From today's Baggarly piece on last year's embarrassment of then-rook Timmy after missing a team charter:
The next day, Bonds couldn't turn down the opportunity to undress a rookie in front of his teammates.
"Bonds showed us something," Zito said. "He calls a meeting and he's like, 'Are you kidding me, Timmy? This is ridiculous.' He gave him the itinerary and said, 'Dude I don't want this thing to leave your sight the entire trip.'
Back by popular demand...
Despite the large amount of revenue OBnB generates, a few other (theoretically) necessary responsibilities reared their ugly heads at once, putting me out of commission.
Luckily, the break absolves me of the false sense of jubilation that may have come with a five game winning streak for this plucky but ultimately doomed young team. With their second straight loss to the defending NL champion (remember that?) Rockies, the boys in black and orange showed this bunch is still a work in progress.
Happy trails, Matt Palmer. And welcome back, Osiris.
And now, with apologies to The Rock, I give you my Wednesday Rundown:
- Pablo Sandoval is good. I read this article about how Class A San Jose was completely galvanized by his arrival, only to fall back to the pack when he was promoted to Double A Connecticut, at which point the Defenders surged. It would have been good to link and relate to the recent improvement of the Giants.
But I couldn't find it, so take my word for it. To make up for my eroding search engine eagle eye, check out this interview Sandoval did with Defenders beat reporter Joe Perez upon his promotion to Connecticut in June.
For now, the focus with Sandoval is short-term. But Molina knows that teams seldom let their best offensive prospects stay behind the plate. Their production inevitably suffers because of the grueling nature of the position.As you may have noticed, the Giants have no shortage of good guys behind the plate.
"You should see Bengie when he takes his shirt off," a teammate said. "He has bruises all over."
Molina acknowledged that because of numerous foul tips, there have been times this season when he could barely grip a bat.
"Yeah, but I don't have any excuses," Molina said. "I want to be out there every day and I do the best with what I have."
Molina is committed to guiding Sandoval behind the plate. He'll do the same for Buster Posey when the No. 1 draft pick (fifth overall) arrives in major league camp next spring.
But Molina wouldn't be surprised if Posey eventually moves, too.
Cold (or even mild, temperate) summer nights at Pac Bell are no fun unless the Giants are scoring, and these days, the faithful along with the Lunatic Fringe know: that scoring is not going to come from home runs. So when these scrappy, fast, aggresive young kids go out and get hits - EIGHT of them - we hope that some of those baserunners come around on consecutive hits, sacrifices, and seeing-eye ground balls. For one inning last night it seemed that would be the case, but then the bats - and the luck - fizzled. Despite yet another 3-for-4 performance from "Win, Win, Win, with" Randy Winn and another 2 hits from Fred Lewis in the 2 hole, the offense never came alive in a manner worthy of the word RALLY.
Matt Cain is back to his losing ways, giving up an astronomical 3 ER in 6 IP, succumbing to the ever-Giant-killing Yorvit Torrealba (2-run HR) and failing to score from third (or even cause a collision) on a fielder's choice by Aaron Rowand.
Venite Adoremus tonight, though, as The Kid looks to stop the losing. Matt Palmer, that is, looks to stop the losing, at 1 loss. Why, who did you think this blogger was referring to?
Another walkoff win for the Little Giants, who have taken to playing at home in a way their much older predecessors did not.
In typical San Francisc (the omission of O is intentional) Giants fashion, the fateful ninth inning run was scored without a hit - praise be to Manny Burriss's batting eye and feet as well as Kevin Gregg's wayward accuracy.
And give credit to big Matt Palmer, who bounced back from a horrific debut to go 6 and 2.
Also, I've noticed I've been remiss in lauding Dandy Randy Winn for hitting in a manner so hot, Paris Hilton's thinking of suing.
Future Ruminations: While watching Pablo "Runaway Beer Truck" Sandoval motor around in one of his frequent trips to the basepaths, I thought to myself, this 22 year old could be really the future at catcher.
Then I realized we just signed him.
But, with apologies to Ivan Ochoa, our situation at shortstop is a little less rosy. However, do we already have a solution?
Many of you heard about Buster Posey playing all nine positions in a game this past season at FSU. His prowess at all nine positions was due in part to the fact that he was recruited as a shortstop, playing there his freshman year before transitioning to catching.
