Giants used their second round pick on a high school thirdbaseman that was ranked #197 on the prospect list.
I guess the Giants put numbers on some darts, and thew the darts at a list of available draft candidates. Of course, if these kids turn out to be the next Derek Jeter and Mike Schmidt, then nevermind.
The wishful thinking about Angel Pagan was all for naught and he's now on the 15 day DL. He can come back off in time for next Wednesday's game vs the Pirates.
Coming on up for the first time is 26 year old righty outfielder Juan Perez who's been hitting well in Fresno, batting .296/.331/.507 with 14 doubles, 3 triples, and 9 homers. He's stolen 12 bases and only been caught twice. He doesn't really walk though, drawing 10 walks vs 44 strikeouts. He's not a switch hitter like Pagan is, but he's hitting .296 vs both rightys and lefties, and a slight reverse platoon split with a .790 ops vs lefties and a .852 ops vs righties. He's considered a +outfielder and has played a few infield positions well enough to be considered a super-utility guy, and we know how the Giants love them some super utility guys.
They gave him jersey #2 (recently worn by Manny Burriss and Randy Winn).
Vintage Cain showed up and dealt, but ended up with a vintage "Cain'd" outcome.
I suppose Cain could work on his power. If he could go 4-4 with 4 homers, that'd help, since no one else on the team seems to be able to hit anything over the fence.
Seems like the Giants are just kinda dead right now. They're 3-7 over their past 10 games, and have been outscored 46 to 23.
So much is wrong that it's hard to know what you need to improve to fix anything.
Could it be that Pagan was so much of a presense in the lineup that his absence has killed the team? Blanco and Torres were never meant to BOTH be starting at the same time. Torres has actually done pretty well, but Blanco has crumbled. Boch said before the game that if Juan Perez go to the park before he had to turn in his lineup card, he'd swap him in for Blanco.
It'll be interesting to see where Boch uses him. He could rest Torres tomorrow vs the righty, or he could rest Blanco on Sunday vs the lefty.
The sucking continues. The starting pitching sucks, the offense sucks and the bullpen does their share of disappointing, which is expected when they have to clean up the starting pitching mess night after night. On the rare night the starting pitching pitches well the offense torpedoes the game.
It might be time to press the panic button because the rate things are going they will own the NL West basement pretty soon. Even the Dodgers are getting a shot of enthusiasm while the Giants have nothing going for them. In the last week the Dodgers Yasiel Puig has generated more offense all by himself than the entire Giants roster has.
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<< <i>It might be time to press the panic button >>
What would you hope to see if the panic button got pressed? >>
Good question. Perhaps find another starting pitcher to fill that 5th hole as a start. Cliff Lee?
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A bad run (3-7 in the last 10), but they are still in the thick of things and there's a ton of baseball left to play.
As for WTCG, you are hilarious.
As things go bad for the Giants, here comes WTCG with his patented negativity. Looking at your posts, you'd think the Giants have never contended and are a .250 team. In reality, they're only 3.5 games back with a HUNDRED games remaining.
Have you ever, EVER, once, WTCG, cheered? Did you watch either of the world series runs and said 'they won the world series but the offense still sucks!'
You are the most miserable sports fan I have ever encountered in my life.
<< <i>A bad run (3-7 in the last 10), but they are still in the thick of things and there's a ton of baseball left to play. >>
That's true. In each of the WS years, it was the mid-season trade that put the Giants over the top.
In 2010, it was the trade-deadline acquisitions of Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez that turned the bullpen from good to great, and the waver wire pickup of soon-to-be NLCS MVP Cody Ross.
In 2012, it was the trade-deadline trade for Marco Scutaro who shocked everyone and went nuts for SF in the 2nd half, then won the NLCS MVP. Also at the deadline was the Hunter Pence trade. His statistical production was a mixed bag, but then he turned into the post-season morale officer and rah-rah'ed the Giants over the top.
However, in the last few non-post-season years, nothing helped.
In 2009 they were in striking with elite pitching. Mid-season trades for Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez ended up backfiring. Garko did squat and Sanchez was hurt. Even signing a resurgent Brad Penny didn't help.
In 2011 they were in command even without Buster Posey, but after trading for Orlando Cabrera (who sucked) and Carlos Beltran (who was hurt), the Giants spiraled into oblivion, going from 1 game up on August 1st, to ending the season 8 games back.
Giants make the move that addresses their biggest needs.
In 2009 it was bullpen and infield help. In 2010 it was bullpen and OF help. In 2011, it was anything-to-put-a-charge-in-the-offense help. In 2012, it was infield help.
In 2013, it's starting pitching and OF help.
I have a feeling that the Phillies won't be selling (otherwise Lee and Brown would be the pipe-deam).
