hair and strange characters, and tortured their fans all year. And yeah. They still beat the Yankees after being down 0-3.

After watching that, I felt better about our 1-1 series. I felt better about the possibility that we could win 1 or 2 at Turner Field, no matter what the circumstances.

Although I was crushed by the Game 2 loss and Hinske's home run, part of me said, "It's not over. These guys have been coming back all year, and if the Red Sox could come back from an 0-3 ALCS deficit, we can beat these damn Braves."

And that, my friends, is why we watch; it's why we're fans.

Game 3 is Monday at 5:37 Pacific on TBS. And Madison Bumgarner is pitching against Derek Lowe.

PS: I couldn't take Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and TBS any more. After saying they did an okay job in game 1, they, like many of you, made me sick. It's everything from Stockton's pronunciation of error as "errah", to the fact that he introduced the Giants lineup as the "New York Giants", to his spray-on hair.

Brenly, although a former Giant, is sounding more and more like Tim McCarver. In the 4th inning, I put KNBR on, and literally looked at the TV only for visual replays while Twittering. Unfortunately KNBR's feed was about 7 seconds ahead of my DirecTV TBS feed, which makes it impossible to listen and watch in sync. It would be nice for KNBR to give a damn about its listeners and sync up their feed to the TBS feed, but I guess it's not a perfect world.

Curbing Our Enthusiasm Sucks

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1) Pablo Sandoval

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

2) Bruce Bochy

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

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

Only...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Example #2

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

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

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

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

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

3) Freddy Sanchez

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

I dig brother. I dig.

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.

If you have hate in your heart let it out!

Well boys and girls, it's finally Giants/Dodgers time. I for one cannot wait.


I watched a bit of the Dodgers home opener against the D-Bags the other day, and was throughly disgusted by what I saw. I've come to the realization that I am simply grossed out just by the sight of Dodger fans-- let alone 55,000 of them. It is truly a nauseating blue that they wear (when they choose to support their team), and they are all complete slobs.

I think that during a fly ball hit by Chris Young towards the end of the game, I actually saw the Latin Kings carry out a jump in of a new recruit! All the while, the valley trash around them were doing the wave and smacking around beach balls. Just an appalling scene.

And if we need to review why Los Angeles is a hellhole, maybe we should go through a few things.

-- LA has 20 Spanish Radio stations (13 FM, 7 AM). Look, if you speak Spanish, that's fine, but last time I checked, this was America. I feel like the Giants are playing another country in a soccer game. Disturbing.


-- It is covered in concrete, shrouded in smog, and infested with porno people and gangs

-- The traffic makes you want to commit a murder-murder-murder-suicide of Manny Ramirez, Russell Martin, and Matt Kemp

-- Everyone there thinks they're cool, when they are all total douches

-- Their fans suck

-- Both Paris and Perez Hilton live there.

-- Osama bin Laden is a Dodgers fan

Baseball-wise, there's no doubt in my mind that the Giants are a better team.

What this first series will illustrate is the dearth of quality pitching that the Dodgers have. It's almost pathetic. It's not quite Pittsburgh Pirates pathetic, but when you look at their staff, it makes you want to laugh out loud.

Rotation:

Vicente Padilla
Clayton Kershaw
Chad Billingsley
Hiroki Kurode
Charlie Haeger

Are you kidding me? You think you can win the NL West with that garbage? Vicente Padilla is probably the worst Opening Day starter I've ever seen, and he's pitched like it so far (11.32 ERA). Kershaw and Billingsley are decent young arms, but Billingsley has no control and Kershaw is also unpredictable. They are the equivalent of a homeless, retarded man's Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez. Unfortunately for them, if that's the best they've got, they're in for a world of disappointment come October. Plus, Lincecum is better than Kershaw and Billingsley with a Jim Beam hangover and a broken ring finger on his throwing hand.

The Dodgers' bullpen is even funnier:

Jeff Weaver - Headcase, washed-up bum

Ramon Troncoso - The foreign Brandon Medders

George Sherrill - One of the decent guys in the pen has a 15.00 ERA

Carlos Monasterios - Whoooooooooooooooo?