Now although the Giants just made a huge investment in Posey, it's not as if shortstop is a position of far less scarcity, particularly given the fact that Posey's bat would play just as well there. In addition, Posey, who's game has been compared to Craig Biggio's, might have a longer career by playing a less physically demanding position.
With his mid-90s fastball and leadership skills, heck, we may even get our own Derek Jeter out of it.
Bear in mind, my sole impetus for the idea is due to the absurdly small sample size of Sandoval's major league career, notwithstanding his sublime year in the minors. But Sandoval is producing at the major league level and looks to have a lot of potential at the position, having thrown out 44% (30 for 68) of basestealers in the minors - and he can do it with both hands, too! Sandoval, already looking like he belongs in The Show, is only seven months older than Posey.
The case that Sandoval could shift to first to make room for Posey is a little bit of a tougher pill to swallow, mostly because of the continued ease at which you can either find or develop power hitting first basemen, Brian Sabean's struggles aside. It would be a waste of Sandoval's skills behind the dish to have him at first, anyhow.
So I leave it to you: is this a terrible idea? How do you envision the 2011 infield?
Turns out that even when Brian Wilson blows a save, the luck of the Irish bails him out.
Give the guy credit for the third longest save streak in Giants history, as well as the manner in which he handled blowing the save drew a happy contrast with one of his celebrated predecessors.
A bummer ND for Cainer, who continues his strong second half.
But how about that Pablo Sandoval? Since the kid looks to have some moxie, the Giants are once again having him take grounders at third. Let's hope a late career position switch - Fred Stanley et al tried working him in at third in the minors but it didn't stick - doesn't Bowker his hitting.
Once upon a time, there were three third basemen. Each of them had risen through the minors at a steady clip and made their general managers really super excited. Before long, all three of them had been promoted to the major leagues!
Once they got there, the young ballplayers had their ups and downs.
The most powerful one needed a couple of tries, but he started improving, only to hurt his back.
The youngest had one of the better rookie seasons in history, hitting 28 HRs and driving in 114, only to regress in his second year.
The last of them, well, did okay. He was not as shiny a prospect as the other two, but, relative to the players around him, he was pretty good. Of course, when he got to the majors, it only took a couple of years for his GM to figure out that, despite his unyielding belief in magic, his marginally talented third basemen wasn't getting better.
So, only a few short years later, all three were out of job.
If you were Brian Sabean, and had literally no prospects at the position, who would you pick?
The answer, of course, is none. Instead, just wait for a smart GM like Larry Beinfest to sign all three to minimum deals, and pounce on any scraps Beinfest may be so kind to throw back.
Here we are, about a half a year later, and the Marlins are once again defying expectations, partly because of the solid bat of Jorge Cantu (the youngest one), who's having his best season ever. So you can understand that, in leading his Marlins to a victory over the G-Boys, I cursed Sabes with an extra fervor last night.
In case you don't know the rest of the story, Dallas McPherson (the most powerful) is leading the minors in home runs for the Marlins AAA affiliate, ready to replace Cantu at a moment's notice should he get injured. (That's called depth, Brian.)
The marginally okay one, as we all know, was Jose Castillo, who was last seen storming Lord Farquaad's castle with a giant gingerbread man.
Meanwhile, the life cycle of third basemen continues in San Francisco, as the Giants now have their very own marginal prospect's career to ruin.
If you were wondering, said marginal prospect put up another 0-fer last night, bringing his average down to .095.
On the heels of a tough four game sweep at the Big Orange, Barry Zito, he of seven shutout innings, and the kids leading these Giants to a series victory is sweet music to my ears.
Sweeter music to my ears? Down the 5, Giants über villain Jeff Kent is doing his damndest to tarnish the legacy of what I'll grudgingly admit is a Hall of Fame career.
His latest offense? Assailing the virtual patron saint of the Dodgers, a man so revered as a baseball institution, many Giants fans are even able to look past his association with our hated rivals and genuinely appreciate his contribution to the national past time.
Yes, Jeff Kent verbally assaulted Vin Scully.
Evidently, Kent was miffed that Scully (along with most multi-celled organisms) believed there may be a correlation between his hot bat and the presence of Manny Ramirez in the lineup. His message to Scully: you talk too much.
