Silver Lining-Free Zone

I'm sure you're all aware of the skeletal plot of a contrived sports movie: a team of scrappy unheralded players perseveres through a period of complete incompetence, meeting the expectations of every outsider, only to band together and prove that the sum is greater than the value of its parts, leading to a sappy and painfully predictable ending.

This Giants team is the antithesis of that. Except you have the same general disregard you did for these guys as you did for the duration of Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch.

The Giants, from the top levels of management down, demise into preseason expectations is officially complete. Let's count the ways, shall we?

The Lineup: You all remember Jason Johnson, right? Oh wait, why should you? Quick refresher: the guy was a craptastic pitcher for the Orioles in the late 90s and early 2000s before eventually pitching his way out of the MLB and onto the Seibu Lions last year.

So, obviously, he shuts the Giants down for six.

To add insult to injury, Chan Ho Park came into relieve and also proceed to do away with the lineup in a cruel and efficient manner.

Don Drysdale was up in the ninth, but I can only assume Joe Torre, classy guy that he is, spared us his wrath.

Brian Sabean: He actually sold a part in Ray Durham, so there's that. And it doesn't look like he wants to buy, which is okay.

But for Ganesha's sake, snippets like these make me want to unleash the lunatic inside:

Sabean will listen to offers for Molina and Winn, but the Giants would have to win the deal. In other words, the Giants would have to receive, for openers, a young position player who could fill a glaring need. In the Giants' case, that is power. As Sabean said on his radio show Thursday, "I personally don't see those deals out there."

I'll forgo the outrage bit and simply state this opinion: I would trade Molina and Winn (and their 2009 contracts) for Pablo Sandoval and Nate Schierholtz in a heartbeat.

If anyone's offering a the Air Bud Trilogy for the entirety of their contracts, please just do it now.

But then, to destroy my spirit even more, Schulman weighs in with this:

"I think you have to be open minded because of the division we're in," Sabean said Tuesday.

[Snip.]

[In relation to Molina] The Marlins are said to be dangling first baseman Mike Jacobs, who has 22 home runs this year. John Bowker, at 24 is three years younger and, in the Giants' eyes, could become a better hitter than Jacobs.

Meanwhile, teams are stepping up conversations about left-handed reliever Jack Taschner, but again, the Giants are reluctant to deal a commodity - namely, a left-handed setup man whom the team can control for the next three years - that would not be easily replaced.

Really? Think we're all set at first with Bowker (who I love)? Not worth taking on a 27 year old plus power corner infielder who has more than twice as many homers as anyone else on our team in an extreme pitchers park?

Oh, don't know if you forgot, but John Bowker is an OUTFIELDER!

Better get used to this bunch of clowns.

And finally...

Bruce Bochy: That's right, I've turned. Jose Castillo, after doing his best Chuck Knoblauch on Monday, was out there again last night. Bochy's defense?

"We want to take somewhat of a look at him," Bochy said.

[Snip]

"I like the way he swings the bat," Bochy said.

Schulman puts it more bluntly:

Jose Castillo started at second base for the second straight game. Manager Bruce Bochy said the Giants want to evaluate him as a potential second baseman for the future.

Translation? The 2009 Bruce Bochy-led Giants will live and die by Shrekstillo.

It is an absolute disgrace that our team has once again been hijacked by a huge headed BB. Taking a look at a repeated failure like Jose Castillo while Manny Burriss toils on the bench? Hell, I'm not the biggest Eugenio Velez booster, but at least he hasn't been released by the Pirates and the Marlins.

I almost wish that Bochy copped to showcasing Castillo rather than implying that he's a part of this team's future. The Giants picked this guy up off waivers mere days before the start of the season because, lo and behold, Sabean had done nothing to address the position after the departure of Pedro Feliz.

That's like being forced to lick a piece of dog poop by the local bully, deciding it doesn't taste as bad as you thought, and making it a part of your regular diet.

(Yeah, the 12 year old in all of you should probably check out Step Brothers if you haven't already.)

I can't even look at these guys right now.

Oh yeah, the Giants lost.

Optimists Need Not Apply

Rejected slogans for the 2008 Washington Nationals:

"The Nats: Good for What Ails Ya"

"Wily Mo Pena Is, Like, Really Strong - Strongman Strong"

"We're Going to Be Good...NAT!"

Whatever it ended up being, the Giants certainly don't seem to be fazed, taking their fifth straight from the woebegone Nationals. The Big Money that we enjoyed so much through May made his triumphant return with two (trade him now) homers, and Barry Zito improved his trade value to dizzying highs in running up his record to 5-12.

