I Figured Out Bullets Tildes

Admittedly, the post mired in incredulity is a cliche at best (and the product of hacks in truth), but give me some credit here:

~ Rich Aurilia, he of a .351 June batting average, goes all "legitimate ML hitter" on us and nets 5 RBIs.
~ The Dirtiest of Them All continues his impression of an ace on any other team in baseball - you know, the ones without Tiny McHowdhedothat.
~ The Giants beat the A's.
~ For the second game in a row.
~ By a lot.
~ At 36-46, the Giants are 5 games out of first at the season's halfway point.

With the win, the Giants finish a .500 June and enter July with as good a chance as anyone to win the NL Worst, where the first-place D'Bags now sit at .500.

So yes - I'm incredulous (in a good way).

Comment-Mill: So do we still want Sabean to sell at the deadline?  What if we could get a legitimate cleanup hitter for a Tim Alderson?

Heady times, indeed.

The Three P's

Pitching, pitching, and pitching.  Lincecum, Walker, and Wilson were the story of the evening, holding the A's scoreless and preserving a narrow victory for the Orange & Black.

In one of the better pitching duels this season (and a possible preview of an All Star pitching matchup), Tiny Tim looked big fanning eleven batters in seven pitched to earn his ninth win. Tyler Walker pitched a gritty eigth and Brian Wilson avoided letting a one out walk to Raj Davis hurt the Giants in the end to pick up his 22nd save.

The honor of Shakespearean Tragedy of the Game belongs to Justin Duchscherer, who despite pitching eight
innings of two hit ball still took the loss.

Giants avoid the season sweep and order is returned to the universe.

ReTribeUtion

Heading into last night's matchup with the red-hot Cliff Lee, it was a foregone conclusion that Matt Cain would have to bring his best game.

Alas, he did not.

Thus, Giants loseth.

What, were you expecting the offense to pick him up?

Either way, I'm inclined to agree with the local rags on this one: the Giants crapped the bed in Kansas City and could have mailed this series in.  And to their credit, they didn't.

More positivity: after getting a handie from the entire populace of Cleveland, Omar Vizquel may finally be put out to pasture (read: bench), giving way to the ever-intriguing Manny Burriss.  The former NCAA stolen base champ will spark this lineup merely by hitting better than the league-average pitcher, a good initial benchmark for a kid who was supposed to get his first cup in 2009.

Even more positivity: I like Sergio Romo, and you should too.  Although I have to admit some disappointment watching him trot out there with a little beard growth to go along with that fantastic moustache.  Let's hope he wises up and takes a cue from Jason Giambi. (Gee, I'm never going to repeat that sentence again.)

Also, as absurd as the notion may be, the Giants can actually salvage a winning month if they take two of three from the A's this weekend.

I mean, technically, it's possible.

Most importantly, coming out of this series with even a glimmer of hope regarding the future of Barry Zito is a very nice development.  You know, until he goes all Bronson Arroyo on us.

Moment of Zen

The shot of Matt Cain up top is absolutely classic.

Clockwise from bottom: Tim Lincecum (in glasses), Dave Roberts, Noah Lowry, Matt "Disco" Cain, Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, Kevin Frandsen (with beard), and lost Kiss member Jack Taschner.

Props to Logan's Freedom Ride.

Dirty Romo

Thought I'd post a nice video Greg posted on his Defenders blog of recent call-up Sergio Romo, who replaces the departed Vinnie Chulk.

Guy's definitely got some funky arm action. It also appears that there may now be a competition for the title of the true Dirty.

Bay City Ball had a nice writeup on him recently - sounds like an intriguing middle relief option:

RHP Sergio Romo - Romo dazzles opposing hitters with a variety of pitches coming out of a variety of arm slots and angles. On a pure “stuff” level, Romo’s “stuff” isn’t off the charts, it’s rather pedestrian. He works in the upper 80’s and his curveball is an average pitch but similar to Cowart, he has amazing control that allows him to spot his pitches wherever he wants them. Toss in some deception from his pitching motion — he sort of slings the ball in a low arm slot — and you’ve got Sergio Romo. He doesn’t walk hitters — BB% of 5.1 — and despite not having a huge velocity, has never had trouble striking out hitters — K% of 29.3 in AA this year. His ‘07 line from San Jose is just ridiculous: 65.2 IP, 33 H, 9 ER, 15 BB, 104 SO. He briefly had some struggles in AA when he came off of a injury — I believe it was a knee problem — but since giving up 3 earned runs on May 31st, he’s made 5 straight strong appearances. Over those 5 appearances his line looks like this: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 SO. That’s a positively small sample but I’d like to think he’s adjusted from his injury and is back to pitching well again.

Lashawn Chaconwell

Wow.

Maybe he'll go after Sabean next.

ZitOptimistic?

Did this actually work, or was it a coincidence? Was Barry Zito actually throwing his fastball in the high 80s, or was the Cleveland gun hot? Or is it simply that the Indians offense truly sucks?

I hesitate to dare say it, but Zito looked, well, good.

No walks in his longest outing of the year. Getting ahead of hitters, pitching economically, and being aggressive with his suddenly average fastball.

And he (and the Giants) gets the deserved win.

I'm no sucker for these supposed glimmers of hope, I'll have the record show. So I'm loathe to buy into the notion that lightning struck and Dave Righetti somehow turned around Barry Zito's career.

But I can't be sure that he didn't, either.

Be sure to congratulate him.

- Despite not being called up until the middle of April and having roughly 80 less ABs than most regulars, John Bowker has pulled into a tie for the team lead in homers with 8.

- And in today's feel good story, Omar Vizquel got a hit!

Quote of the Day

"I love Vizquel, but as of this weekend I think he should go live on a farm with a really nice family where he can run around all day."

- Tim's GoogleTalk status message

Low Expectations Slightly Exceeded

"Vizquel's Contribution Vital to Giants' Victory," eh?

Well, Omar did squeeze in the winning run, and he had a couple of nice plays at short. So I'll give it to him in his triumphant return to Cleveland, and neglect to point out that he left 5 men on, going 0 for 3, dropping his average to .167.

Wait - I just pointed it out.

But enough with the hating, as the Giants get a much needed win, even if Brian Wilson tried his very best to make it interesting. But even I can't argue with 20 saves (out of 22 opps) on June 25.

And Jonathan Sanchez looks like he's become what Matt Cain was supposed to be, while Matt Cain has become the Jonathan Sanchez of yesteryear.

- Sadly, one of my indefensibly favorite Giants was DFA'd. Chulk ended up being the fall guy after Sunday's bullpen collapse and an otherwise horrid June.

The last remnant of the ill-fated Jeremy Accardo trade, at least in this space, the Incredible Chulk will be missed.

Lost For Words, We Go Simpsons

Since the Giants historic collapse on Sunday against the Kansas City Monarchs, I have found it difficult to write about this team with anything less than an apocalyptic tone - something I have attempted to avoid given the early feedback I received on the abundance of latent negativity in my posting.

So, I took a step back, but right when I was about to start feeling better about this current run of absolute incompetence, Bobblehead Bochy verbally craps on my brief moment of clarity:

When Ray Durham had to be the designated hitter in Kansas City on Saturday night because of an ankle injury, manager Bruce Bochy had a perfect opening to start either Emmanuel Burriss or Travis Denker at second base. Instead, he went with the more experienced Jose Castillo.

[Snip]

One thing is certain: Bochy likes Castillo, who has been a stabilizing defensive force and has 21 doubles, yet owns an unimpressive OPS of .727.

"He's got power. He's an intriguing player," Bochy said. "He runs fairly well. I think he has the tools to be an everyday player. Now, that's up to him. I think he's improved his work ethic since he's been here. I think he sees this as a great opportunity."

Could Castillo be a long-term solution at third base?