I'm not going to launch into a massive diatribe but simply point out that, for a guy that is probably be a first-ballot inductee, he will most likely have the least fans of anyone else who shares the same honor. Maybe that's not why Kent plays the game, but I hope, once he walks away, he realizes that something ain't right about a superior career that no one besides yourself appreciates.
Sanchez Shut Down?: KNBR reported this morning that management may use Dirty's shoulder strain as an excuse to shut the lefty down for the rest of the season. Smart move, in my opinion: Sanchez has thrown more innings this year already than he has in any one of his other pro seasons.
With any luck, there may be something to play for next year. Sanchez, although he had his ups and downs this season, showed quite a bit in his first year as a starter, consistently ranking near the top of the league in Ks. Hopefully, he'll be back stronger and wiser in 2009.
Comment! With little left to play for this season, should the Giants shut down their other two horses in Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum?
I've been remiss in recently overlooking some of the great writing of fellow Lunatic Fringe bloggers, an oversight I look to correct with some gusto here and now.
It goes without saying that today's game was an absolutely marvelous way to wash out the taste of poor Matt Palmer's first big league start (and subsequent shellacking).
In hitting his first career bomb, the endearingly earnest Travis Ishikawa picked the right starter to back. Yes, it looks like our very own Franchise is no worse for wear following the Ausmus Liner Heard 'Round The Bay, regaining the Major League lead for strikeouts. JC from Raising (Matt) Cain puts what we're witnessing in perspective:
1. 13-3 is the second best start in SF history (5 occurences). Only a couple hacks named Perry and Marichal were better at 14-2. I venture to guess they had better teams playing behind them, ya think?Simply mind-boggling. Great research, JC.
2. With his sixth double digit strikeout game this year (8 in his career), he ties Marichal (1966) for number 4 on this all time list. Only Schmidt (9 in 2004), Sadecki (8 in 1968), and Montefusco (7 in 1975) are above him. With at least five or so starts left, Tim has a good shot at taking over the lead of that list.
3. The Enchanter has limited opponents to 3 or fewer runs in 40 of his 49 career starts, including 21 of 25 this year. The Giants are 26-14 in those forty games. Tim is 17-0 (29 starts) when the Giants score at least three runs for him.
The bullpen has largely struggled this year. Wilson has emerged as the top arm but with the disintegration of Tyler Walker, Brad Hennessey, Vinnie Chulk and the majority of the younger arms having their expected ups-and-downs, it hasn’t been a pretty sight. (Fielding Independent Pitching) isn’t thrilled with Taschner but he’s having a decent year, he might be pitching over his head right now to some extent. The Giants are last in the National League for bullpen ERA at 4.44.Ouch.
The Giants currently boast fourth-worst record in the majors, pretty much vindicating smug prognosticators nationwide. (Hey, whatever takes the attention away from living in their mother's basement, right?)
The silver lining in this giant, black, killer tornado wielding cloud? Assuming the team maintains its current level of putrid play, they stand to pick fourth overall in next year's draft, and quite possibly even higher.
So, having locked up the key cogs of what was, by all accounts, a productive 2008 draft, let's take an early look at five blue-chippers the Giants could select from what will most assuredly be a high slot.
Stephen Strasburg RHP San Diego State
Now before all of you smack your heads in frustration at a pitcher being atop this list, bear in mind two things:
1. Every other player on this shortlist is of a position variety
2. This guy is ridiculous
There's a lot of buzz about this kid, and rightly so. Strasburg is considered the best pitching prospect to come out since Mark Prior, and, with any luck, this time, Dusty Baker won't get anywhere near him.
The lone collegian on the 2008 Olympic squad, Strasburg has already unleashed the fury of his 100MPH fastball on a helpless Dutch team this past week.
Strasburg, who rounds out his arsenal with a wicked slider and decent change, has been victimizing college hitters at an astounding clip his first two years at SDSU. Most notable: a 23 strikeout(!) game against the University of Utah in April.
His coach, former nemesis but awesomely voiced Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, a guy who knows a thing or two, had this to say:
“I've seen a lot of baseball,” said SDSU coach Tony Gwynn. “I have never seen anything like that.”Now I know as well as anyone that the Giants pitching cupboard is pretty well-stocked, but this 6'4 right-hander would be difficult to pass up, regardless of need.