Duh: In an utterly shocking development, Bruce Bochy informed Omar Vizquel that he will not be the regular starter at short. But wait, there's more: that is effective post-trade deadline. In making that bit of news public, the Giants reinforce the notion that they have not one iota of knowledge as to how to effectively manage assets.

Sandoval Soon?: The esteemed Andrew Baggarly reports that Eliezer Alfonzo has been sent back to Fresno, closing the chapter on one of the more puzzling Giant callups of the 21st century.

But here's where it gets interesting. According to Baggs, Steve Holm would appear to be the beneficiary in the interim, but there's a chance that as early as next week (pending deadline deals), Pablo Sandoval, arguably the best hitter in the Giants system right now, could get the callup. The 21 year old catcher/corner infielder has followed up a stellar high A stint with an equally impressive line in about a month of AA ball.

After shellacking the rehabbing David Ortiz-led Portland SeaDogs last night, Sandoval is hitting .343 with 6 HRs and 27 RBIs in 110 ABs, all while hitting at notorious pitcher's park Dodd Stadium.

Roberts Activated: Um...did you know he stole second base in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS?

From within that piece, the would-be heir apparent to Ray Durham looks to make an early comeback.

Espineli Up: In my euphoria of being a Giants fan these days, I somehow overlooked that the Giants brought up right handed slop thrower Geno Espineli. In a hilariously tragic twist, the callup stripped Geno of his ability to pitch in the Olympics next month - you know, the last Olympics in which baseball will be played.

That's just cold, Sabes.

More on Hammond

Ryan Topp did a prospect analysis of the Brewers last offseason and had an interesting blurb on brand new Giant Steve Hammond and his best potential future role:

#19 Steve Hammond,, LHP
6'2” 205 lbs. Born 4/30/1982

Drafted in the 6th round of the 2005 draft out of Long Beach State University

Call me stubborn, but I'm not ready to give up on this personal favorite just yet. Drafted with an eye towards making him a reliever eventually, he performed so well in 2006 between High A Brevard and AA Huntsville that the team decided to keep him in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Things didn't go well in 2007 for Hammond in AA, a change largely driven by a 2.5 hits per 9 inning increase and a resulting .26 jump in WHIP. His K rate only declined slightly and his walks actually went down, which got me to thinking about a potential move to the pen. Sure enough, his K rate steadily declines as each inning passes all the way through the 5th, which would indicate some trouble holding his stuff deep into games. He did show trouble with walks in the first inning, which would be a problem were he to move into short relief. Still, I would like to see how he reacts to a move to the pen before writing him off as a prospect. If last years struggles as a starter persist into this season, I would expect that move sooner rather than later.

This predates Hammond's AAA debacle (in a very limited sample size) this season (0-4, 7.41 ERA in 17.1 innings) but it's still interesting to note.

Perhaps the Giants picked up him up with an eye towards replacing Jack Taschner.

It also turns out the Giants did kick in about half of Ray Durham's remaining salary. Although I hated on Darren Ford yesterday, the addition of Hammond to the trade, while clearing a spot for Manny Burriss to play every day, makes this deal pretty palatable.

Oh, in case you still care, the Brewers took the Giants' dignity as well as Durham, completing the sweep in a forgettable game.

Comment! What's next? In addition to Taschner and Omar Vizquel, should the Giants start aggressively shopping Bengie Molina and Randy Winn?

Deal Done

Announcement expected after the game, but the Giants are also supposed to receive AAA lefty Steve Hammond in addition to Darren Ford, ESPN reports.

In a probable sign of things to come, Manny Burriss got the start at second.

Happy RayDay?

The rumors begin to swirl that the long-rumored Ray Durham to Milwaukee deal is close to consummation.

From Tom Haudricort at the Journal-Sentinel's Brewers Blog:

There's a lot of other names floating around. One has the Brewers dealing second baseman Rickie Weeks in an expanded trade but I don't believe that at all.

More likely, it's a minor deal involving either Durham and/or Giants reliever Jack Taschner. It appears the Brewers are sending minor league outfielder Darren Ford in whatever deal is being hashed out because he was removed from the starting lineup with Class A Brevard County today with indications he is being traded.

Rickie Weeks?  Really?  Schulman chimes in with a dose of reality at the Chronicle's Splash Blog:

UPDATE: From what I'm hearing, rumors of a blockbuster are not true, and that Durham is the main man in the deal. One reason Durham's agent might be in his office on a Saturday night, and why the deal could not be announced Saturday, is that Durham is a 10-5 guy who needs to approve any trade. That can involve negotiations with a player.

Either way, selling off Day to Day Ray for anything of value is a coup.  At least I thought it was until I read Haudricourt's downlow on the presumptive return in this deal:

Ford, 22, is one of the fastest players in the minors but plays centerfield, a position at which the Brewers are well-stocked. In 91 games with Brevard, he is batting .230 with 48 stolen bases in 59 attempts.