"He has shown how talented he could be if he plays every day," Bochy said. "I'd like to see what he's done at the end of the year."

And there goes my dwindling hope of any success for the next decade.

On the Plus Side

- Manny Burriss might be getting the call as soon as Omar Vizquel's ego gets stroked one last time in Cleveland.

- From within that piece, it looks like Barry Zito may be bringing back the once maligned Crouching Tiger mechanics.

Please, someone, somewhere, call Rick Peterson.

Meanwhile, 3-Dot Loser has a decent idea regarding the situation.

- Anyone remember that episode of the Simpsons where Homer unwittingly becomes head of the local nuclear power plant worker's union? The one where Lisa needs braces?

But, in a cruel twist of dramatic fate, Mr. Burns is simultaneously trying to screw the workers out of dental insurance in exchange for a keg.

Well, thanks to a Google, I can share the joy of it with all of you who don't:



There you go.

Well, my point (besides finding a reason to post one of the best Simpsons gags ever) is that I had a similar feeling as Homer today.

The first Giants-related article I read today filled me with bittersweet optimism. In detailing the Giants organization's bright future in terms of starting pitchers, Marc Hulet at The Baseball Analysts opened with this succinct diagnosis of our unbalanced system:

It is easy to knock the San Francisco Giants organization for being unable to produce a productive, everyday position player in... well, let's just say years. But a quick glance at the minor league system shows that there are some very impressive numbers being put up by some intriguing pitching prospects.

A few hours pass.

And then I stumble upon this article on the slightly better, if still maddening, Rangers franchise and the plight of rookie exec Nolan Ryan.

In some ways, the Rangers are on the same developmental curve as those scrappy Tampa Bay Rays. They can put a dynamic lineup on the field, but the young pitching has to catch up with the everyday talent. How close is Texas to making a run at its first postseason berth since 1999? That hinges in large part on whether Eric Hurley and former Braves prospect Matt Harrison continue to progress, Thomas Diamond makes a successful comeback from Tommy John surgery and 20-year-old Neftali Feliz is as dynamic as his numbers in Class A Clinton (93 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings) suggest.

Although general manager Jon Daniels' moves have been hit-and-miss, the Texas organization is awash in position player prospects. First baseman Chris Davis leads the minors with 23 homers and 73 RBIs and is making a strong case for a call-up. Catcher Max Ramirez, acquired from Cleveland for Kenny Lofton last July, was hitting .363 with a .662 slugging percentage when the Rangers summoned him from Double-A Frisco on Saturday to replace the injured Gerald Laird.

Texas has a top young shortstop, Elvis Andrus, and an elite catching prospect, Taylor Teagarden, in the minors, and that doesn't factor in the rest of the haul that Daniels acquired in the Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne trades last summer.

You see where I'm going with this?

Terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers; terrible offense, Rangers need pitchers.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to fish Carl's pencil out of my butt.

No Spin Zone

That was terrible. So terrible that I strayed from the OBnB policy of linking to the official site because AP didn't try to spin it.

Looks like the bullpen realized they weren't as good as they're numbers indicated. I'm looking at you, Lazarus Yabu.

OBnB KC Correspondent

I'll post the recap of yesterday's most excellent win, but stay tuned for some good on-site coverage from our very own Kansas City correspondent, former JC star and current KC star, Dukie.

Also, pulling the ole switcheroo has never been more fun.

The Rabbi

The King Bri Rock's real nickname is revealed. A very good read on the career and faith of Brian Horwitz.

From within that piece, a surprising bit of trivia: Horwitz is the first Jewish player on the Giants since the tenure of pitcher José Bautista. You may remember him as the Giants' long reliever during the '95 and '96 seasons, and as the man who impressively put together a 6.44 ERA in 100.2 innings of work, prompting a nascent future Giants blogger to dub him José Blowtista.

Turns out Bautista, who comes from the Dominican Republic, is actually half-Israeli - you know, the half that counts.

'08 Draft Expert Q&A

I promised more original draft analysis and I would never break a promise to the four regular readers of this blog (although, if people share computers in prison, it could be many more).

Orange Black and Blue is very happy to welcome the insights of Brian Foley, Ed-In-Chief of the most awesome The College Baseball Blog. Brian was gracious enough to answer a boatload of questions, most of them reflecting my complete ignorance of college baseball.

FYI: Brian called the Posey pick a month and a half out.

OBnB: Thanks for your time, Brian. Let's start with a couple of questions regarding the college ballgame in general.

I've read that some NCAA divisions can be compared to AA ball. I see this as a bit of an overreach. What about you?

Do you really get more bang for your buck drafting these guys even though they're older and less malleable in some ways?

BF: The major conferences in the nation are comparable to AA ball but anything out of the major conferences is comparable to Single A ball. The coaching has gotten much better in college in general and scouts are starting to take the college game more seriously then in the past.

OBnB: Can you give us an idea of what the tougher college divisions are and which are less so? For example, is the SEC tougher, and therefore more indicative of future performance than, say, the Pac-10?

BF: I wouldn't say that the Pac-10 is worse or better then the SEC. There is no easy weekend in either conference but I think the Pac-10 is more pitching central then the SEC who is more directed towards offense.

OBnB: In projecting college ballplayers to the pros, how much guesswork is involved given the switch from aluminum to wood?

BF: There used to be more guess work involved in the draft but nearly all the kids today are playing with wood bats in the collegiate summer leagues like the Cape Cod League and Alaskan League among others.

OBnB: Onward to the good stuff - the Giants' haul in the draft earlier this month.

The million (or perhaps 12 million) dollar question: given what was available at #5, was Buster Posey the right pick for the Giants? If not, who should have been the pick there?

BF: I would have taken [South Carolina first baseman] Justin Smoak, personally, as his upside is hitting .330 with 25-30 homers a season plus Gold Glove defense at first base. Posey strikes me to be a .275 hitter with 15 homers a year and really never scared me at the plate.

(Ed: Dammit, I thought I was wrong.)

OBnB: What do you think the best-case and worst-case is for Posey? Are we looking at 1990s Jason Kendall or 2000s Kendall?

BF: I think Kendall is a good comparison but Posey doesn't run as well as Kendall does. Plus Posey has a ton to learn behind the plate as he just finished the second season of his life catching while never calling a game on his own.

OBnB: What’s your take on sandwich round pick Conor Gillaspie (Wichita State)? He seems like a pick with little upside but with a good chance of making the big leagues. Are the Bill Mueller comparisons apt? And will he be able to play a major league third base?

BF: He is a very good hitter for average and the biggest question mark is going to be his power numbers. I think Mueller was a better defensive player then Conor.

OBnB: Third-rounder Roger Kieschnick of Texas Tech supposedly has the vaunted five tools, but there are doubts about his ability to put it together. Do you like the pick, and do you see him as a guy that could potentially crack a big league lineup?

BF: He had a horrible year at Texas Tech where he only hit .305 with 17 homers but the chatter across the country was not about his season at all. He just never seemed to dominate games as he was the only pro bat in the lineup.

OBnB: We’ve heard that fourth-rounder Brandon Crawford (UCLA) was a potential first-rounder prior to his poor showing in the Cape League last year and has never really been able to recover. Can this guy bounce back, and what do you think we have in him?

BF: I think you have a kid that can't hit with wood and might struggle to make the MLB as anything besides an extra infielder like Alex Cora. He might be a tough sign too since he could go back to school and be a first round pick with a solid summer.

OBnB: After their first four picks, the Giants went back to what they know, going pitching with their next 8 picks, 6 of whom played for four year colleges. Many of these guys have very little info available as to their college careers. Can you give us your take on these guys, particularly fifth-rounder Edwin Quirarte (CSU Northridge) and sixth-rounder Eric Surkamp (North Carolina State)?