It is not a major league deal, meaning, among other things, the entire bonus is paid up front.
Part of me wishes that Randy Winn and Bengie Molina spread out their surprisingly sublime nights (maybe retroactive to any game during the Houston debacle) but hey, I'll take it.
The best development? The resurgence of Matt Cain in this second half. And I'm for anything that minimizes the use of the chokepen.
In spite of a report to the contrary, the official site confirms that Posey is set to become a Giant.
The moral of the story?
Baggs > Your Next Door Neighbor > Some Guy > SFGate
The Sports Agent Blog notes that, once the Buster Posey signing becomes official, the Giants will have signed both their first-round pick and their third-round pick (Roger Kieschnick) to the highest bonuses awarded to players selected in that round.
Add that to the $2.5M awarded to 16 year old Dominican Rafael Rodriguez, and you start to get a sense why the once-maligned Giants farm system is gaining legitimacy in a big hurry.
Crasnick bashes Manny (the Dodgers one):
"I bet he gets $15-20 million a year for three or four years, especially if he keeps his nose clean and helps the Dodgers win it," said another executive who has worked for large, small and middle-market teams. "Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if [Dodgers owner] Frank McCourt would do that. He loves all those Boston guys."
But within seconds of making that prediction, the same executive made it clear how appalled he was by the whole thought that Manny would cash in after all this.
"He wouldn't play for me," the exec said. "I'll tell you that. I might cost my team a chance to go to the World Series. But we work too hard to put a team together to take on a guy like that. As soon as you open the vaults for him, you'll wind up with the same problems Boston had."
A hopeful start by the youth-infused lineup is once again obliterated by a haggard bullpen.
But I'm sure you all are more ticked at something else:
LaTroy Freaking Hawkins.
I can't even believe he has a job. But, of course, he picks up the W, joining the likes of Chan Ho Park, Jason Johnson and Mike Hampton as baseball zombies who have feasted on the collective ineptitude of this meek, meek franchise.
And now, without further ado, your midday roundup.
Snark Alert: I really debated kicking this guy while he's down. But, ultimately, I decided to be the smaller, more petty person.
Jose Castillo (remember him?) had a bit of a reputation as a malcontent on his previous stops on his DFA Tour of the NL. So while John Bowker was nothing but classy in accepting his assignment to Fresno, what did Castillo have to say?
"I'm not happy," he said. "I'm surprised. I think I played good for this team. It was the first year I played third base."Well, in addition to the fact that Shrekstillo made more than a few of his appearances at third with the Pirates last year, I'd like to pose this question to Jose: what, exactly, is your definition of "good"? Does it include an assessment of a .191 average post-All Star Break?
Perez put up the craziest statistics in the state. Playing at hitter-friendly Western Oklahoma JC, he set Division II junior college records with 37 homers (one short of the overall juco mark) and 102 RBIs while batting .465 with a 1.102 slugging percentage. While his stats might be inflated, the 6-foot, 185-pounder has legitimate tools. He has a sound swing with bat speed and easy power, average speed and arm strength, and a chance to play center field. The bigger issues with Perez are his age (he'll be 22 in November) and his immigration status. A Dominican, he stayed in the United States after his original tourist visa expired, which could prevent him from gaining a work visa to play pro ball. If he gets his paperwork, he could go in the first 10 rounds.Baggs, meanwhile, makes a comparison with this guy.
Various baseball people have been musing about whether or not Conor Gillaspie should be moved to second. Here’s one reason why it might not happen. It is likely that he will begin next year on the San Jose roster with Nick Noonan who is limited to only second base. There has been some talk that Noonan might be promoted straight to Connecticut but that’s absolutely crazy. Unless Noonan makes huge strides in plate discipline this offseason, sending him to Connecticut is just setting him up to fail. So, it is likely that the San Jose roster next year will consist of Angel Villalona at 1B, Nick Noonan at 2B, Conor Gillaspie at 3B, and Buster Posey at C. That’s a hell of an infield. Madison Bumgarner will also be on that team.So, come '09, there could very well be a dominant Giants ballclub - you'll just have to head further down 280 to find it.
Baggarly (of course) has the scoop:
The Giants are on the cusp of signing first-round pick Buster Posey to a major league contract worth roughly $7.5 million, industry sources told the Mercury News.Overall, a very encouraging development for the rapidly improving farm system. Assist to the purse-string holders for going well above slot on all the guys to get them delivered.