A copule of moves today... infielder Tony Abreu was activated off the 60-day DL and called up. Nick Noonan was sent down to Fresno (he needs to play every day and not rot on the bench). Ryan Vogelsong was placed on the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster.
Abreu was the guy the Giants expected to win the backup infielder job, but he was hurt for most of the spring and not healthy at the start of the season. He's been doing ok in Fresno. Giants had picked him up on wavers and added him to the 40 man during the off-season, so they had to choose between calling him up today or DFAing him today. He's a backup infielder, so his impact potential will be as a switch hitter off the bench.
The Giants (nor any team for that matter) aren't going to win the trade wars every single season, but having won two of three world series titles I'd be willing to put faith in Giants' management...they've done a fair job in recent history.
What hurt the team the most was the idea of keeping nearly every player from last years' roster. There's a certain inevitability that a lot of guys are going to come back, but to think that the same group of guys is going to repeat the same level of performance year over year is foolish.
What's happening though is more and more GMs are more well versed in stats than ever before, cutting down the number of players who you want to pick up in free agency. What it leaves is teams having to wait until the trade deadline to pick up players from teams who aren't competitive. I'd expect to see a couple moves in this area (although trying for Lee as a fifth starter, with so many bigger teams like the Yankees vying for him seems remote at best). The Giants have excelled in the past in picking up second- and third-tier players and making their late-season push with guys like that.
By the way, www.mlbtraderumors.com is an amazing website, that takes all the talk about trades, promotions, demotions, etc. and puts it all in one place. A fantastic site to not only follow your own team but your rivals as well.
<< <i>What hurt the team the most was the idea of keeping nearly every player from last years' roster. There's a certain inevitability that a lot of guys are going to come back, but to think that the same group of guys is going to repeat the same level of performance year over year is foolish. >>
With sports in general, there's the growth factor for young players entering their prime or growing with experience. Looking at MadBum and Cain, you'd expect that they'd only get better, entering their prime years. Heck, ESPN had Cain as the pre-season favorite to win the Cy Young Award.
I think the Giants upper management looked at the young core guys (Posey, Belt, Crawford, Sandoval, Cain, Bumgarner) and figured that the best was yet to come.
Ah, well scratch everything I just said about Abreau. With Sandoval re-injuring his foot, Abreau's probably going to compete with Arias for the starting 3b job. Oy.
Nice to see the Giants be on the dealing end of a 6 run inning. Cahill's been really rough on the Giants for his whole career. Today though, he was on the receiving end of a butt kicking.
Tonight's game shows that with halfway decent pitching and an ability to score a few runs off of a good pitcher anything is possible. This is the way the team should be playing.
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An the road weary Giants actually take 2 of 3 from the D-Backs. That's a nice start to road-trip-ageddon.
Giants could have swept if not for Affeldt's poor pitch selection. Gaudin's pretty much locked in his spot in the rotation. It was revealed that he was sick the whole time, and puked twice during the game. I'm sure the D-Backs are pleased to know that they got run over by a pitcher trying to get back into the dugout to vomit.
So, Pablo re-aggravated his sprained foot and is likely DL-bound. It's been confirmed that Nick Noonan boarded a plane and is on his way to Pittsburgh.
Larry Baer and Brian Sabean both said during various interviews today that Pablo Sandoval's injury is a hairline fracture, not a strain like they originally thought.
Less than 30 min later, the Giants org corrected Baer and Sabean, and said that the injury is NOT a fracture, but the strain they originally said it was.
The Merc is reporting that it's a hairline fracture. Either way he'll be out for a bit. If Arias can start hitting like he did last year then it won't be as big an issue and defensively Arias is an upgrade at 3rd base.
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<< <i>The Merc is reporting that it's a hairline fracture. Either way he'll be out for a bit. If Arias can start hitting like he did last year then it won't be as big an issue and defensively Arias is an upgrade at 3rd base. >>
Dave Groeschner is apparently going to clear up the confusion before tonight's game.
Juan Perez played a lot of 3b in Fresno this year. We may see him get a turn there from time to time.
Edit to add: Bochy says that Sandoval has a strain (not a fracture) and that Pablo's been ordered to lose weight while on the DL.
The fracture they saw on the x-ray was an already-healed one, and they confirmed via MRI was indeed, healed. So, it's a non-issue and not related to his current issues.
Giants offense is taking a nap today. It's starting to look more and more like a dirt-nap as the Pirates rookie pitcher is slicing through the Giants lineup like it's nothing.
The team has to find a way to win games where they score zero runs...
Just when you thought the offense turned the corner they take a dozen steps backwards. Is that Cole guy the new Sandy Koufax in Pittsburgh? If he isn't the Giants sure are making him look like it.
Amazing how in his major league debut Cole will likely throw a shutout while the Giants best prospect Michael KickMe couldn't last through 3 innings.