BF: I know more about Surkamp as he was expected to be the ace of the NC State squad this season after a solid summer with Team USA in 2007. He went 1-0 in four appearances and three starts with a 1.15 ERA. He had a tough 2008 collegiate season as he was bumped off the number 1 starter role by Clayton Schunick but still led the Pack to the NCAA Tourney.

OBnB: The Giants took a power hitting first baseman about 15 rounds later than many, including myself, would have preferred. That being said, 16th-rounder C.J. Ziegler was a major producer at Arizona, but there’s a perception that his swing won’t play at the next level. Do you have any insight on a guy who hit at a similar clip to ASU’s Ike Davis, who went in Round 1?

BF: Ziegler has a metal bat swing which means he hits his homers by bat speed - not on raw talent and using the whole field.

OBnB: Any other Giants late round picks that jump out to you?

BF: Scott Barnes [8th round, LHP] from St. John's has great numbers in the Big East but was it against good enough competition? I saw [25th-rounder] Damon Wright play from Dartmouth and he was the 3rd or 4th best hitter on this team so I don't think he will be able to make it. Aaron Lowenstein [44th round, C] from UC-Irvine might become a great second catcher in MLB unless he learns how to hit and could be a great catcher because he calls a great game.

OBnB: What would be your grade for the Giants draft?

BF: Ask me in three years when we can see how these kids adjust to the Minor Leagues.

Ugh

Another poor showing by both Zito and the Giants' offense has this man disgruntled. The Boys in Black 'n Orange could only muster 2 runs on 8 hits, 4 walks and 2 errors committed by the Ligers of Motor City. The first run was actually scored in hilarious fahion on a strikeout. The King BriRock waved at an ugly offering by Gallaraga that was ruled a wild pitch, and Denker was able to trot in from third.

AaRow and Freddie both failed to get the big two-out hit leaving three runners on apiece, but they aren't the only ones to blame. They're out of order. You're out of order. This whole lineup is out of order!

On a happier note, I took the under on 5.5 runs allowed by Zito today and because he was pulled after only two innings of work, my buddy owes me a coffee. Woo hoo!

Kenny Rogers Coasters

Despite turning in a great performance and recording 5 innings of no hit ball, Dirty Sanchez was bested by Kenny "The Gambler" Rogers (pictured left) last night leading Giants fans everywhere to gorge themselves on fried chicken.

Sanchez was nearly untouchable early striking out six of the first nine Tigers he faced. He was good enough that it wasn't until Curtis "Baby" Granderson led off the 6th with a single that Sanchez even allowed a hit (it was not Edgar "Your" Renteria "is due" as Schulman recounts). Unfortunately, the one run he gave up in the 6th would be one of only two that Detroit needed to top the Giants on a night when they simply could net get a clutch hit.

Focus on the good first: Sanchez looked nasty enough that even fellow puertorriqueño and future HOFer Pudge Rodriguez approached him and asked what manner of nastiness he had just thrown to force the career .302 to hitter to groundout for his third time. He looked good against a lineup stacked with power hitting righties and that's always an encouraging sign for a young lefty. I guess we'll have to add him to the list of Giants pitchers who could potentially throw a no-no at any time.

Now the bad: Giants hitters looked silly against a suddenly resurgent Rogers who in his last six starts is 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. They had trouble getting on and when they did reach base, they had trouble getting around. FLew led off the game with a single only to have Ray Durham ground into a instant rally quelling double play. In the second inning, Richie got to second on a strong two-out double, but Lil' Bowbow struck out behind him to end the inning. Again in the third, Manny Burris reached second base with only one out, but failed to score. It took a lot of effort and Bochy-style small ball in the 6th when a hit, a walk and two sacrifices were required to get one run around. Sigh.

In other news, there is could some merit to the rumor that Peterson may be coming aboard. I don't think they necessarily need to fire Rags to do this. I am sure that Peterson would take any job he can get at this point, so we could hire him as a "Special Get-Zito's-Shit-Together Advisor of Baseball Operations" or whatever. Just take a flier on a guy who may be able to help your highest-paid player. This is a sentiment that Schulman and I share.

Also in that article it mentions that Brian "Servin' U a K" Wilson has saved 19 games this season and that the last Giant to enter the AS break with 20 or more saves was Matt Herges in 2004. Let's hope this isn't indicative of what's to come as Herges finished that season with 23 total saves.

Rubber Stamped

On his blog yesterday, Andrew Baggarly wrote this interesting little piece about a possible adjustment Zito could make while trying to right his ship against righty batters (they own him right now with a line of .332/.417/.518). Zito responded pretty defiantly and almost appeared offended, but perhaps Baggs is onto something here.

Or maybe they could just move the rubber about 10 feet closer to the plate for Zito's starts. Then that 84 mph heater would come in pretty hot.

Giants Offense: We Don't Get Weekends Off?

So Timmy has finally met his match. Fortunately (at least for the time being), the Giants will face Marcus Thames every three years or so.

But despite Thames's two bombs (which increased Lincecum's home runs allowed for the year by 40%) and a season-high four runs allowed, the Giants bail Timmy out and, after losing their past six in interleague play, get an elusive triumph over the Junior Circuit.

As many AL fans have found out, the Tigers, for all their offense and decent starting pitching, have been largely done in by their 28th ranked bullpen.

As Freddy Dolsi (yes, the Freddy Dolsi) and Fernando Rodney coughed up what was a solid performance by Detroit fireballer Justin Verlander, I could only hope and pray that Brian Sabean had used his rotund frame to corner Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski and convince him that Tyler Walker had some combination of traits that included "upside," "track record," and "big-boned."

Props to Freddy for another solid game with the homer and three RBIs. And, of course, big ups to Bam Bam Bowker.

Speaking of, in watching Bowker these past few weeks, I've been curious as to why his line (.269, 6 HR, 25 RBI) seemed just a bit low to me, considering how well he's stroked the ball for the better part of a month now.

Luckily, over at the absolutely fantastic blog Bay City Ball, Chris looked into this notion using things like numbers. He originally wrote this piece a week ago, when Bowker was sub-.250:

To figure this out I checked John Bowker’s FanGraphs stats page and noticed something, he’s hitting a bunch of line drives. In 154 PA’s this year, Bowker’s LD% is at 26.4% which is very solid. Check out the leaders in the National League for LD%.

(Snip)

Of course, 150 PA’s is a small-ish sample size but John Bowker is hitting line drives on par with Chipper Jones. Why are line drives such a good thing? Because of the three types of contact a hitter can make — groundball, flyball, and line drive — the line drive is the best type because they fall for hits 75% of the time. Hitters that hit a bunch of line drives tend to have high averages and good seasons.

(Snip)

To answer my question, yes, John Bowker has been a little unlucky this year. He’s hitting a ton of line drives and that’s always a good thing for hitters. If he can keep his LD% fairly high, you should start to see his overall numbers improve. Hopefully the Giants will keep sending him out there because he’s squaring up nicely on some balls right now. Keep an eye on Bowker.

Today, Chris writes:

A little over a week ago I wrote a post trying to answer the question of, has John Bowker been unlucky so far this year? The basis of my argument was that he’s hitting a ton of line drives and his BABIP was very low for someone that’s hitting line drives almost a quarter of the time. When I made the post, Bowker was hitting (.248/.299/.411) with a BABIP of .280. A week later, his line has improved to (.273/.320/.460) with a BABIP of .314.

What’s the difference between this week and last? Nothing. Bowker is still hitting line drives at a great rate but the difference is that they are going for hits. Line drives fall for hits 75% of the time and Bowker was running into a little bit of bad luck previously. I love this quote from him in the recap from SFGiants.com on his approach.

“It’s a big park, but you can’t let it mess with you,” Bowker said. “You have to hit line drives. Line drives are still hits.”