[Snip]
The Giants also went beyond the recommended slot value to sign their third-round pick, Texas Tech outfielder Roger Kieschnick. He received a $525,000 bonus, $40,000 over the recommended amount. The club didn't announce a deal with their fourth-round pick, UCLA shortstop Brandon Crawford, but Bruins officials have been told that he signed for $375,000 — exceeding slot value by $92,000.
Well, no one said these kids could make the transition seamlessly. But although Ryan Rohlinger had some miscues in his ML debut, you'd be hard pressed to pin the abhorrent pitching on the kid, unless you were some kind of psycho.
So, before the 11AM kiddie parade pre-empts your regularly schedule rants and raves in this space, let me take this opportunity to use the Giants second consecutive loss to the 'Stros as Exhibit R that Dave Righetti must go?
Some doomed contrarians may ask, "Why is that? Don't you think that Barry Zito sucks independent of coaching?"
My retort? Some thought the Giants would be an excusable team, in spite of their horrific offense, because of their sublimely talented pitching staff, but instead they have proven consistently inconsistent and maddeningly middling. Three-quarters of the way through the season, the Giants are in the bottom half of the league in ERA and rank fourth (in a bad way) in walks allowed.
And although I can't find a stat that proves it (and I encourage all you sabermetrician nose-miners to back me up), the pitching staff is inexcusably charitable to their counterparts, a point that Kruk and Kuip have repeatedly echoed.
Last night, once again, was an example of how this staff is liable to give games away. The Astros would have won if Larry, Moe, and Curly were in their lineup last night.
"But what about Lincecum?" some of the soon-to-be-dealt-with dissenters may point out. Well, I suggest you review last month's SI cover piece on The Franchise. Or just read this:
"His dad obviously did a very good job with Timmy," says Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti. "I treat Timmy differently from most pitchers: I leave him alone."But for the other poor saps that are subject to Righetti (think Cain, Sanchez, and all the other young guns in the pipeline), we risk wasting the sky high potential of these talents because Giants brass are too hardheaded to let a crony go.
Well, how about that for a move? (From Baggs)
Huge, huge shift today. The Giants have a whole new corner infield. John Bowker and Steve Holm were optioned to Fresno and Jose Castillo was designated for assignment. Rohlinger, a third baseman, comes from Double-A Connecticut along with Sandoval, who can catch and play first base. Ishikawa was lighting it up at Triple-A Fresno. He switches spots with Bowker, who was hitting .154 since the All-Star break.Wow, is it me or did it just get a whole lot less suck in here?
With a big shoutout to OBnB associate J2X, rumor has it Connecticut third baseman Ryan Rohlinger, not Travis Ishikawa or Pablo Sandoval will get the callup.
At this point, it only seems to be corroborated by a few posters at McCovey Chronicles.
[UPDATE (1:34PM): Brewercentric has posted a story from the exceedingly creditable PrepsOnTheNet. Still, it looks like Rohlinger is indeed a San Francisco Giant. In case you're wondering, Milwaukeeans are interested in this story as Rohlinger's a Wisconsin product.
The question remains: who goes down, or out? I imagine management makes space for Rohlinger on the 40 man by putting Merkin Valdez on the 60 day DL.]
Rohlinger could conceivably supplant Feliz Lite, a thought that sends shivers up my fandom-ravaged spine.
But he also plays second base, a position of great depth but a lot of perceived necessity, as Grant so eloquently stated a week ago.
Rohlinger, 24, hasn't put up eye-popping numbers this year in either Single-A San Jose or in Norwich, but he has shown a propensity to take a pitch, a rarity in this brain-dead hacker breeding farm system. Granted, I'd rather see this guy trot out to third at this point than Castillo.
So how does this relate to John Bowker, who was the presumptive sacrificial lamb? Unclear, unless the Giants are about to make a move, or three, that no one saw coming.
Or it could all be a hoax. Stay tuned, folks.
From Extra Baggs:
He’s OK, according to his agent, and expects to make his next start. The liner hit him on the tibia just below the knee. Bad bruise. You may breathe normally now.Well [gasp] said.
All signs point to Bowker going downSo, though it looks like nothing is immediate, there's a good chance we'll see some type of transaction this series.