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<< <i>aaaaaaand... Scutaro gets HBP in the wrist and runs straight to the dugout. >>
One way to get on base. They've barely been able to do it the normal way.
The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of.
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I quit watching this game after the 7th inning. Any updates on Scutaro?
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No broken bones. I had visions of Voggy's injury running through my head. Still, it could be a damaged tendon. We'll know more later, but expect the DL. We'll be seeing a lot of Tony Abreu now. Hope he's good! He was a prospect bust with the Dodgers years ago.
Kontos got ejected for throwing behind Marte and then plunking McCutchen. Kontos had zero command, and the ejection was more procedural than anything, since a warning had been issued. Either that or Kontos had zero command (getting lit up for 3 runs in the 7th) and didn't appreciate that Boch made him go out there for the 8th.
<< <i>The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of. >>
Who do you think the Giants would part with, and for what?
<< <i>The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of. >>
Who do you think the Giants would part with, and for what? >>
The guy is a total naysayer, and completely unable to see anything positive in any situation. Ignore him.
The Giants have not been "major sellers" at the deadline, even when they were woefully below .500. One or two players who were nearing the end of their usefulness getting flipped for prospects maybe, but that was it. They never shipped off an impact player. Am I wrong? The closest thing to "selling off" players would be trading Ray Durham to the Brewers for prospects back in 2008, and that ended up being Durham's last season as a pro.
<< <i>The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of. >>
Who do you think the Giants would part with, and for what? >>
Pence is the most likely and plenty of teams would love to have him. I don't know how interested the Giants are in retaining him past this season. Lincecum and Zito if a team needs an immediate hole to plug in their rotation. I can see Arias possibly moved as he can fill an infielder spot.
Personally I have no problem with trading away Lincecum for anything remotely decent. He's run his course of effectiveness and I believe there is virtually no chance he would consider staying in SF. Despite what the fans think, he seems to hate it here and has had one foot out the door since 2010.
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<< <i>The Giants have not been "major sellers" at the deadline, even when they were woefully below .500. One or two players who were nearing the end of their usefulness getting flipped for prospects maybe, but that was it. They never shipped off an impact player. Am I wrong? The closest thing to "selling off" players would be trading Ray Durham to the Brewers for prospects back in 2008, and that ended up being Durham's last season as a pro. >>
I agree with you about that. The Giants haven't been known to blow up their roster even in a bad season, although there have been years that doing so could have benefitted.
As for trading an impact player, Matt Williams comes to mind.
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<< <i>Pence is the most likely and plenty of teams would love to have him. I don't know how interested the Giants are in retaining him past this season. Lincecum and Zito if a team needs an immediate hole to plug in their rotation. I can see Arias possibly moved as he can fill an infielder spot. >>
I don't think they deal Pence. The only way he walks is if management thinks the window of opportunity has shut and it's time to prospect-up... or they think someone's coming up to replace him. Heading into the future with 1 question mark in the outfield is workable. Doing it with 2 question marks is bad form. With Pagan and Pence out there for the long term, it'll give them a chance to work in guys like Juan Perez, Roger Kieschnick, or (if he ever makes it) Gary Brown.
Arias, maybe. I don't see any team giving up anything of value for him though.
I don't really see Zito or Lincecum going anywhere unless Surkamp makes a stunning recovery and Kickham turns into Clayton Kershaw with glasses.
<< <i>As for trading an impact player, Matt Williams comes to mind. >>
That wasn't a trade-deadline deal though. Matt was 30 years old and had been plagued by injuries for the previous 2 seasons, so Sabes gambled that he was broken, flipping him and scrubs to the Indians for a 23 year old relief pitcher with the potential to be a plus starter and a new middle-infield (Visciano and some dude named Jeff Kent). At the time of the deal, he was doing upgrades to the team, not blowing anything up.
I think the Matt Williams deal was the first transaction Sabean ever did after getting hired by the team. I still remember all the heat he got for it, and at least a few media outlets bluntly calling Sabean an "idiot" for trading away a fan favorite who when healthy could produce. Ultimately the trade panned out for the team but we didn't know that at the time. It was part of a rebuilding process but when a high profile player gets traded it is in many respects a blowup of a team.
Even if the team keeps all five starting pitchers for the rest of the year, the pitching situation for next year would need to be resolved sooner or later. With up to three of the five pitchers potentially leaving there are going to be holes and unless Kickham and Surkamp (two pitchers I'm thoroughly unimpressed with so far) can patch two of those holes they would still need some starting pitchers.
I like Pence and I really want him to stay. Unfortunately decent outfielders are hard to come by and come offseason contract bidding time he might become too expensive for the team to retain.
As for Gary Brown, what's the deal with the guy? I don't follow the minor leagues too much but I know that he's basically fallen off the radar after being touted as a top prospect for several years.