The Giants need to keep playing Bowker at first base against righties. I even wouldn’t mind seeing the Giants give Bowker some AB’s against left handed pitching, either. Great game from Bowker and it was good to see him have some good luck. His first two hits on the night were line drives that he stung.

Yes, Chris is good.

- In today's piece, he also opines that now that Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson, among others, have been mercifully canned, there is little reason to the Giants to try and nab Peterson to simply fix Zito. Zito, he says, is not the same pitcher he was in Oakland.

I agree wholeheartedly. But, like I said on Friday, I'd pick Peterson up because he's a good pitching coach and would probably improve our staff as a whole. The fact that he may be the only guy who has the ability to help Zito is icing on the cake.

- Although Brian Wilson surrendered two runs in a laborious ninth, it was strangely reassuring to me: Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, arguably the two best closers of all time, are historically worse in non-save situations. And Brian seems to be following suit.

Now, I can hear many of you saying: "Well, Brian Wilson ain't Trevor Hoffman or Mariano Rivera."

My response is: "Well, that may be true, but your parents never loved you."

Thanks and come again soon!

Trade Winns

Potential positive byproduct of sucking? Sabean harbors no delusions of contending and sells at the deadline, potentially infusing our system with more talent.

From today's Chronicle:

Cub talk: It could be a coincidence, but Gary Hughes, one of the Cubs' top talent evaluators, attended the A's-Giants games just after his club lost Alfonso Soriano to a broken hand. The Cubs are believed to be looking for a left-handed bat, but a source said they have not phoned the Giants about switch-hitting Randy Winn, the outfielder most likely to be shopped.

Hughes is based in the Bay Area.

The talent in the Cubs farm system has been drained as the North Siders played the part of buyer in past years, but they do have a couple of intriguing trade chips, including (in no particular order):

Josh Vitters, 3B: The 3rd pick overall in the 2007 draft, the 19 year old Cypress HS (CA) came marketed as the second coming. He has been anything but in the minors, however, struggling mightily and still searching for his first pro homer.

Still, the chances the Giants would land him in a trade for Winn range from slim to the existential nature of a ball of snow in the Inferno.

Josh Donaldson, C: Casting aside the Giants' sudden organizational depth at the position, Donaldson, a 2007 2nd rounder out of Auburn, may be what Jackson Williams was supposed to be: a polished backup catcher or utility infielder with some offensive potential.

He had some success in low-A last year before having trouble with high-A Peoria this season.

Perhaps a piece of a larger deal.

Sean Gallagher, RHP: The Cubs would have a difficult time parting with the hard-throwing 22 year old, who is having a decent debut with the big league club.

With the state of the Cubs minor league system, however, one would have to presume GM Jim Hendry would have to listen if a seller inquired about Gallagher's services.

Jeff Samardzija, RHP: Swap a two-sport star for another, perhaps? Potentially, although his 2008 season (repeating AA) hasn't been anything to write home about.

Furthermore, the Cubs would have to operate from a sunk cost philosophy to trade their $10M investment, a (sensible) management trait that front-office types tend to eschew.

If they were willing to deal him, however, he's still an intriguing guy because of his size (6'6", 215) and stuff.


There are some other middling prospects in the Cubs system, but you get the gist of it. Can't say I'm too excited about any of those guys save for Vitters and Gallagher, (and Geovany Soto, but that one simply ain't happening given his All-Star debut).

Should be an interesting trading season.

Obscure Quote for Post

This is Orange Black and Blue. (Sigh.) Whatever.

[BEEP]

Comment-Igniter: Name that quote! Or quote something else!

Home Offensive

Matt Cain starting + Oakland A's + Pac Bell Park = Yuck.

The Giants simply suck at home. Unfortunate, because Matt Cain was dominant, fanning 11 A's in 7+.

And, although I hoped I was wrong, Omar is completely done as a hitter.

On the plus side, Kevin Correia makes his long awaited return today. Thankfully, Pat will take his Mischuga self back to Fresno.

Vintage Suck

On a night where the Giants adorned their garb of yesteryear, Omar Vizquel decided to go throwback, too, flying all over the field and collecting the Giants' first straight steal of home in 25 years.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team played like it actually was the late 1970s (the G-Men wore the orange pullover from '78-'82) - they couldn't run, swing a bat, and seemed generally distracted by bright colors when they weren't soiling themselves in key situations.

And, in one of the most oft-repeated phrases in Bay Area baseball history, the A's beat the Giants.

From now on, as far as I'm concerned, as long as Barry Zito (who won the race for the fastest to double-digit losses in the NL) doesn't completely implode, I put all of his losses on the offense.

(Real world example warning.)

Barry's like the guy in your department who has his job as a favor to a higher-up - a guy who, in spite of his repeated gaffes, will never get canned. If your department continues to fail and he's the guy screwing it up, it doesn't make a lick of difference. If an exec eventually demands someone be held accountable, who do you think is going to pay?

I'll give you a hint: it's not going to be John Q. Moneydummy.

I'll give you another hint: it's going to be you.

So that's why I blame the offense. You're going to have to bring at least 5 runs when Zito pitches. It's just a reality you accept if you're a member of the Giants offense over the course of the next five and a half years. (Sigh.)

Bear in mind, my sympathies for their plight is limited: they only have to score a run, two tops really, thanks to the consistent dominance of Tim Lincecum on days he pitches. Even Stevens.

The top two culprits on the offense these days? Big Money (batting .190 in the past week) and Aaron Rowand (.227 in June).

Hope our 4 and 5 hitters right the ship in short order. The lineup simply isn't built to pick up our two best hitters.

Cainer versus Harden tonight.

Unifun: Check out this prototype for the Giants jersey redesign in 1993. Had no idea that it got so close to production.

My gut reaction is that it's kind of an abomination, but it has a certain ugly charm to it. Some veteran Giants fans may remember that a similar inverted coloring scheme was employed in the seasons between '73-'76.

RickCann'd

Willie Randolph's long goodbye may soon be coming to an end.

How is that Giants related, you ask? Well, it isn't really. However, the SI piece linked above raises the possibility of pitching coach Rick Peterson also being relieved of duties.

Peterson, you may recall, was the longtime pitching coach in Oakland, and it was under his tutelage that Barry Zito blossomed into a 23 game winner.

Now I'm not saying the Giants should fire Dave Righetti and hire Peterson, should he actually become available, for the benefit of one historically overpaid pitcher.

But I am saying that the Giants should fire Dave Righetti because he's a lousy pitching coach, and that they should hire Rick Peterson because he's a much better pitching coach.

(Although Peterson may get canned, let me point out that he has had a number of successes as a Mets coach, including the resuscitation of the career of Oliver Perez and the development of John Maine.

I don't hold it against him that Omar Minaya never gave him adequate personnel. Minaya's probably going to fire Peterson so the owner Fred Wilpon doesn't pin blame for the Mets' pitching woes on a suddenly vulnerable Minaya.)

And yes, he may actually be able to help Barry Zito. MLB Trade Rumors got this from Jayson Stark:

Stark talked to an official from a "pitching-starved" team. This person said the Giants would have to eat at least $80MM of Barry Zito's remaining $112.5MM if they want to trade him. One scout suggested Zito's only chance at revival is a reunion with Rick Peterson.

Feel free to pick apart my sweeping unfounded assertions.

More Draft Coverage (Now With Umlauts!)

I continue to sort through the smörgåsbord of various Giants draft coverage out there.

Baggarly has a chat with new scouting director John Barr, who presumably is responsible for the shift in this year's change in draft philosophy. Some interesting tidbits on some of our later round draft picks:

- LHP Scott Barnes, St. John’s Univ. (8th rd.): “We felt there were a few arms we wanted to take a run at. We saw him a lot. We had him up at 92 mph and he’d thrown better in the past. We wanted to get him in the mix of things. He has a chance to be a very good pick.”