Ramon Ortiz - The guy couldn't hack it for the Giants in AAA Fresno. Seriously. He was released by the Giants because he sucks.

Russ Ortiz - Yes. Russ Ortiz, a guy we liked as a Giant, is a Dodger. A sad day.

Jonathan Broxton - The only decent pitcher in their pen. Looks like a sleaze.

So, there you have it. The achilles heel of the Dodgers is their pathetic pitching staff. Do they have an impressive outfield? Yeah. I'll give it to them. On paper, it is impressive. But look, it takes a lot more than that to make the playoffs, and it'll take a lot more to win a series from the Gyros. Remember, good pitching is always better than good hitting.

So let's all flip LA the bird and enjoy our upcoming sweep!

And I hope Russell Martin gets drilled in the ribs!

Don't Expect Miracles This Offseason: Part 2

This is the second part of the offseason outlook. To read part 1, click here.

Obviously the offense was the biggest issue last year. We all know that. But fortunately (or unfortunately, however you look at it), pitching is going to be our strength again in 2010.

Most of the pitching staff is intact, and very little will have to be done with it.

Here's what we've got going on:

Guaranteed deals: Barry Zito ($18.5M),
Jeremy Affeldt($4.5M)

Arbitration Eligible Pitchers: Tim Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Jonathan Sanchez, Justin Miller, Brandon Medders

Players under control (minimum deals): Merkin Valdez, Sergio Romo, Joe Martinez, Dan Runzler, Alex Hinshaw, Madison Bumgarner etc.

True Free Agents: Noah Lowry, Bobby Howry, Brad Penny

What we're looking at here is certainly not the mess that the offense is. We already have 80% of the starting rotation locked up (Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Zito), and the back end of the bullpen is settled. Basically, this offseason, we need to determine who the fifth starter will be, and to fill out the front end of the bullpen. First, we must discuss our arbitration eligible stars.

Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, and Brian Wilson are all up for arbitration for the first time. This means, that they're all in line for raises-- Timmy especially. We're looking at a Ryan Howard type situation for Lincecum, and his salary is seriously going to cut into our ability to chase the un-chaseable free agent bats you've all been clamoring for. This is what it looks like:

Lincecum:
2009 ($650k), 2010 $9-12M

Wilson:
2009 ($480k), 2010 $5-7M

Sanchez:
2009 ($455k), 2010 $3-6M

So you see the Gyros' situation for what it is. Remember in part 1, where I said that with all the salaries coming off the books added up to about $42.5M?

Well you can take that number, and really slice into it hard with the arbitration awards that this trio of flamethrowers will get. We're talking about between $17-25M already off the top of that number.

So, let's take the average of that range, let's say, conservatively that it's $21M. Then you add in the rest of the 30 dudes on the 40 man roster making minimum deals (around $450k on average--$13.5M total), and Freddy Sanchez, who will almost certainly be back at a number like $6M, you've already gotten to $40.5M.

Now, in my original estimate in the last article, I didn't include the minimum salary guys like Sergio Romo, etc. With last year's payroll of the 25 man roster around $82M, but actually more like $90+, we're talking about having between $12-16M to spend on free agents (including our own minus F. Sanchez) during the offseason.

That is of course, unless Neukom okays a wild spending spree that puts the payroll around $100M.

I don't count on that happening. Whether you like to hear it or not, it's not wise. The team is still paying off AT&T park, and we are not like the Red Sox or Angels, where we can afford to make any more free agent mistakes and then just fix it the next season by spending more. There is a tangible budget for player salaries, and they must work within those confines. Yes, I wish we had absurdly deep pocketed ownership too, but we don't.

So, with all of this in mind, I expect a good deal of our bullpen fillers to come from in house. Dan Runzler and Waldis Joaquin come to mind as youngsters who may be ready to fill spots.