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<< <i>As for Gary Brown, what's the deal with the guy? I don't follow the minor leagues too much but I know that he's basically fallen off the radar after being touted as a top prospect for several years. >>
After a fantastic 2011 season in San Jose (.336/.407/.519, 14 homers, 53 stolen bases), he stumbled in 2012 with AA Richmond (.279/.347/.385, 7 hr, 33 sb), and face-planted so far in 2013 with AAA Fresno (.228/.293/.367, 5 hr, 6 sb).
Apparently he was refusing to listen to coaching advice about his batting stance, and continued to dig himself into a hole. This past weekend while pulling down another 0-fer and seeing his horrid average for the month go down to .103, he caved and talked to the coaches, made some quick adjustments, and has gone 8-13 over his past 3 games, with 3 doubles and a pair of homers.
Kontos has been demoted to Fresno. Sandy Rosario has been called back up.
Boch has leaned on Kontos pretty hard this year. Knotos has appeared in 31 games as a reliever, which leads the team. The only other reliever to pitch more innings form the bullpen was Gaudin, who originally was the long-man. I'm not sure who'll be the new long-relief guy now that those two aren't available.
It's official, Scutaro has tendon damage in his left pinkie finger. Recovery time is 6-8 weeks, which will put him out of the lineup until early August.
He could opt to play through it if he wanted. Boston's Dustin Pedroia has been playing through a torn thumb ligament since opening day, and he's still putting up all-star numbers. Of course, Pedroia's a crazy little bulldog. He probably likes the pain.
Scutaro looks like he won't hit the DL, but his effectiveness with the injury remains to be seen.
Kontos demoted to AAA and suspended 3 games while Boch serves his tonight. If Kontos gets 3 games, how many do you expect Ian Kennedy, Grienke, McGwire and the half dozen others from last night's melee(s) in L.A. to miss?
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Not bad. In fact, every starting position player but Crawford reached base 2 or more times.
However, Zito's road issues deleted all that stuff with his 8 runs in 4.2 ip. He wasn't fooling anyone, and while no one squared up and launched anything, they managed to dink and dunk their way to 11 hits and 8 runs.
The offence didn't stink it up tonight. The pitching staff did. That's going to be a theme.
What in the hell happened to our pitching!?!?!
Bumgarner = young and inconsistant Cain = in his prime and getting blown up. Lincecum = in his prime and getting blown up Zito = getting blown up on the road, and not by the long ball, just long strings of base hits. Gaudin = staff ace.
Tonight the offense did what they could but even the best offense in the majors in the last century couldn't bail out the damage the bad pitching did. The Team was lucky the Pirates only scored 12 runs tonight because they could have scored a lot more.
Anybody still have illusions about this "fantastic" pitching rotation? The Giants have one of the most expensive pitching rotations yet one if the worst.
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The pitching rotation used to be great, used to win games, used to bail out the inept offense and used to be the envy of the league. The problem is that's all in the past and how they used to be does us no good in the present. Their past dominance makes for fond memories but what they can do now is more important.
If there's one positive, it's Matt Cain. His last few outings have been better so maybe he's turning the corner. As for Lincecum, either he becomes a closer or he'll spend the rest of career as a journeyman 5th starter or long reliever. He's past his glory days.
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It's downright hilarious for anyone to suggest that Lincecum could be traded. The only way that happens is if the Giants eat most if not all of the salary, even then, they aren't getting anything decent in return.
The Giants won't be sellers. Period. Anyone suggesting differently has no idea how the Giants work as a franchise.
Catcher Hector Sanchez called back up, along with rookie righty reliever Jake Dunning.
Brett Pill is getting sent down, and lousy reliever Ramon Ramirez has been DFA'd.
Sanchez was apparently hurt at the start of the season, and went to the DL after he was demoted to Fresno. In the time he's been back, he's hit .320/.370/.460 in about 50 pa.
Jake Dunning's numbers in Fresno this year: 1.75 era, 1.33 whip, and a 1.17 gb/fb ratio in 36 innings. 31 strikeouts vs 10 walks.
He's the 2nd guy from the Giants 2009 draft class to make his debut (Brandon Belt was the other). He'll be wearing Noah Lowry's old number (51, which was also worn by Randy Johnson in his 1 year here).
So with Sanchez getting recalled up, are they going with three catchers or doing something with Quiroz?
Ramirez getting DFA'd surprises nobody except that it's taken this long. He hasn't been good since 2011.
As for tonight, behold the joys of good pitching and a strong offense. Things went so well Hunter Pence got an inning off. I believe the 9th inning was the first time he's sat out an inning this year.
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<< <i>So with Sanchez getting recalled up, are they going with three catchers or doing something with Quiroz? >>
As you know, Boch and the Giants brass has a fetish for Hector Sanchez. Other than that, Pill wasn't going to get platooned with Belt since Belt has started killing lefties, and he was useless off the bench. At least Sanchez can catch and hit switch. Though whether Sanchez can actually hit big-league pitching is another question. I think they just like having him around. Boch said that it gives them "more coverage at catcher", whatever that means.