- RHP Ryan O’Sullivan, Valhalla (Calif.) HS (10th rd.): “We took a couple of guys with (college) commitments when we had a good feel for the kid and the scout had a good relationship with the family. He has a commitment to San Diego State, so we’ll see.”

- SS Carter Bell, Georges Vanier HS, Canada (22nd rd.): “We liked what we’d seen. He played at our complex with the Canadian Junior National Team. He has a commitment to Oregon State. But he’s very excited that we selected him and he may entertain signing.”

- LHP Thomas Musick, Univ. of Houston (24th rd.): “We took a couple of guys knowing they would go to the Cape (Cod League) so we’d get an extra look. Musick is one of them we liked. We rated him higher. We project him as a No.5 starter someday. He is sophomore-eligible because he used a redshirt year.”

- RHP Jason Jarvis, No school (23rd rd.): “He was at Arizona State and they used him as their closer, actually. But he was academically ineligible and so he wasn’t allowed to play with the team. (According to reports, he was caught cheating on an exam in a music appreciation class.) He had been playing in independent ball and filed for an exception to be draft-eligible. I’m not sure what all was involved with his past, but we just know he has a good arm. We hope he wants to get out there.”

Also, Keith Law, former Blue Jays front office guy and current ESPN talking head, has a few very positive points on the Giants in a couple of his recent chats.

I'm not a huge Law fan, but he is living proof that being complimentary to the Giants is the easiest way to legitimacy here at OBnB.

From his June 6th chat following Day 1 (Rounds 1-6):

Jason (Palo Alto, CA): KLaw, great chats! Also stellar coverage of the draft, enjoyed it very much! Would you rate the Giants as having one of the better drafts this year since they were able to get 2 players that were rated in your top 20? Also, can you give a little insight on SS Crawford from UCLA? Thanks again!

SportsNation Keith Law: I rated their day one the best overall. Crawford's a good defensive shortstop who can't hit. He should play in the big leagues, though.

Travers, SF: Hey Keith- Was initially bummed on Giants passing on Smoak, but with Villalona apparently settling at 1b, Posey was the right decision... right?

SportsNation Keith Law: Yes. I had Posey > Smoak anyway, and Villalona is starting to hit - slugging .465 in May/June so far, still 17 in low-A.

From Wednesday's chat:

Briguy (NY): Hey K-Law, this is Briguy from NY with a question for you... Which team got the biggest steal from the draft? Two possibilities could be Smoak to the Rangers or Posey to the Giants... THANKS!!

SportsNation Keith Law: Friedrich to the Rockies. Gillaspie to the Giants. Weatherford to the Rockies. Potentially Webb to the D-backs, since the Kentucky coach is leaving for Mississippi State and Webb is indicating that he won't attend UK now.

Kenny (Sacramento): After the last 2 drafts, which appeared to be solid, where would you rank the Giants farm system?

SportsNation Keith Law: Assuming they get these guys signed, which I assume they will, they're probably top five.

For an alcoholic, Law isn't so bad...

But, seriously, with Rafael Rodriguez on board along with Villalona, Alderson, Bumgarner, Sandoval, and eventually Posey and Gillaspie, the guy's got a point.

The San Francisco Giants, purveyors of a top-tier minor league system?

Creepy.

Stay tuned for more original coverage here at Orange Black and Blue - we have some more analysis and interviews in the pipeline from some of those in the know/guys I hang out with at the local biker bar.

Vlad 2.0

I'm sure you all remember the TBS permaplay classic A Christmas Story.

You know, the tale of the lovable Ralphie, who wants nothing more than an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model BB gun for Christmas. His repeated requests for the gun are met with a refrain of "you'll shoot your eye out," and our downtrodden protagonist is eventually resigned to a Christmas filled with underwhelming gifts.

But, lo and behold, when Christmas seems all but concluded (spoiler alert - but seriously, you haven't seen it?), Ralphie's dad comes through, delivering on said BB gun. Ralphie's happy. The end.

Well, the Giants 2008 draft class may be remembered the same way: the fans playing the part of Ralphie, Buster Posey the part of the bunny suit, and Rafael Rodriguez (a.k.a. "Mini-Vlad") the part of the BB gun.

ESPNDeportes reports that the Giants have come to terms with Rodriguez, the 16 year old Dominican phenom, to a team-record $2.5M deal (surpassing the $2.3M they gave Angel Villalona, and the $2.1M Lincecum received). From ESPN:

To many, he is a duplicate of Vladimir Guerrero because of his size and power with the bat. Rodriguez can work the entire outfield and drive the ball anywhere. He has reportedly accepted an offer from the San Francisco Giants worth $2.5 million.

And to prove my Christmas Story parallel (from the same piece):

"Inoa, Rodriguez, Yorman and Portillo would [challenge] the first selection if they were eligible for the American draft this year; I have no doubt about that," said a top AL executive.

The Giants are predictably denying the report as they can't officially sign the young outfielder until July 2. But it looks like a done deal.

Don't shoot your eye out, my friends.

UPDATE (8:50AM): The Google-translated version of the ESPNDeportes article that originally broke the story is much more...descriptive:

For many, is a copy of Vladimir Guerrero because of their size and power to shoulder with the wood. Rodriguez can trigger in any of the three gardens and hurl the ball by either side. Se cree que already accepted an offer by $ 2.5 million the San Francisco Giants.

Good News for Merkin

The MRI reveals no structural damage.

2007 Draft: 2008 Draft Ain't All That

As I mentioned a couple of days back, the second of our 2007 first-rounders, 19 year old Tim Alderson, was named to the Cal League All-Star team as a member of the Single-A San Jose Giants.

Madison Bumgarner is currently a level behind in low-A but, at 18, is still the youngest pitcher in those ranks. Not to be outdone, Bumgarner, who was also named to his league's All-Star team a week ago, leads the Augusta Greenjackets with a dominating performance last night. His line: 7 IP (CG), 4 hits allowed (all singles), 10 Ks and no walks.

In his first full pro season, the 6'4" lefty is 6-2 with a 1.96 ERA and 74 Ks (against 10 walks) in 64.1 innings.

So we have that going for us, which is nice.

Nickname Contest Winner

"Brian Wilson's gone servin', servin' U a K."
A 5-2 road trip after the boys salvage a win in a wild one at Coors.

Our favorite Beach Boy closer converts his 10th consecutive save in a 1-2-3 fashion, two outs being of the K variety. He's hasn't allowed a hit to his last 22 hitters and in the entire month of June.

It puts an exclamation mark on the terrific handiwork on the Giants bullpen, which goes 4 innings, allowing no runs and collecting 8 Ks. Extra kudos to Billy Sadler, who gets 4 of his 6 outs on swinging strikeouts and is settling in nicely at the big league level, as well as Keiichi Yabu, who bails Sadler and Taschner out of a basesloaded jam in the 7th. Yabusan secures redemption for last night in short order.

Fred Lewis's monster homer further proves the notion that he has no problems with high altitude.

The offense was very comfortable overall, as Bowker collects three hits, and a vintage Richie and Ray Durham collect two hits apiece.

As a hitter, Dirty liked Coors Field plenty. Unfortunately, the hitters he faced liked it just as much today. Tough outing for him, but in spite of allowing 7 runs in 5 innings, he gets the win. Somewhere, Matt Cain is stabbing himself with a fork.

And a (begrudging) congrats to Ray Durham, who gets his 2,000th career hit.

ThursdRay Discussion: If Ray keeps it up, what do you look for the Giants to fetch on the open market? Do you think they should trade him at all?

And how's that for a Wilson nickname?

Post To Me Softly

Let's do a workday gameday thread, people. I know you're out there, and you're definitely not the hardest worker if you're here right now.

Oh Happy Ray!

Ray Durham may retire after this year? That takes the sting out of those two losses.

Ray Durham may get traded this year? That makes me high.