Once I noticed that Travis Ishikawa wasn’t in the lineup for Fresno tonight at Portland, I went into a whirlwind trying to figure out whether he was on his way to Houston. (Late update: He pinch-hit in extra innings, so no, he wasn’t enjoying a bag of peanuts on the first Southwest flight to Houston Hobby.)
But there are indications that something is coming, as they say. For one, Brian Sabean showed up today. Demoting John Bowker is a fairly significant move given the tenor of this Giants season. It’s certainly a call that the GM wouldn’t want to make from afar. Plus, when you break the news to a player with Bowker’s potential future role in the organization, it’s probably best that the GM is in the room.
Add to that Bruce Bochy’s non-denial….”We’re talking about it” … and even with the roof closed at Minute Maid Park, you could tell which way the wind is blowing.
To me, the decision isn’t whether to send down Bowker but whether to replace him with Ishikawa or Pablo Sandoval. (I checked, and yes, Sandoval played for Connecticut tonight.)
Travis Ishikawa is hitting .312 with 16 homers and 46 RBIs since his June promotion from Double-A. Ishikawa, 24, played 12 games for the 2006 Giants, backtracked last year when he was demoted to Class A San Jose (in part because of injuries) but re-emerged as a viable prospect this year.Although most local scribes feel Sando-Yeti is in the mix for a call-up, Ishikawa, who is the same age as Bowker, makes a lot more sense, both because of his fielding prowess at first as well as the logical development curve of the 21 year old Sandoval.
In his first eight games of August, he hit seven homers. Of his 53 hits, 38 have gone for extra bases. Counting his stats from Double-A and Triple-A, he has 24 homers and 94 RBIs, numbers that he didn't come close to producing in any of his first six years of pro ball.
Three left-handers in the Giants organization took no-hitters into the sixth inning Monday night. Jonathan Sanchez's effort at Houston was the most conspicuous, but he was joined by San Jose's Clayton Tanner and Augusta's Scott Barnes on the Class A level.Gillaspie Shines And finally, while Buster Posey remains unsigned ahead of tomorrow's deadline, Conor Gillaspie has had a hot start in the Arizona Rookie League, driving in 7 runs in his first 20 PAs to go along with a .316 average.
Despite the Giants best efforts to win all of their games on infield singles collected in the ninth inning, they managed to make Brandon Backe look like Cy Young as they fell to the Disastros Monday.
Squeaking out only four hits against Backe (he of eleven earned over 3.1 innings in his last outing), the Giants' offense turned the suck knob to overdrive and left their bats on the team's charter flight.
The Giants did show early life when Ivan Ochoa's third inning double set him up to score on a Fred Lewis single. Grandpa Richie Aurilia, who ended the game 2 for 3 with two doubles, added a liner in the fifth for the only subsequent Giants hit of the night.
Although Jonathan Sanchez got through five innings of hitless ball, former hippopotamus Humberto Quintero knocked a broken-bat blooper over Ochoa's outstretched glove in short left-center to lead off the sixth inning, effectively ending the young lefty's shot at Nolandom. He would score with Backe trailing close behind him on a Ty Wigginton single to give the 'Stros the only two runs they would need to seal the Giants' fate.
Not all is lost, however. We still have guys that are hitting less-than-ready pitching and dominating teeball hitters in the minors. So there's that. On Extra Baggs today, Baggarly sits down with Dick Tidrow and Bobby Evans to discuss some of the more interesting young 'uns who could potentially make a big-league an impact sometime in the next five years.Particularly encouraging is this bit on catching and first-base prospect Pablo Sandoval:
He’s ready for the big leagues now. Crushing balls from both sides of the plate, though he’s obviously getting more at-bats from the left side. Energizing that whole Double-A club since his midseason promotion from San Jose. No longer taking ground balls at third base; that experiment is over. Very competent at first base, though, and has some skills behind the plate. A very strong arm, too. (There’s an anecdote about his ambidextrous throwing ability that you’ll see in tomorrow’s Giants notebook.)A guy who can throw with both hands? Awesome! Once they start letting the Giants throw the ball from home plate in place of their ABs, this guy can be daunting to pitchers of either handedness.
It was only fitting that on a weekend where Barry Bonds made what was, sincerely, a touching return to the House That Bonds Built, the Giants won a series against their hated rivals for their performance-enhanced Gipper.