<< <i>Ramirez getting DFA'd surprises nobody except that it's taken this long. He hasn't been good since 2011. >>
He wasn't total garbage in Fresno. I think they figured he'd eat some innings. However, they would rather have a real reliever on the bench instead of a mop-up garbage man.
<< <i>As for tonight, behold the joys of good pitching and a strong offense. Things went so well Hunter Pence got an inning off. I believe the 9th inning was the first time he's sat out an inning this year. >>
Bochy all but guaranteed that Pence would be on the All Star team.
It's nice to see Cain finally coming around. If only Bum could settle down too.
So we're 3-3 on Road-ageddon. Atlanta's gonna be tough. Bum, Gaudin, Timmy.
Cliff Lee said that he wants to stay in Philly, but he'd also like to go someplace where he can win a ring.
Adding someone like Cliff Lee right now would help this team, but he's 34 and would be under-contract until he was 38. He's making $25m/year through 2015, and 2016 is an option year worth $27.5m if he pitches 200 innings in 2015 (or 400 in 2014 and 2015). $12.5m buyout.
The Giants are not a small-market team. They can spend to their hearts content if they wanted to.
<< <i>And with the 25th pick of the 2013 draft, the SF Giants pick: Christian Arroyo, a high school shortstop who's already signed a letter of intent to go to University of Florida. >>
While no official announcement has been made about him signing, I notice that Arroyo removed "University of Florida" from his Twitter bio.
Comments
I guess the Giants put numbers on some darts, and thew the darts at a list of available draft candidates. Of course, if these kids turn out to be the next Derek Jeter and Mike Schmidt, then nevermind.
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Coming on up for the first time is 26 year old righty outfielder Juan Perez who's been hitting well in Fresno, batting .296/.331/.507 with 14 doubles, 3 triples, and 9 homers. He's stolen 12 bases and only been caught twice. He doesn't really walk though, drawing 10 walks vs 44 strikeouts. He's not a switch hitter like Pagan is, but he's hitting .296 vs both rightys and lefties, and a slight reverse platoon split with a .790 ops vs lefties and a .852 ops vs righties. He's considered a +outfielder and has played a few infield positions well enough to be considered a super-utility guy, and we know how the Giants love them some super utility guys.
They gave him jersey #2 (recently worn by Manny Burriss and Randy Winn).
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I suppose Cain could work on his power. If he could go 4-4 with 4 homers, that'd help, since no one else on the team seems to be able to hit anything over the fence.
Seems like the Giants are just kinda dead right now. They're 3-7 over their past 10 games, and have been outscored 46 to 23.
So much is wrong that it's hard to know what you need to improve to fix anything.
Could it be that Pagan was so much of a presense in the lineup that his absence has killed the team? Blanco and Torres were never meant to BOTH be starting at the same time. Torres has actually done pretty well, but Blanco has crumbled. Boch said before the game that if Juan Perez go to the park before he had to turn in his lineup card, he'd swap him in for Blanco.
It'll be interesting to see where Boch uses him. He could rest Torres tomorrow vs the righty, or he could rest Blanco on Sunday vs the lefty.
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It might be time to press the panic button because the rate things are going they will own the NL West basement pretty soon. Even the Dodgers are getting a shot of enthusiasm while the Giants have nothing going for them. In the last week the Dodgers Yasiel Puig has generated more offense all by himself than the entire Giants roster has.
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<< <i>It might be time to press the panic button >>
What would you hope to see if the panic button got pressed?
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<< <i>
<< <i>It might be time to press the panic button >>
What would you hope to see if the panic button got pressed? >>
Good question. Perhaps find another starting pitcher to fill that 5th hole as a start. Cliff Lee?
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<< <i>What would you hope to see if the panic button got pressed? >>
Good question. Perhaps find another starting pitcher to fill that 5th hole as a start. Cliff Lee? >>
That doesn't help the problems with the offense.
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As for WTCG, you are hilarious.
As things go bad for the Giants, here comes WTCG with his patented negativity. Looking at your posts, you'd think the Giants have never contended and are a .250 team. In reality, they're only 3.5 games back with a HUNDRED games remaining.
Have you ever, EVER, once, WTCG, cheered? Did you watch either of the world series runs and said 'they won the world series but the offense still sucks!'
You are the most miserable sports fan I have ever encountered in my life.
<< <i>A bad run (3-7 in the last 10), but they are still in the thick of things and there's a ton of baseball left to play. >>
That's true. In each of the WS years, it was the mid-season trade that put the Giants over the top.
In 2010, it was the trade-deadline acquisitions of Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez that turned the bullpen from good to great, and the waver wire pickup of soon-to-be NLCS MVP Cody Ross.