Also, Bri Rock is going to get more playing time. With the glut of good young outfielders, it will be interesting to see what the front office does whenever Dave Roberts gets back from the DL; remember, he's still signed through 2009.

Well, the post couldn't be all good news, could it?

Threets Sneaks Through

Evidently, our handwringing over Threets is a case of fan myopia as he goes unclaimed and is outrighted to Fresno.

Nevertheless, retaining the hard-throwing lefty reliever is helpful - you can never have too many of those.

A Tale of Two Catchers

We all just knew that Yorvit would go and screw us again, and he just barely gets it done in a 1-0 snorefest.

Special Agent Jack Taschner, who has very much turned the corner this season (and hasn't allowed an earned run in almost a month), nearly cleaned up a wild Keiichi Yabu's mess. Coming in with a bases loaded, no out situation in the bottom of the ninth, the wily lefty was only a Big Money catch and tag away from getting out of the jam.

Instead, Big Money had a rare miscue - Fred Lewis caught a one out Torrealba fly ball and threw an absolute seed to Molina, who appeared to tag out a streaking Garrett Atkins, only for replays to show that he never caught the ball in the first place.

But I'm not losing my lunch over that. I'm losing it because of the Felizitis that has become this team in Colorado, who have gone 0 for 18 this series with RISP.

And worst of all, Timmy gets nothing for putting up more donuts than even the corpulent Colorado crowd could consume because the Giants can't hit a heretofore mediocre Ribaldo Jimenez.

The Giants try to salvage the day game as Dirty goes against the even more mediocre Greg Reynolds.

Let My Timmy Go

I've been saying it since I ripped it off from someone else, and now Bleacher Report takes it one step further:

Tim Lincecum to Miss Next Start, Star in Ferris Bueller Sequel

Links Cure All

We never really had a chance given tonight's matchup. Luckily, the Pat Misch experiment looks to be nearing its merciful end, as Kevin Correia looks fired up and ready to go.

Credit Aaron Cook, who is turning into a legitimate ace for the Rockies, and improves to a nice 9-3.

Too bad the Giants couldn't get into the shaky Rockies bullpen early - they absolutely hammered the Rox relievers and were only a few feet away from a ninth inning Fred Lewis homer that would have cut the lead to three with none out.

We won't have to grasp at straws looking for positives for too much longer: Lincecum goes tomorrow.

In the meantime, LINK DUMP!

- Oft-injured Merkin Valdez has suffered a setback and will get a dreaded MRI.

Unfortunate, as it looked like Valdez was back on track after striking out the side for San Jose in a rehab assignment on Saturday.

From within that piece, Bochy is impressed by Dirty Sanchez's focus.

- Not so fast, says Noah Lowry. Lowry's chutzpah aside, his return is looking more and more like a longshot, but here's hoping.

- Baggarly has a nice piece on Burriss, who reflects on his return to D.C.

- More encouraging news from the farm as the single-A Giants have five players named to the All-Star team, including 19 year old Tim Alderson, the second of our 2007 first-rounders, as well as mashing 21 year old catcher Pablo Sandoval.

- In other San Jose Giants news, the little Giants are getting in on the 50th anniversary festivities of the big league club. They seem to have assembled an impressive roster of attendees.

- Last Thursday's top two draft picks are named to the All-American squad - Posey is first-team and Gillaspie second.

- 47th round pick Abe Ruiz has committed to ASU, but leaves the door open if the Giants show him the money.

Meanwhile, an undrafted UOP second baseman waits for a call.

- And finally, a few Giants react to Griffey's 600th homer.

OBnB Programming Note: Please note that I have updated the social bookmarklets that appear below every post next to "SHARE!" If you're at all a regular reader and use the sites listed, such as Digg, Facebook, Ballhype or Yardbarker (you can hover over the icons to see what they mean), please click on any and all and spread the word.

The act of sharing will be rewarded karmically (I stole that from a fortune cookie, but it applies).

Brian WilsOwn

The Giants need to play the Nationals more often.

The boys complete the four game sweep against a pitiful Nats team that's missing virtually every one of their decent players (Zimmerman, Johnson, Perez, Cordero).

The Giants are on a nice little run, having won 12 of 18 after their first four-game winning streak of the season. They're now just 5 games back of first-place Arizona in the NL Worst.

Plenty of credit to go around in yesterday's W, including a gutsy Matt Cain, an "I still don't get where this guy came from" performance from Keiichi Yabu, and the continued excellent hitting of Randy Winn.

But let me be the first to point out that Brian Wilson, our once maligned young closer, has put together a string of outings that are impressive by any measure. Really!

In recording his first four out save of the season, a tough task especially in the sweltering DC haze, Wilson extends his absolute run of dominance.

Dating back to his 15th save in Arizona on May 27, Wilson has not allowed a hit to the last 19 batters faced (and only one runner total via a walk).

As he has much of the year, he leads the NL in saves with 18, but, more importantly, the guy is starting to develop the dominance, that certain je ne sais quoi, necessary of a big-time stopper. He always had the look, the mentality, and the fastball, but we may be witnessing the birth of the closer we've sorely missed since Robb Nen, bless his heart, pitched til his arm fell off in the year that shall not be named.

Or maybe it's just a good run against a series of bad teams.

Either way, he looked very closerly (what - that's totally a word) in getting the last four outs of the Giants best series of the season.

Post or Die: Now that we may have a badass closer, what's the nickname? "Smile" or any derivation may be DQ'd for lameness.

Brian WilsOwn is currently leading, because my vote counts as two.

Sense of Responsibility Claims Rare Victory

Won't be able to make it tonight, even though I was looking forward to the 98 degree gametime temperature.

I promise I'll make it up by taking my blogprose to new literary heights in tonight's recap (with requisite Internet shorthand - LOL, BRB, TTYL!)

Beltway Bowker Display

See the added spring in the Giants step? Haven't they looked like a different team? Like the ones we grew accustomed to for a short time in the early 2000s?

That's all me.

OBnB runs up its record to 3-0 yesterday and today with two more browbeatings of the Nationals in steamy DC.

(And special thanks to the OBnB fairy godmother for the awesome photos this weekend. The Fred Lewis action shot is classic. Check out all her great photos here.)

Evidently, there's a team in the NL that not only has an inferior offense to the Giants, but actually makes the G-Men look competent. Without Ryan Zimmerman, the Nats don't have a single hitter that scares you. A friend who is a Nats die-hard (yes, they do exist) told me he would kill for Randy Winn. Seriously.

Of course, after scoring 1 run in 18 innings, Zito spotted the Nats 3 runs (and 11 baserunners) in 5 innings of sloppy work. But, like him, I'll take his second win of the season.

Big props to Jon Sanchez for his stellar performance last night and the suddenly reliable Giants offense. Gotta say, we have a few hitters that make this lineup respectable.

If only they could play on the road all the time...

Notes from the stands:

- Nats fans (and soon everyone else) are legitimately scared of John Bowker. Awesome.

- Neglected to mention this in my Friday recap, but Manny Burriss has received a warm reception by Washingtonians - he is the first D.C. ballplayer to reach the majors in 38 years.

Got a chance to give (an obviously ecstatic) Burriss family my congrats. Pretty cool.

I can't wait to see them next season when he's starting at short. Just work with me.

- Freddy was warming up with a visibly warm Bill Hayes (the Giants bullpen catcher) before the 6th when Fred decided to throw him a curve (literally and figuratively), which he consequently missed. Fred was dying.

- The difference in velocity between Zito and every other reliever is a strategic silver lining to every one of his starts. The Nats were behind every fastball when Nolan Taschner came in in the 6th.

- In spite of his continued run of nice hitting, Ray Durham's complete lack of effort in the field (particularly when he failed to cover first in the second) stokes the passion of my playa-hatred.