I'm not sure what will happen with Justin Miller, Brandon Medders, and Bobby Howry. Miller and Medders pitched pretty damn well, but Miller is coming off an injury, and both would be due raises. Howry drove us crazy last year, and I don't see him coming back, especially because his $2.75M price wouldn't come down too far.

The big question here is whether or not Madison Bumgarner is ready to enter the rotation, whether he starts in the pen, or whether he's best served starting in Fresno.

As much as I'd like to see him take that 5th starter spot, I just don't think he's quite ready, just like Buster Posey. Both of these guys are on the cusp of major league readiness, but are just a bit too green.

Yes, I know that their clocks have already started, but it would be detrimental to both of them to have them up before they're fully confident. The Carolina Kid pitched well, but still had a tough time keeping the ball down in the strike zone at times, and needs to work on his changeup a little bit more.

As for Posey, the guy was overmatched at the plate and he's a little small in the upper body. I mean, in limited call up duty last year he had two singles in 17 at bats and struck out 4 times.

Both these guys need to start in Fresno, Bumgarner being more ready than Posey.

We'll see a more definite answer in Spring Training.

As for the rest of these pitching questions, I trust that Sabean will find a new round of Medderses and Millers. He seems to be best at finding cheap diamonds in the rough, and overspending on the well-known veterans. You know it's true.

Go Phillies. BEAT LA.

The Giants found a lucky Penny, Posey called up

Where were you when you first heard the news?

I received multiple text messages this morning and confirmed this while Facebooking and driving on 101.

Our Golden Boy Buster Posey was indeed called up today-- something that we were hoping for, but not expecting. Sabean and Bochy have been noncommittal about calling up either of our blue chippers all year.

It really makes all the sense in the world.

With Bengie Mo walking on rubber legs and Eli Whiteside being a weak offensive option, this really seems like a no brainer. It also means that Bengie's quad injury is not progressing well.

We don't know how much PT Buster will get, after all, we're in a playoff chase here. More than anything though, this will give Buster a sense of what it takes to play at an extremely high level. He'll catch bullpen sessions for major league pitchers, he'll get to take a few hacks, and most importantly, this cup of coffee in the bigs will give him a crash course on what to expect next year when he inevitably takes over the starting catcher position. Rookie catchers are traditionally eased into things, but I'm anticipating a rapid fire transition.

PS: Those of you in fantasy keeper leagues, I hope you have the #1 waiver priority, otherwise, you ain't landing him.

It'll be exciting to see this youngster. I cannot wait!


Penny looks like a Silver Dollar

Or maybe a gold Sacagawea!

These coin jokes doing anything for you? No? Okay.


So, still any doubters out there?

(Crickets chirping)

Look, as I said before, this was a great move. None of us expected an 8 inning shutout performance, as Aaron Rowand said during the postgame show, but I fully expected a quality start. At this point, a 6 inning, 3 ER outing would've been awesome. Consider how badly Joe Martinez and Ryan Sadowski pitched in each of their three final starts for the Gyros.

In case you forgot, their final three starts combined resulted in a 9.48 ERA and disasters all around.

The whole point in this is this is a veteran guy battling for his career and a contract next season. He's a big, burly, surly son of a bitch out there with a chip on his shoulder-- the type of wild card you want on your side in a good old fashioned Western shootout or bar fight.

The AL East is a whole 'nother animal, and when you're coming off an injury, trying to get your velocity back, adjusting to a new city, new team, and a new league full of hitters-- not to mention a slugging DH around every corner... well yeah, I'd expect a few struggles too.

And lest we all forget, the Red Sox technically didn't get rid of him; Penny requested his own release, and it was granted. This is simply the perfect situation for the horselike Oklahoman, and Lord knows he made the correct call.

Plus it looks like he can even be better. His fastball topped out at 97 tonight and he was consistently hitting 94-96, which had been a concern. I reckon that if his splitfinger gets back to being a swing and miss out pitch, we've got ourselves a #5 with the stuff of a #2 or #3. God I love this rotation.

He's not a savior, but he doesn't need to be. He needs to be solid and give us a chance to win every fifth day. He's a little bit too down.