In 2012, it was the trade-deadline trade for Marco Scutaro who shocked everyone and went nuts for SF in the 2nd half, then won the NLCS MVP. Also at the deadline was the Hunter Pence trade. His statistical production was a mixed bag, but then he turned into the post-season morale officer and rah-rah'ed the Giants over the top.
However, in the last few non-post-season years, nothing helped.
In 2009 they were in striking with elite pitching. Mid-season trades for Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez ended up backfiring. Garko did squat and Sanchez was hurt. Even signing a resurgent Brad Penny didn't help.
In 2011 they were in command even without Buster Posey, but after trading for Orlando Cabrera (who sucked) and Carlos Beltran (who was hurt), the Giants spiraled into oblivion, going from 1 game up on August 1st, to ending the season 8 games back.
Giants make the move that addresses their biggest needs.
In 2009 it was bullpen and infield help.
In 2010 it was bullpen and OF help.
In 2011, it was anything-to-put-a-charge-in-the-offense help.
In 2012, it was infield help.
In 2013, it's starting pitching and OF help.
I have a feeling that the Phillies won't be selling (otherwise Lee and Brown would be the pipe-deam).
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Abreu was the guy the Giants expected to win the backup infielder job, but he was hurt for most of the spring and not healthy at the start of the season. He's been doing ok in Fresno. Giants had picked him up on wavers and added him to the 40 man during the off-season, so they had to choose between calling him up today or DFAing him today. He's a backup infielder, so his impact potential will be as a switch hitter off the bench.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
What hurt the team the most was the idea of keeping nearly every player from last years' roster. There's a certain inevitability that a lot of guys are going to come back, but to think that the same group of guys is going to repeat the same level of performance year over year is foolish.
What's happening though is more and more GMs are more well versed in stats than ever before, cutting down the number of players who you want to pick up in free agency. What it leaves is teams having to wait until the trade deadline to pick up players from teams who aren't competitive. I'd expect to see a couple moves in this area (although trying for Lee as a fifth starter, with so many bigger teams like the Yankees vying for him seems remote at best). The Giants have excelled in the past in picking up second- and third-tier players and making their late-season push with guys like that.
By the way, www.mlbtraderumors.com is an amazing website, that takes all the talk about trades, promotions, demotions, etc. and puts it all in one place. A fantastic site to not only follow your own team but your rivals as well.
<< <i>What hurt the team the most was the idea of keeping nearly every player from last years' roster. There's a certain inevitability that a lot of guys are going to come back, but to think that the same group of guys is going to repeat the same level of performance year over year is foolish. >>
With sports in general, there's the growth factor for young players entering their prime or growing with experience. Looking at MadBum and Cain, you'd expect that they'd only get better, entering their prime years. Heck, ESPN had Cain as the pre-season favorite to win the Cy Young Award.
I think the Giants upper management looked at the young core guys (Posey, Belt, Crawford, Sandoval, Cain, Bumgarner) and figured that the best was yet to come.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Nice to see the Giants be on the dealing end of a 6 run inning.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
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WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Giants could have swept if not for Affeldt's poor pitch selection. Gaudin's pretty much locked in his spot in the rotation. It was revealed that he was sick the whole time, and puked twice during the game. I'm sure the D-Backs are pleased to know that they got run over by a pitcher trying to get back into the dugout to vomit.
Next up, Pirates.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
No Pagan, no Pablo, no Casilla.
Giants need a spark. Maybe Juan Perez has one?
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Less than 30 min later, the Giants org corrected Baer and Sabean, and said that the injury is NOT a fracture, but the strain they originally said it was.
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<< <i>The Merc is reporting that it's a hairline fracture. Either way he'll be out for a bit. If Arias can start hitting like he did last year then it won't be as big an issue and defensively Arias is an upgrade at 3rd base. >>
Dave Groeschner is apparently going to clear up the confusion before tonight's game.
Juan Perez played a lot of 3b in Fresno this year. We may see him get a turn there from time to time.
Edit to add:
Bochy says that Sandoval has a strain (not a fracture) and that Pablo's been ordered to lose weight while on the DL.
The fracture they saw on the x-ray was an already-healed one, and they confirmed via MRI was indeed, healed. So, it's a non-issue and not related to his current issues.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Just when you thought the offense turned the corner they take a dozen steps backwards. Is that Cole guy the new Sandy Koufax in Pittsburgh? If he isn't the Giants sure are making him look like it.
Amazing how in his major league debut Cole will likely throw a shutout while the Giants best prospect Michael KickMe couldn't last through 3 innings.
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WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>aaaaaaand... Scutaro gets HBP in the wrist and runs straight to the dugout. >>
One way to get on base. They've barely been able to do it the normal way.
The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of.