Best quote: "Hey Ray, the inning's started!"

- Schedule permitting, I'll be there for Cainer's start tomorrow and will try to add a few more photos to the album.

Go to the Giants @ Nats Album!

Posey Goes Deep Again

Posey goes 2 for 6 with another dinger as he leads the Seminoles to a win in the rubber match with sandwich round pick Conor Gillaspie's Shockers.

Conor carries an 0-fer in the loss.

Updates with Photos

Coming soon.

Sorry for the delay in yesterday's and today's recap - it's 241 degrees here.

Stupidifying

Overheard:

"Ha, the Giants pitcher looks like he's 10! This should be fun."

"Hmm, he throws pretty hard for a kid that size."

"98 miles per hour? Are you kidding me?"

"That changeup's unfair."

"Wow, he just made Guzman / Dukes / Boone / Casto / Langerhans / Redding / Pena look stupid."

"Who is this guy?"

I would love to be in every visiting ballpark when Timmy pitches. But the quiet joy of listening to uneducated Nats fans last night will do just fine.

I do have to admit some ignorance of Giants personnel myself, however: I bet my buddy Jonathan that Jose Castillo would pop out to end the Giants half of the deciding third. Instead, he puts one in the seats to put the dagger in the heart of the Nats, sealing a 10-1 triumph early.

That's a $12 Kosher dog I'll gladly buy.

As you can see, we had fantastic seats above the Giants dugout. It's amazing what you can procure when the two participating teams are a combined 21 games under .500 in early June.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, leading to the subpar, unzoomed camera phone-generated shot above. On the plus side, I have three more shots at it, albeit from lesser seats.

That's the price of reading an idiot's blog.

Posey and Gillaspie: Round II

Our two brand-new shiny prospects keep it up in Super Regional action, collecting two hits apiece while Posey drives in three.

FSU crushes Wichita State 14-4, forcing a Game 3 showdown tomorrow at high noon (9AM PST) on ESPN.

Rounds 30-50 and Roundup

The rest of the Giants 2008 draft class:

30/897. Vladimir Frias, SS, Tennessee Wesleyan College

31/927. Aaron Davidson, RHP, Arkansas-Ft. Smith

32/957. John Blake, RHP, Lake Sumter Community College (FL)

33/987. Ryne Price, LF, Kansas

34/1017. Francois LaFreniere, RHP, Collège Ahuntsic (Quebec, Canada)

35/1047. Daniel Black, 3B, Purdue

36/1077. Matthew Way, LHP, Washington State

37/1107. Jeremy Penn, RHP, Western Oklahoma State

38/1137. Chris Wilson, RHP, Trinidad State Junior College (CO)

39/1167. Braden Kapteyn, 3B, Iliana Christian HS (IL)

40/1197. Austin Stadler, 1B, James River HS (VA)

41/1227. Correy Figueroa, 2B/SS, St. Petersburg Junior College (FL)

42/1257. Tyler Thompson, CF, Jupiter Community HS (FL)

43/1287. Zachary Thornton, RHP, Ventura College (CA)

44/1317. Aaron Lowenstein, C, UC Irvine

45/1346. Kenneth Villines, 2B, Riverside HS (NC)

46/1374. Joseph Hainsfurther, SS, Highland Park HS (TX)

47/1401. Abraham Ruiz, 3B, Pacific Grove HS (CA)

48/1428. Leonardo Ochoa, 2B, Quebec Capitales (Can-Am League)

49/1455. D.J. Hicks, 1B, Lake Brantley HS (FL)

50/1482. Jeremy Ware, RHP, Arkansas State

Of note:

- Many of these guys will choose to attend/return to college, fail to sign or decide the odds are too long and retire, so I won't spend too much time breaking the rest of these guys down.

- Somebody may look at a pick like D.J. Hicks (good high schooler who most likely will go college route) and ask: "why waste a pick on a guy who you know is too good to sign in the slot?"

Answer: Because it sets the groundwork for picking him later. A good example is current big leaguer Alex Hinshaw, who the Giants drafted three times in the late rounds before finally signing him in 2005. The Giants commitment to him paid off as he could have signed with Florida when they drafted him in 2003.

It's an interesting subtlety to the late rounds of the draft that I picked up recently.

- Finally, the Giants pick another "No School" guy in Leonardo Ochoa. I had no idea, but there is a Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball. He's currently hitting .241 with 4 homers and 20 RBIs, according to this Google-translated site (home runs translate to "circuits" and RBIs "points" - awesome); I don't have an explanation for that one.

Celebrating in Style

Remember how I mentioned that our first two picks would be playing each other today in Super Regional action?

Well, our supposed high average/middling power guys have each muscled up and have hit it high, deep, and outta here. Gillaspie, in particular, is having a helluva game.

If you're near a television, the game's in late innings on ESPN2.

Baby Giants Everywhere!

Picks from Rounds 16-29:

16/477. C.J. Ziegler, 1B, Arizona
17/507. Brian Irving, RHP, Yale
18/537. Brooks Lindsay, SS, Lower Columbia College (WA)
19/567. Ryan Mantle, LF, Missouri State
20/597. Trey Sutton, 2B, Southern Mississippi
21/627. Michael Eifel, RHP, Dominican
22/657. Carter Bell, SS, Georges P. Vanier Secondary School (BC, Canada)
23/687. Jason Jarvis, RHP, Arizona State
24/717. Thomas Musick, LHP, Houston
25/747. Damon Wright, CF, Dartmouth
26/777. Ryan Lormand, 2B, Houston
27/807. Kyle Woodruff, RHP, Cal State-Chico
28/837. Shane Kaufman, RHP, San Diego State
29/867. Robert Flanagan, 1B, Northern Georgia College & State

Of note:

- Well, the Giants finally take a power-hitting corner infielder in C.J. Ziegler. Ziegler has had a breakout season as Arizona's first baseman/DH, hitting .350 with 19 homers (five shy of the Wildcats single-season record) heading into this weekend's Super Regional against Miami.

Much more importantly, his name is the amalgamation of two of the greatest characters on one of the greatest television series of all-time. Here's hoping the bastard child of C.J. Cregg and Tobias Ziegler pulls a Piazza and becomes a legit late round prospect.

- Jason Jarvis is officially listed as having attended "No School" because of a curious NCAA academic violation that disqualified him in the middle of the 2008 season. He was able to successfully petition to be eligible for the the draft.

Jarvis alleges that it was the doing of a disgruntled coach. He's even set up a website to clear his name.

For what it's worth, he had a decent truncated freshman year and is supposed to have a mid-90s fastball. Bonus points for his most sordid tale.

- Talk about bloodlines: Missouri State left fielder Ryan Mantle is indeed a distant cousin of the great Mickey. Yeah - that alone is definitely worth a 19th rounder.

- And in perhaps a nod to the more cerebral, collegiate nature of this draft, the Giants take two Ivy Leaguers in Irving and Wright.

Rounds 7-15

The Giants picks in Day 2 thus far:

7/207: Aaron King, LHP, Surry CC (NC)
8/237: Scott Barnes, LHP, St. John's
9/267: Ryan Verdugo, LHP, LSU
10/297: Ryan O'Sullivan, RHP, Valhalla HS (CA)
11/327: Justin Fitzgerald, RHP, UC Davis
12/357: Ari Ronick, RHP, Portland
13/387: Juan Perez, CF, Western Oklahoma State
14/417: Caleb Curry, CF, Iowa
15/447: Daniel Cook, 2B, Florida Atlantic

Of note:
- Between the last two picks of Day 1 and the first six of today, Giants harken back to the Tidrow era and select eight pitchers in a row, including a run of four straight lefties.

- The Giants don't take a prep player until the tenth round. 14 of 15 picks so far have been from the college ranks.

- Given the round in which he was drafted, it wouldn't surprise me if O'Sullivan, the lone high schooler taken thus far, opts for college.