Of course, they had to use a decidedly different means to the common ends (winning) that mostly defined the Bonds Era, using small ball, the mistakes of the opposition, and blinding speed(!) to eke out walk-off victories on Saturday and Sunday.
As a wise fictional San Franciscan once said, the bad times fade away, and the good ones adhere themselves to your memory. For Saturday at least, I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly when it comes to the (really) big guy, particularly when he closed his speech with this gem:
"It's weird for me not to be in uniform with the Dodgers right there. You heard me Torre, I beat you before and I can beat you again. I haven't retired. Thank you."Comment! In what capacity, if any, should Bonds be recognized by the Giants once he officially retires?
The good? A nice series win on the shoulder of The Franchise on Wednesday.
The bad? The return of Bad Zito, who, among other things, continues this cast's frustrating inability to put away the most has of has-beens, giving up a three run shot to 34 year old catcher Danny Ardoin, a guy who hasn't hit a home run in three years.
The ugly? Six days out, Buster Posey, the supposed future of the Giants, still hasn't signed, joining third rounder Roger Kieschnick and fourth rounder Brandon Crawford in the calling-Sabean's-bluff crowd. Things could get ugly around these parts if the front office pisses away any goodwill it garnered with it's first position player oriented draft in eons.
Before you throw yourself out the nearest window, check out this interview Eric SanInocencio conducted over at Baseball Digest Daily Live with Jim Callis at Baseball America on the issue of the signing deadline and the situation with Posey.
Callis thinks Posey, as well as Pirates pick Pedro Alvarez, who went #2 overall, will sign in the last hour, and throws out a few reasons (think green and presidential) why it makes a lot of sense for them to do so.
(Callis draft discussion starts at about 20:00, Posey discussion at 27:45.)
And this time, it wasn't even a knee-jerk response by the notoriously vindictive Brian Sabean.
He DFA'd a controllable young arm with nice upside because of that other thing he's known for: gross incompetence!
From Baggs:
The Giants probably put him on revocable waivers because a potential trade partner was interested in him. Or they wanted t ogauge the general the level of interest. No matter the reason, you cannot option someone when they are on revocable waivers. (I’m up on most roster rules, but that’s a new one for me.)You know, the front office's insistence that nothing is wrong reminds me of a teenager insisting his dad's bottle of Black Label was always almost gone: I just don't buy it.
Anyway, and this is the important part, the Giants insist the oversight will not result in losing Romo to another club. When you designate a player, you take them off your 40-man roster and have 10 days to waive, release or outright him. Before those 10 days are up, the Giants will revoke Romo off waivers be able to option him at that point. He’ll remain on the 40-man roster. Romo said he expects to join Fresno in Salt Lake on Friday.
Last night's game reminded me of any M. Night Shyamalan movie besides The Sixth Sense: mildly intriguing most of the way through before giving way to an underwhelming over the top twist that erases any positives one could have taken away before.
Although he didn't officially get the loss (a somewhat improved Dirty did), Sergio Romo did officially get his first rookie beatdown. Even in his loss to the Mets a couple of weeks back, a couple of bad pitches were more his undoing than a complete and utter moundfart.
Oh, and you had to know that since Mike Hampton was starting, the Giants would do their best to welcome him back. Just ask Jason Johnson.
On the plus side, The Franchise goes for the series win today.
Amazin' Aurilia? Richie could find a home on a contender, provided he passed through waivers, according to the official site:
It's likely Rich Aurilia was one of the first players San Francisco submitted -- clubs can place a maximum of seven players on waivers every day. A free agent after this season, Aurilia is owed an affordable $1.5 million for the remainder of the year and currently is batting .281 with eight home runs.Merkin a Comeback? The on-again, off-again rehab of Merkin Valdez appears to be on again. Although Valdez looked downright nasty in March and April, the centerpiece of the Russ Ortiz can't shake consistent arm troubles.
A source said the Mets, losers of four straight entering Tuesday night, were interested in acquiring the veteran infielder to use as a right-handed batter off the bench.
Another day, another victory for these baby Giants.
In a shocking twist, they did so at home.
For Matt Cain.
This ain't July's Giants, that's for sure.