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Kontos got ejected for throwing behind Marte and then plunking McCutchen. Kontos had zero command, and the ejection was more procedural than anything, since a warning had been issued. Either that or Kontos had zero command (getting lit up for 3 runs in the 7th) and didn't appreciate that Boch made him go out there for the 8th.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of. >>
Who do you think the Giants would part with, and for what?
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>
<< <i>The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of. >>
Who do you think the Giants would part with, and for what? >>
The guy is a total naysayer, and completely unable to see anything positive in any situation. Ignore him.
There's no way the Giants are sellers.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>
<< <i>The way this season is going the team will be huge sellers at the trade deadline. If you want to look like a team of scrubs you might as well do that with a lower payroll and guys you've never heard of. >>
Who do you think the Giants would part with, and for what? >>
Pence is the most likely and plenty of teams would love to have him. I don't know how interested the Giants are in retaining him past this season. Lincecum and Zito if a team needs an immediate hole to plug in their rotation. I can see Arias possibly moved as he can fill an infielder spot.
Personally I have no problem with trading away Lincecum for anything remotely decent. He's run his course of effectiveness and I believe there is virtually no chance he would consider staying in SF. Despite what the fans think, he seems to hate it here and has had one foot out the door since 2010.
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<< <i>The Giants have not been "major sellers" at the deadline, even when they were woefully below .500. One or two players who were nearing the end of their usefulness getting flipped for prospects maybe, but that was it. They never shipped off an impact player. Am I wrong? The closest thing to "selling off" players would be trading Ray Durham to the Brewers for prospects back in 2008, and that ended up being Durham's last season as a pro. >>
I agree with you about that. The Giants haven't been known to blow up their roster even in a bad season, although there have been years that doing so could have benefitted.
As for trading an impact player, Matt Williams comes to mind.
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<< <i>Pence is the most likely and plenty of teams would love to have him. I don't know how interested the Giants are in retaining him past this season. Lincecum and Zito if a team needs an immediate hole to plug in their rotation. I can see Arias possibly moved as he can fill an infielder spot. >>
I don't think they deal Pence. The only way he walks is if management thinks the window of opportunity has shut and it's time to prospect-up... or they think someone's coming up to replace him. Heading into the future with 1 question mark in the outfield is workable. Doing it with 2 question marks is bad form. With Pagan and Pence out there for the long term, it'll give them a chance to work in guys like Juan Perez, Roger Kieschnick, or (if he ever makes it) Gary Brown.
Arias, maybe. I don't see any team giving up anything of value for him though.
I don't really see Zito or Lincecum going anywhere unless Surkamp makes a stunning recovery and Kickham turns into Clayton Kershaw with glasses.
<< <i>As for trading an impact player, Matt Williams comes to mind. >>
That wasn't a trade-deadline deal though. Matt was 30 years old and had been plagued by injuries for the previous 2 seasons, so Sabes gambled that he was broken, flipping him and scrubs to the Indians for a 23 year old relief pitcher with the potential to be a plus starter and a new middle-infield (Visciano and some dude named Jeff Kent). At the time of the deal, he was doing upgrades to the team, not blowing anything up.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Even if the team keeps all five starting pitchers for the rest of the year, the pitching situation for next year would need to be resolved sooner or later. With up to three of the five pitchers potentially leaving there are going to be holes and unless Kickham and Surkamp (two pitchers I'm thoroughly unimpressed with so far) can patch two of those holes they would still need some starting pitchers.
I like Pence and I really want him to stay. Unfortunately decent outfielders are hard to come by and come offseason contract bidding time he might become too expensive for the team to retain.
As for Gary Brown, what's the deal with the guy? I don't follow the minor leagues too much but I know that he's basically fallen off the radar after being touted as a top prospect for several years.
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<< <i>As for Gary Brown, what's the deal with the guy? I don't follow the minor leagues too much but I know that he's basically fallen off the radar after being touted as a top prospect for several years. >>
After a fantastic 2011 season in San Jose (.336/.407/.519, 14 homers, 53 stolen bases), he stumbled in 2012 with AA Richmond (.279/.347/.385, 7 hr, 33 sb), and face-planted so far in 2013 with AAA Fresno (.228/.293/.367, 5 hr, 6 sb).
Apparently he was refusing to listen to coaching advice about his batting stance, and continued to dig himself into a hole. This past weekend while pulling down another 0-fer and seeing his horrid average for the month go down to .103, he caved and talked to the coaches, made some quick adjustments, and has gone 8-13 over his past 3 games, with 3 doubles and a pair of homers.
Whether or not this sticks, who knows.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Boch has leaned on Kontos pretty hard this year. Knotos has appeared in 31 games as a reliever, which leads the team. The only other reliever to pitch more innings form the bullpen was Gaudin, who originally was the long-man. I'm not sure who'll be the new long-relief guy now that those two aren't available.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
He could opt to play through it if he wanted. Boston's Dustin Pedroia has been playing through a torn thumb ligament since opening day, and he's still putting up all-star numbers. Of course, Pedroia's a crazy little bulldog. He probably likes the pain.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
That's going to put him instantly in the front-running for the Willie Mac Award.