Quirarte and Surkamp

Not this summer's new buddy comedy, but instead the first two pitchers the Giants take to close out day one of the draft.

In keeping with a bizarre theme today, both were of the college variety, meaning that none of the six picks today came from the prep ranks, a real departure for the front office.

In another developing theme, both players have awesome names.

The newest Giants:

Edwin Quirarte RHP CSU Northridge - 5th Rd. (147)

Quirarte excelled as the hard-throwing closer for perennial Big West contender Cal State-Northridge. Originally drafted in 2005 out of high school in the 39th round by the Reds, the Oxnard native served as a swingman on the staff before making the full-time switch to relief his junior year.

From Scout.com:

Closer Edwin Quirarte (RHP – 2-2, 1.42 ERA, 3 SV’s, 13 apps, 1 start, 25 IP, 16 H, 11 BB, 21 K) has easily been Northridge’s most effective pitcher. He has struggled with his control but has been tough to hit for opposing batters, allowing them to only hit .174. Quirarte came up big against Cal Poly with a win and a save in shutting out the Mustangs and allowing only 1 H in 4 2/3 IP. He is one of the hardest throwers on the staff and the most experienced pitcher, making 21 apps (10 starts) last season with 62 IP and 18 apps (13 starts) with 78 IP in 2006.

Eric Surkamp LHP North Carolina State - 6th Rd. (177)

Another 2007 Team USA alum, Surkamp's got good size at 6'5", 216.

He had a great campaign for Team USA, but his 2008 numbers at NC State were less than stellar. Unofficially, the junior lefty has gone 5-2 with a 4.66 ERA, 73:32 K-BB ratio, with an opponent average of .279.

From Scout.com: Saturday's starter, Eric Surkamp, features a classic 12-to-6 curveball in addition to his fastball, which is in the mid to high 80s.

Wait a second - 80s fastball? 12-to-6 curveball? Lefty? Middling results? Funny last name?

Hopefully, he'll sign for less than a billion dollars.

On the plus side, following a victories over South Carolina and James Madison, Surkamp's NC State team faces Georgia in this weekend's Super Regionals, and we'll also get a chance to see Surkamp on national TV.

I can confirm Surkamp isn't going tomorrow, so it will either be the Saturday 9AM game on ESPN2 or Sunday's matchup at 1PM (all times PST) on ESPN.

I'll have my people let your people know.

Brandon Crawford in Fourth

The Giants are four-for-four in drafting college hitters, as they take UCLA shortstop (and local boy) Brandon Crawford.

The Bruins junior is thought to have lost his mojo after a poor Cape League showing last summer. An intriguing middle infield pick, nonetheless.

I'll probably stop doing pick-by-pick posts until the end of this thing now, but I'm not making any commitments.

Kieschnick in Third

Giants nab Texas Tech rightfielder Roger Kieschnick in the third round.

From what I can dig up on him, he's a potential five tool outfielder with serious pull power. Kieschnick displayed that as he tied #2 overall pick Pedro Alvarez for the team lead in homers with Team USA last year.

Evidently, there's an issue with his swing mechanics. Looking at projections, though, it looks like he's a great value pick in the third - most had him going sandwich/second.

And yes, he's the cousin of former two-way player and OBnB fave, Brooks Kieschnick.

Hmm - three polished college bats with the first three picks? Maybe things really are changing in Giantsland.

Cozy with Posey

So the Giants go safe and take Buster Posey.

For today at least, I'll put aside my various reservations about not drafting one of the plethora of monstrous corner infield prospects and focus on the positives on drafting the consensus best catcher in Posey.

The resume speaks for itself:

First-Team All-ACC, ACC Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger First-Team All-American, CoSIDA Academic All-American and Academic All-American of the Year (finance major, 3.8+ GPA).

Posey's currently a finalist for both the Golden Spikes Award (top college player) and the Johnny Bench Award (top college catcher). From the the ACC Player of the Year release:

Florida State's Buster Posey headlines this year's squad as the ACC Player of the Year, while Alex White from North Caroline (sic) got the nod for ACC Pitcher of the Year. Posey becomes the second-straight Seminole to garner the league's top accolade and the fifth overall. The junior from Leesburg, Ga., leads the ACC in 10 statistical categories including batting average (.471), hits (96), runs scored (75), runs batted in (68), total bases (175), on-base percentage (.571) and slugging percentage (.858). The first-team recognition is the second straight for the catcher, who was recently named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

A 1.429 OPS may leave some people scratching their heads as to why Posey is predicted to max at 20 homers a year as a pro in a bestest-case scenario.

Here's your answer: Dick Howser Stadium, the home of the Seminoles, is a notorious hitters park, akin to Coors Field or perhaps, more appropriately, Grizzlies Stadium.

If the guy couldn't hit for power there, he'd Bust-a Move into the later rounds.

That being said, let's define clutch, shall we? Posey single-handedly saved his FSU team from the brink of elimination at last week's NCAA Regional Tourney in a performance so stunning, even the pater familias was left agog:

With the Seminoles, the country's No. 2 team, facing elimination, Posey over the span of four games went further than even he expected, batting .500 (8-for-16) with five home runs and 13 RBIs. FSU outscored Florida, Bucknell and Tulane 74-35 and advanced in the NCAA tournament because Posey had simply willed it.

"I don't know which home run he hit," said Demp Posey, normally the modest father, "but I was just like, 'Now wait a minute. This has got to stop.'"

That's Nuschler-in-the-'89-NLCS-esque there.

He's played all nine positions in a game (he's also FSU's closer). He hit a grand slam in that game, to boot.

As FSU's closer, you would think he has a gun behind the dish. And you would be right. Guy's used that mid-90s fastball to nail over 40% of would be basestealers. Remember, he's still learning the position after switching from short after his freshman year, so a pop time in the 1.9s already is encouraging. Posey's athleticism gives him the potential to be a Gold Glove backstop.

But don't take my word for it - Posey will be on national TV starting tomorrow as FSU forges ahead in the NCAA tourney. They face Wichita State for a three game set in Super Regional games. Game 1 is tomorrow at 11 AM (ESPN2), Game 2 is Saturday at 9 AM (ESPN2) and Sunday at 10 AM (ESPN) (All times PST).

- This Orioles blogger posted a great writeup of Posey a few days back pleading with the O's to take him even with the presence of last year's draftee, Matt Wieters. Here's another good Posey writeup from College Baseball Blog - extra points as they also called the Giants pick.

Discussion Junction: On a scale of Tom Lampkin to Steve Decker - okay, Joe Mauer - what do you think the Giants got in Buster Posey?

Sabean's Expectations; Gillaspie in Sandwich Round

Conor Gillaspie, 3B, Wichita St., at #37. MLB.com compares him to...

Bill Mueller.

That being said, he's the defending Thurman Munson Award winner in 2007 Cape League play, an honor that's gone to the likes of Berkman and Jeter (and Smoak in 2006).

Note that Gillaspie's Wichita State team faces Posey and FSU in this weekend's televised Super Eight series.

Meanwhile, Sabean et al make no bones about their expectations of Posey:

"He's on the fast track, and Bengie's clock is winding down," Sabean said. "It's really up to him."

(snip)

"I've seen (Posey) since he was a junior in high school," said John Barr, special adviser to general manager Brian Sabean. "He was a consideration for the selection since the day I took this position Brian offered me (earlier this offseason)."

Also interesting:

Sabean said Alvarez would have been the Giants' first choice and that Posey was No. 2. Posey is represented by Casey Close and Jeff Barry, who reportedly are demanding a whopping $12 million signing bonus, though that could be a bluff considering half of that would be a generous sum for the No. 5 overall pick.

One Upside to Buster

Meanwhile, (my guy as well as many others') Smoak goes to Texas at #11.