Plus he HATES the Dodgers. Rock on big man.


Game Notes & Quirky Observations

-- I'm not as anti-mascot as Mike Wilbon, but I think generally they're pretty lame. That Philly Phanatic though... great! The guy opened up the game by "flashing" the Giants dugout, and dancing around like a sex pervert. Hilarious. Touche Phanatic. Touche.

-- Aaron Rowand truly is the king of the unproductive out. God I hope there's a stat I can find out there about this...

-- Haha! Ryan Howard grounded into to the shift in right field in the second inning. That's gotta really tick a hitter off.

-- Thank God Andres Torres got on base (and got the RBI). I had to see his routine to confirm my suspicions. I'd like you all to know that he uses running gloves. Allow me to explain.

He bats barehanded a la Nate Schierholtz/Vlad Guerrero. But-- in a bizarre twist of fate, whenever he reaches base, he withdraws not one, but two, white batting gloves from his buttocks pocket, and places them on his hands for running only. He must have a really nice manicure he's trying to protect. I've seen him do this multiple times and I'm actually assured by people who have played the game at the college level that this is not totally unheard of.

I only wish he switched chains in the same manner. Like he hits with that huge silvery pit bull chain, then reaches base, calls time, hands that chain to Roberto Kelly, and puts on a sleeker, lighter gold chain for baserunning. Hilarious.

-- Speaking of habits, Krukow took great delight in pointing out "...that The Panda does somethin' I've never seen before. When he's in the field, he chews bubble gum, but when he takes his AB's, he puts in a dip."

Krook and I have noticed the same thing!

And we're not talking about any dip here. Pablo is putting in like a quarter can of Skoal every time. As a guy who chews his share of the stuff, I can say that that is one significant lipper!

It just lends more credence to the fact that ballplayers are extremely superstitious, especially when it comes to their oral fixations... whether it's Skoal, Red Man, seeds, bubble gum, or what have you. Pablo definitely doesn't disappoint in this category.

-- If you haven't noticed, I've begun spelling Mike Krukow's shortened nickname to the more phonetic "Krook" as opposed to Kruk. Because we cannot being thinking of John Kruk while referring to Krook. Not on my watch.

-- Before Uribe slammalammadingdonged that ball about 420 feet into left field, he took two MASSIVE cuts. I could almost sense his homer was coming. Man, he really swings as hard as anyone in baseball. And to think, he was given a non-guaranteed minor league deal coming into Spring Training.


GREAT MOVE SABEAN!

-- I have begun to fast forward through Aaron Rowand's at bats. Messed up, I know. I started doing it this weekend, and was about to do it after Uribe's dong, but the remote fell down and did this crazy football bounce. Naturally it was too far away to get. That remote was clutch! Aaron Rowand went yard.

It was surprisingly, the fourth time the Gyros have done that this year.

-- Ever heard of the website FMyLife? Well in case you're old and haven't, FML has little stories of people's bad life experiences and they all begin with "Today," end in "FML". They may be made up for all I know, but here's one that I'm going to submit. Pretend I'm a Phillie fan:

Today, at Citizen's Bank Park at the Phillies game, I saw Tyler Walker and Jack Taschner warming up at the bullpen at the same time. Then they came in the game one after the other. FML.

-- They didn't give up any runs up there, but mark my words, those two guys and that effed up bullpen are the reason Philly won't repeat as champions.


-- Yesterday on the CSN ticker, did anyone else do a double take when they saw this scroll by?

"Exclusive interview with award-winning rapper Ice Cube on Chronicle Live"

I missed it, can anyone fill me in? Has he abandoned the Dodgers and Lakers and become a Warriors and Giants fan? Did Greg Papa try to be cool and end up looking more white? Comment below please.

-- Sanchez threw a helluva game yesterday. Krook referred to his strike three pitch on Ryan Howard in the 2nd inning as "abusive."

Howard got the last laugh though as he singled in the only run of the game.

-- Colorado won again. Bastards.

-- Never thought I'd say this in a million years, but GO METS!