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Kontos demoted to AAA and suspended 3 games while Boch serves his tonight. If Kontos gets 3 games, how many do you expect Ian Kennedy, Grienke, McGwire and the half dozen others from last night's melee(s) in L.A. to miss?
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Panda replacement Arias: 2-5, 3 RBI
Pagan replacement Perez: 2-3, 1 RBI
Not bad. In fact, every starting position player but Crawford reached base 2 or more times.
However, Zito's road issues deleted all that stuff with his 8 runs in 4.2 ip. He wasn't fooling anyone, and while no one squared up and launched anything, they managed to dink and dunk their way to 11 hits and 8 runs.
The offence didn't stink it up tonight. The pitching staff did. That's going to be a theme.
What in the hell happened to our pitching!?!?!
Bumgarner = young and inconsistant
Cain = in his prime and getting blown up.
Lincecum = in his prime and getting blown up
Zito = getting blown up on the road, and not by the long ball, just long strings of base hits.
Gaudin = staff ace.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Anybody still have illusions about this "fantastic" pitching rotation? The Giants have one of the most expensive pitching rotations yet one if the worst.
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<< <i>Any fans still have illusions about this "fantastic" pitching rotation? >>
To me, the sudden break-down was unexpected. SF had world-class pitching for 4 straight years with it's core guys entering their prime.
We usually see gradual drop offs, not this sudden drop into the dumpster.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
If there's one positive, it's Matt Cain. His last few outings have been better so maybe he's turning the corner. As for Lincecum, either he becomes a closer or he'll spend the rest of career as a journeyman 5th starter or long reliever. He's past his glory days.
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The Giants won't be sellers. Period. Anyone suggesting differently has no idea how the Giants work as a franchise.
Catcher Hector Sanchez called back up, along with rookie righty reliever Jake Dunning.
Brett Pill is getting sent down, and lousy reliever Ramon Ramirez has been DFA'd.
Sanchez was apparently hurt at the start of the season, and went to the DL after he was demoted to Fresno. In the time he's been back, he's hit .320/.370/.460 in about 50 pa.
Jake Dunning's numbers in Fresno this year: 1.75 era, 1.33 whip, and a 1.17 gb/fb ratio in 36 innings. 31 strikeouts vs 10 walks.
He's the 2nd guy from the Giants 2009 draft class to make his debut (Brandon Belt was the other). He'll be wearing Noah Lowry's old number (51, which was also worn by Randy Johnson in his 1 year here).
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Ramirez getting DFA'd surprises nobody except that it's taken this long. He hasn't been good since 2011.
As for tonight, behold the joys of good pitching and a strong offense. Things went so well Hunter Pence got an inning off. I believe the 9th inning was the first time he's sat out an inning this year.
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<< <i>So with Sanchez getting recalled up, are they going with three catchers or doing something with Quiroz? >>
As you know, Boch and the Giants brass has a fetish for Hector Sanchez. Other than that, Pill wasn't going to get platooned with Belt since Belt has started killing lefties, and he was useless off the bench. At least Sanchez can catch and hit switch. Though whether Sanchez can actually hit big-league pitching is another question. I think they just like having him around. Boch said that it gives them "more coverage at catcher", whatever that means.
<< <i>Ramirez getting DFA'd surprises nobody except that it's taken this long. He hasn't been good since 2011. >>
He wasn't total garbage in Fresno. I think they figured he'd eat some innings. However, they would rather have a real reliever on the bench instead of a mop-up garbage man.
<< <i>As for tonight, behold the joys of good pitching and a strong offense. Things went so well Hunter Pence got an inning off. I believe the 9th inning was the first time he's sat out an inning this year. >>
Bochy all but guaranteed that Pence would be on the All Star team.
It's nice to see Cain finally coming around. If only Bum could settle down too.
So we're 3-3 on Road-ageddon. Atlanta's gonna be tough. Bum, Gaudin, Timmy.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Adding someone like Cliff Lee right now would help this team, but he's 34 and would be under-contract until he was 38. He's making $25m/year through 2015, and 2016 is an option year worth $27.5m if he pitches 200 innings in 2015 (or 400 in 2014 and 2015). $12.5m buyout.
The Giants are not a small-market team. They can spend to their hearts content if they wanted to.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>And with the 25th pick of the 2013 draft, the SF Giants pick: Christian Arroyo, a high school shortstop who's already signed a letter of intent to go to University of Florida. >>
While no official announcement has been made about him signing, I notice that Arroyo removed "University of Florida" from his Twitter bio.
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