Random Rumor-Mongering

With the CC Sabathia non-sweepstakes behind us (leaving Brian Sabean more petulent and whiny than usual), the Giants offseason seems to have taken a turn for the boring.

Sabean has reaffirmed that the Giants will not go after Mark Teixeira, inferring he's not a player worthy of the franchise money he will assuredly get, though you could have fooled me. And Bruce Bochy has gone so far as to pencil in his 2009 lineup publicly, which ELM broke down nicely (pun intended).

Realizing the possibility of management returning to the mean (read: ineptitude) and not addressing the notion of Bengie Molina hitting cleanup, or that Rich Aurilia inexplicably remains on the radar, there absolutely has to be a third way. There are no less than four different ways to address the power vacuum where the team can stay competitive in the short-term while not hurting the long-term at all.

Dollars aside, Edgar Renteria's short-term deal is a good model: there isn't likely to be anyone ready at short for at least two years, and even though Renteria's defense is in decline, he's light years above anyone else the Giants trotted out there last year.

Sign Pat Burrell to a two-year deal that includes a first baseman's glove
Burrell is among the plethora of middle-tier free agents feeling the economic crunch. A Bellarmine product, there's been much talk he'd love to play for his de facto hometown team. Judging by his career stats at Pac Bell, I could see why.

He's a butcher at first? Maybe. He played first in the Phillies' farm system after playing third in the collegiate ranks only to shift to left to accommodate the indomitable Rico Brogna. He really hasn't played much at first since as the Phils have trotted out Travis Lee, Jim Thome and Ryan Howard for stretches during Burrell's tenure.

For two years, I'd give him a shot to be coached up by J.T. Snow. He's only 31, so the guy isn't on the downslope just yet.

And for those of you that think that he'd be "blocking" Travis Ishikawa or John Bowker, I commend your post-J.R. Philips/Desi Wilson/Damon Minor/Lance Niekro/Dan Ortmeier belief that a marginal Giants first base prospect could actually, you know, work out...

Sign or trade a bucket of baseballs for Ty Wigginton
Wigginton is arbitration-eligible and has been mentioned as a candidate to non-tendered ahead of tomorrow's deadline. The Astros simply can't afford him given their current financial situation, and should they even tender him, it shouldn't take much to get him as long as the Giants pay his salary.

Wigginton is a rich man's Rich Aurilia. He can play three infield positions and plays an adequate third. He hits for power. And the only reason his team doesn't want him is financial. Once again, he blocks no one and gives you insurance in a very fluid infield. Wigginton also allows you the ability to trade Molina if the right offer comes along and have Pablo Sandoval slide behind the dish.

Beyond the Boxscore even had Wigginton as one of the top ten third basemen of 2008. I like...

Offer Henry Sosa or Kevin Pucetas for Adrian Beltre
Beltre is good. He plays a good third. He hits well. He hits like .440 well at Pac Bell.

And given yesterday's trade, I'm not convinced that the new guy in Seattle's at all an improvement over the old guy. He certainly, at the very least, isn't interested in winning in the next two years.

As for the fact that Beltre's in a contract year? You retain roster flexibility and cost certainty. If the guy goes off, maybe he's apt to re-sign. He's certainly shown an affinity for the West Coast. You only got him for one of your mid-level prospects at a position where you're stacked...

Offer Pucetas AND Sosa for Dan Uggla
Not Jorge Cantu. Not Jeremy Hermida. Don't trade Sanchez. But this is an attractive package of decent pitching talent to a team with it's own cost certainty woes. You don't give up your top level prospects, and you bring in a proven power guy at a position of need. And you control him for a few years yet...

There are some moves that I wouldn't advocate, particularly signing Adam Dunn, who has hit hideously at Pac Bell and has a way that seems to sour teams and fans on him alike.

There's a legitimate case to be made for doing nothing, although I certainly won't. But you, my friends, can. Isn't the Internet terrific?

Comment! What you got, Armchair GM?

Dirty Dismissal

For Jonathan Sanchez, a season that started with so much promise ended with a whimper.

And if I were a betting man, which I am, I'd wager that Kevin Correia may have thrown his last pitch as a Giant. With all the young pitchers in the system, it makes little economic sense to keep the six year vet.

Plus, he kinda sucks.

Kudos to Andy Baggarly for this awesome find from last night's otherwise nausea-inducing proceedings:

They fielded nine rookies in the seventh inning: Catcher Steve Holm, pitcher Billy Sadler, first baseman Pablo Sandoval, second baseman Ryan Rohlinger, shortstop Ivan Ochoa, third baseman Conor Gillaspie, left fielder John Bowker, center fielder Eugenio Velez and right fielder Nate Schierholtz.