One of my favorite developments: the double play combo of Ivan Ochoa and Manny Burriss, both of whom are putting on a defensive display as well as swinging nice bats.
The triumphant return of Steve Holm certainly ranks up there as well.
My least favorite development? The continued presence of Jose Castillo in my life in any meaningful capacity. Thus, understanding the so-shallow-you'll break-your-neck-if-you-dive depth of the position, it filled me with great hope and pleasure to hear KSN (Wichita) report that the Giants have come to terms with 2008 sandwich round pick (and third baseman) Conor Gillaspie, fomerly of the wonderfully named Wichita State Shockers:
The 37th pick overall will receive slot money for that pick, which is around $975,000 along with other un-disclosed incentives. That was the deal-maker enticing the Shocker All-American to sign.Gillaspie was perceived by many to be a first round pick and was mostly regarded as a great value pick where the Giants picked him up. We wrote this on draft day:
Gillaspie will begin his pro career in rookie ball for the first few weeks. The Giants plan to give him work at both second and third base before the season comes to an end.
Conor Gillaspie, 3B, Wichita St., at #37. MLB.com compares him to...Good news, indeed. But with deadline to sign draftees now just ten days out, snippets like these make me a bit queasy regarding the remaining three of our top four picks:
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 [Justin] Smoak in 2006).
Buster Posey, the Giants' first pick and the fifth overall selection, is one of seven top-10 picks who've yet to sign. Of the 16 players in the supplemental round, though, Gillaspie, the 37th pick, is one of only two who haven't come to terms.Gulp. If this blog ceases to be updated August 15th, can one of you find a sub-letter for me and take care of Fido?
[Snip]
Among third-round selections, Roger Kieschnick, the Giants' third pick and the 82nd overall choice, is one of only three unsigned players. Brandon Crawford, the Giants' fourth pick, is one of just six unsigned players in the fourth round.
"I know [Director of Player Personnel] Bobby [Evans] has been having a lot of discussions with all of those guys," [Giants' Special Assistant John] Barr said. "We're working on finalizing all those guys."
Bloggers, fantasy baseball enthusiasts, and terrible athletes compensating for their lack of motor skills with an encyclopedic knowledge of their favorite teams were vindicated this weekend as it turned out that the San Francisco Giants are indeed a less bad team when younger players who have yet to forge a track record of ineptitude start over veterans who have proved it over many decades.
And a special shoutout to Barry Zito, who turned in his best start in nearly half a decade on Saturday.
In a tribute to management's keen sense of causation, Zito will now throw batting practice to both teams every day for the rest of the season.
When it comes to yesterday's loss, I'll say only this: Father Time's ownership of the Giants transcends personnel, situation, and possibly the time-space continuum. Just mark his starts against the Giants as an 'L' and move on. Every time.
Snippets from the weekend:
Our Manny Ain't So Bad Amid the anointing of Team Voldemort as the NL West Champs following their trade for Lazy Predator, another, hugely more likeable, Manny has others salivating. From Extra Baggs:
But [Emmanuel] Burriss made a positive impact with the glove. A day after Giants officials said that Burriss could become one of the best defensive second basemen in the game, the rookie made them look smart by snagging Tadahito Iguchi’s line drive in the first inning.So Now That You Feel Optimistic...Check out this (horrific) nugget Bleacher Report throws out:
It was a breathtaking play. A longtime San Diego baseball observer turned to me and said, “The Padres haven’t had an infielder who could make that play in many, many years. Maybe Khalil Greene, but I’m not sure of that.”
In other words, athleticism is good. Padres bad.
Burriss was at it again in the third. Tad Iguchi hit a double-play grounder that shortstop Ivan Ochoa bobbled. Burriss made a barehand catch of Ochoa’s late feed, and with the linebacker-sized Hairston bearing down on him, he sidearmed a strong throw in time to turn two.
Oh, Burriss also had a big hit in the ninth inning to pad the Giants’ lead.
While there may be hopes amongst the hierarchy that they could still contend for the division crown, mainly because of some of the best young pitching in the league, those thoughts should be thrown out immediately.Well played, Bleacher Report. Well played.
An interesting stat recently said that, including AA and AAA, the Giants have the fourth-fewest amount of home runs in the majors.
So a team that has no power and has scored the third fewest runs in the majors thinks they can contend? Bud Selig should immediately administer a piss test.
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