San Francisco losses pile up in the desert - perhaps, may I speculate, due to the losses of Freddy Lewis and Manny Burriss - but, no matter. Because, for tonight, the real drama of the 2008 season continues: can The Franchise win the Cy Young?
Tonight, the offensive offense can redeem itself for the past two stinkers by hanging a crooked number on Timmy's chief competition in Brandon Webb, whose unpleasant September has put the hardware within his reach.
Relish the rarity of having a vested interest in the outcome of the game and cheer on Dirty and the troops.
- Power Vacuum: Both Schulman and Baggs mention the necessity of looking outside the organization in the offseason for reinforcements in the lineup, a list that includes Prince Fielder, Pat Burrell and Adrian Beltre.
Serious question marks with all of them, but man, does this make me depressed enough to pick up someone not coached by the Giants minor league instructors:
Haren played mind games in the eighth, after Conor Gillaspie came off the bench and made crisp contact on his first major league hit [Ed: Congrats, kid!]. Pinch hitter John Bowker was next. Haren turned to the scoreboard and noted that the rookie had drawn 19 walks all season.Simply wow, both on JB's ineptitude and Haren's shocking candor.
"I didn't throw him one strike," said Haren, who offered a succession of splitters that Bowker swung through. "He's up there trying to tie the game, so I tried to take advantage of his aggressiveness."
Comment! Of Fielder, Burrell and Beltre, who makes the most sense for the Giants at this juncture?
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5 comments:
Of the three lumbering, strike-out prone hitters you mentioned, the only one that makes a shred of sense for the Giants is Prince Fielder, because of his relative youth. Burrell outside a bandbox like Citizens Bank Ballpark isn't the answer, especially because the Giants dont need a left fielder. And Beltre is just your typical overpaid, underperforming vet, not much of an upgrade over Pedro Feliz, but a helluva lot more expensive. Besides, the Giants ought to go with Ishikawa at first and Sandoval at third next year, negating the need for any of these slow-footed whiff meisters.
Agreed. Prince would be money as a Giant. F the brew crew.
While the Giants don't need a LF, Pat Burrell is the only one of those three guys that I would touch with a 90 ft Coke Bottle.
Yes, he strikes out 100x every year. However, he also walks almost as much. It's sort of the Adam Dunn way of doing things, but it's good enough to give him a .367 OBP, which would be second on the Giants to Randy Winn (assuming you don't count all the 7 year-olds who don't have statistically significant samples just yet). Nobody on this team takes walks and with the Giants getting younger (and by extension a little less disciplined at the dish), I don't see the team walk total going up next year.
Beltre I won't even address.
My argument against Fielder is that his huge HR numbers in the last three years will ensure that he comes with a hefty price tag and I am certain he will be looking for a 5+ year package.
That said, if you're going to give multiple years to anyone, I would rather it be a guy on Fielder's side of thirty.
All have warts to be sure, but given the complete lack of fear this lineup creates in opposing pitchers, something has to give. Danny Haren's quote was a slap in the face.
I personally am a Beltre booster, mostly because I think SAFECO's and the AL have never been a solid fit for him, and he's still relatively young (29). Get him in a contract year and you know you'll end up with a decent, potentially great season at a cost that would dwarf the personnel we'd give up for Fielder or scrilla we would for Burrell.
That's right: scrilla.
I'd be fine with any of these guys for one year, as long as Pablo starts every day.
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