How long has it been since a major league team simultaneously fielded nine rookies in a major league game? [Snip]

Almost 25 years to the date, according to the hard-working folks at the Elias Sports Bureau. The Los Angeles Dodgers fielded nine rookies on Sept. 20, 1983, in a home game against the Houston Astros.

To counter this uncharacteristically youthphilic behavior, the Giants signed J.T. Snow to keep the average roster age at a Brian Sabean mandated minimum.

But seriously, folks, in case you didn't hear, he'll take the field this weekend with the starting lineup and get a nice sendoff from the fans. Class move.

Baggs also reports that Travis Ishikawa took the night off to be with his brand new baby. Congrats to Travis, and huge props to Baggs for using the occasion to recall tales of Harry Caray lore.

HEY! This provides me the perfect opportunity to link one of the best impersonations of all time!

A Shot of Hennessey

Evidently, it's good for what ails ya. Unfortunately, Brad's second gem in a row, this one of a complete game variety, can't bail out San Francisco.

And, since it has been a couple of days, let me ask, what the heck has gotten into Eugenio Velez? Even in last night's tough loss, the man who challenges Juan Pierre for the MLB Double Crown of speediest/smallest head was nails at the plate yet again.

For a team playing out the string, there has been plenty to watch for, including Velez's recent surge, the continued domination of the Pablominable Snowman, Ishikawa Redux and The Freak's race to the Cy Young/catastrophic arm injury.

Tonight's reason to watch: to play the pretend game where you have any idea how Matt Cain is going to pitch.

A. U. Haynio.

In spite of a blown save by Brian "Frown" Wilson, the Giants' lineup got a walkoff in the ninth against the venomless D-Backs.

In this game, while the kids played a big role, it was actually the work of the ----- WAIT A SECOND, this isn't the same story at all.  This game was about the kids, most specifically, A-U-Haynio Valez.  Four RBI, a double, a walk-off triple (his second walkoff in as many days, although OBnB failed to note it).  He is Manny Ramirez-clutch right now, and even playing decent defense (zero errors yesterday!) as he makes a bid to be this team's everyday starting 2B in 2009.  Worse things have happened.

At the top of the order, Win, Win, Win with Randy Winn looked great again, with three knocks to move his average to .315, which would be the highest of any everyday Giants Starter if the Pablominable Snowmandoval weren't swinging a scorching stick.

And Brad Hennessey was a welcome sight, providing a quality start on 100 pitches and leaving the game with his team in the lead.  If he were pitching every fifth day for this team, he'd realize he could do a lot worse than a No-Decision given that sort of effort.  Better luck next time.

Also, don't miss Baggs today - everybody loves a little rookie hazing, and Kuip said this morning that Manny Burriss was the French Maid and "shook his toosh like he knew what to do with it".

Stupid Yeti Humor

A ten run inning by the 2008 San Francisco Giants is like getting a ridiculously hot girl's number - sure, you'd like to think it's a sign of things to come, but you know you're far too unattractive to expect a repeat performance anytime soon.

My jackassery notwithstanding, nice job, kids. I fall in love with the Pablominable Snowmandoval a little more every day.

Video Game Good

Back by popular demand...

Yeah, he's pretty good.

Huge congrats to a huge man-child on his first (huge) major league dinger.

Comment! Your case for Tim Lincecum, Cy Young Award Winner.

Reports of My Demise Exaggerated, Giants Are Different Matter

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.

Hope this kid sticks - he loves the game, and not in a creepy 'phile Favre way.

- A pleasant byproduct of Sandoval's callup has been the recent rebirth of Big Money's bat. Since Sandoval's arrival on August 14, Molina's batting .333 with 11 RBIs, his most productive stretch since early July.

Though it's been easy to be tough on the big guy after his ridiculously hot start, it's easy to forget he's played the most demanding position on the diamond without much respite, on 34 year old knees to boot. Baggarly did a piece on Molina couple days back:

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.

"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.

As you may have noticed, the Giants have no shortage of good guys behind the plate.

- And speaking of Posey, who I seriously just this moment realize has a name ripe for nicknames should he flameout (God forbid), his professional career has begun in a smashing fashion. In 4 games in the Arizona Rookie League, Posey's hitting a Sandovalian .438 with a dinger and 3 RBIs.

Turns out there's no shortage of talent behind the plate either.

Are we sure Brian Sabean's still the GM?

- Finally, everyone (and by everyone, I mean the media) needs to shut up about this CC Sabathia nonsense. Hey, I love that the Giants can still be a preferred landing spot for any blue chip free agent, but the organizational pitching budget would appeared to be tied up in, well, not CC Sabathia.

A Tale of Two Yetis

Bengie "Sas-Squat" Molina lifted a three-run blast and drove in five runs, while up-and-coming catcher/possible third base solution Pablominable Snowmandoval added two hits and one RBI to come from behind and beat the more-miserable-than-ever Padres.

Randy Winn also notched three hits and was on base four times, raising his batting average to a team-leading .306 for the season.

Kevin Correia worked a solid six innings lasting long enough to get himself and the team one more W in a nice stretch of baseball.

Having won five in a row, the Giants now seem poised to make a run at Colorado for the third spot in the NL West.  The pennant it ain't, but at least it's something to shoot for.

Walk/Run-Off Wonders; The Posey-Sandoval Question

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?

24 and Out

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.

DING DONG, CASTILLO'S DFA'D (And Everyone's Up)

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?

Okay, I'm not going to go overboard, but this is a big day for the youth movement. We could conceivably see this lineup tonight:

RF Winn

2B Burriss

LF Lewis

CF Rowand

1B Ishikawa

C Sandoval

3B Rohlinger

SS Ochoa

What a difference a day makes.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go scrub OBnB of any acknowledgment of the existence of Shrekstillo. (Prances off, giggling.)

UPDATE (3:33PM): And, in typical Giants fashion, the only one of the trio to get the start is Rohlinger, who is penciled in at third and batting second tonight. Even Omar, God bless him, is playing.

WTF Is Going On? (UPDATED)

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.

Freak Is Fine, Giants Still Suck; Bye Bye Bowker?

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.

Give [gasp] me [gasp] one [gasp] second.

Okay, now, in case you passed out and/or blacked out the rest of the game, I'm sure you assumed, correctly, that the other, less talented, Giants lost...badly.

Which means it's time for, you guessed it, a reactionary move!

Once again, from the always intrepid Andrew Baggarly:

All signs point to Bowker going down

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.)

So, though it looks like nothing is immediate, there's a good chance we'll see some type of transaction this series.

Optioning Bowker would be a blow for the half-assed youth movement for this franchise - the kid came up with a bang and had a very solid first two months in the big leagues. Right now, though, he's in a 9 for 75 slide, and sounds pretty lost in his approach.

However, the real impetus for a switch would not simply be to get Bowker some pressure-free regular ABs in the minors, but the lights-out hitting of prospect-turned-has-been-turned-prospect-again Ishikawa. Most of you remember him as a smooth fielding first baseman who had a cup of coffee with the 2006 team, only to regress and find himself in Single-A last year. But this year's been a different story altogether:

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.

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.

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.

Then again, who said logic plays a part in any of these moves?

Carney and Manny On the plus side, Manny Burriss appears to be in the team's long term plans. But Carney Lansford thinks that he needs to spend a lot of extra time this off-season hitting from the left side. Looking at the stats, he's got a point.

AuRayLia? In the above pieces, both Baggarly and John Shea speculate that, with All-Star rookie sensation Evan Longoria out, the Rays may have an interest in Rich Aurilia. Don't know if this is a case of two reporters echoing one another's idea or an actual corroboration of a legitimate rumor, but it's worth noting.

Henry Schulman, however, appears to be plum crazy.

Who's Afraid Of Jim and Randy Wolf? For the second time this year, the Giants faced Randy Wolf while his brother, Jim, umped. Pardon me, Mr. Selig, but it would seem that with the less than holy officiating going on throughout the sports world, there would be a provision that would recuse said umpire from umping his kid brother's games.

Arms Race On a positive note, the Giants farm system has talented pitchers coming out of their ears these days. You've all heard of Madison Bumgarner (who had another magnificent start Saturday) and Tim Alderson, both '07 first rounders.

But two other heralded prospects shined on Monday:

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.

Taking the liberty of speaking for all Giants fans, when it comes to third base, this is our most desperate hour. Help us, Obi-Con; you're our only hope.

Comment! Which youngster will make the biggest splash for the Giants?

Backe to the Minors

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.

Buster Posey, watch out, 'cause Pablo "Escobar" Sandoval will stomp you faster than a pit full of gasoline and coca leaves. Also mentioned in that piece are the likes of Timmy 2.0 Alderson, Madison Bumgardner, and even Travis "I didn't know I was still playing baseball either" Ishikawa. Nick Noonan is also getting some praise and could skip high-A ball next year.

To me, it sounds like there's a whole load of pitching prospects that Sabean will likely dangle in trade talks in the offseason in the hopes of bringing back anything relevant in terms of hitting.

If we keep getting killed by the likes of Brandon Backe, I can't say that I blame him.