Perfect.  A speedy no hit centerfielder, huh?  Way to match up in a deal there, Brian Sabean.  Not like we don't have any of those, in the minors or the majors.  With the Dave Roberts deal expiring in a short 15 months, and only Wendell Fairley, Clay Timpner, Brian Horwitz, Nate Schierholtz, Eugenio Velez and a boatload of others available to replace him, I think it's perfect that he's targeted Ford. 

Not, you know, an infielder, or a relief pitcher, or any kind of low-average, middling-power guy.

I'm not expecting a Cameron Maybin for Ray Durham, but if I had to profile the one minor leaguer I would NOT want in any deal, it would be Darren Ford.

(I could be fair and say the kid's got some size at 6'1/195 and he's shown a bit of pop with 18 HRs in two and a half minor league seasons. But .230? Kid should be pretty settled in at A ball, by now, don't you think?)

Well played, Brian.  I'm climbing back into the (Sunday morning) bottle.

Ivan Ochoa, Come On Down!

Travis Denker has been a fairly head-scratching call-up.  He's an intriguing young player who should be playing every day as we move towards an all-out competition for the second base job next year, one that would include Denker, Manny Burriss, a presumably healthy Kevin Frandsen and, depending on off-season moves, a host of other potential candidates.

So instead of getting regular at-bats in Norwich or Fresno, Denker's been toiling on the bench, hardly playing at all in the big leagues, not to mention the fact that Brian Sabean, in all his perverse management glory, started Denker's service time clock way earlier than he needed to.

Bringing us to today: an obviously trigger-happy Sabean has sent Denker to Fresno in exchange for infielder Ivan Ochoa, who perhaps should have been the utility infielder the Giants should have called up in the first place.  Up until this season, Ochoa has had a lackluster career in the minors.  Now, entering his ninth season, the 25 year old is putting together a nice little campaign down in Fresno, going .318/.395/445 (with 20 steals) as the team's regular shortstop.

In my completely uninformed opinion, this may be a signal that a deal to swing Ray Durham to a contender may be coming into focus.  The callup of Ochoa would allow Manny Burriss to take over duties at second in the event of a Durham trade, while Ochoa could slide into Burriss's current role as the utility man. 

I'm not entirely sure where this leaves recent returnee Eugenio Velez, but my hope is that his inferior instincts spend less time in the infield and more in the outfield, where his speed and arm are much better served.

Sheatty

Remember the climactic scene on the exchange floor in Trading Places where Valentine and Winthrope are working the Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice Markets?  And, meanwhile, the evil Dukes are using their faulty information on the Florida orange crops to manically buy before realizing they're sitting on lemons (so to speak) and sell what they can before going bankrupt?

I feel like the Dukes.

I'm flip-flopping like a politician: sell this whole freaking team as far as I'm concerned.

Looks like we may be able to get some value for Special Agent Jack (last night's performance notwithstanding), Day to Day Ray, Aurilia, and perhaps even Vizquel.  There are rumors that the Brew Crew and the Cards are among the interested parties.

I add Molina and Winn to that list.

Comment-Starter: If a team offers you a bounty for Matt Cain a la CC (No Period) Sabathia, should you listen?

At Least They Don't Dive

In an effort to make relative the ongoing struggles of the Giants offense, I give you an athlete even more pathetic than Frederick, Raymond, Randall, and Bengamin (otherwise known as the 0 for Shea Gang) combined:

Reformed bust Barry Zito (take that Kawakami) tries to be the stopper tonight.

Comment-Starter: What do you do to give this offense a shot in the arm?

Velez Back

Eugenio makes his triumphant return at the expense of Brian "The Rabbi" Horwitz. 

Velez seemed to take out the frustration of his May demotion on AAA pitchers, putting up a .310/.372/.509.  His 13 stolen bags would be nice if he didn't get caught a whopping 9 times, lending little credence to the notion that he has become a more polished player in the past couple of months.

Godspeed to Horwitz, who looks like he could be a nice Mark Sweeney type down the line.

Andrew Baggarly speculates that this could be a precursor to a Durham trade, God willing, but I'm going to stick with my policy of assuming it's just another case of questionable roster management by the higher-ups.

Baggarly also has a good piece on the curious merging of paths of the principal players of the White Flag Trade of 1997 and the Giants potential deadline activity.

For those of you who are not paying attention, The Freak goes against the Mets tonight.

Down for Keeps

Not sure how many of you had younger siblings, but I clearly remember getting an extra piece of candy and dangling over my baby brother's head, just high enough for to him reach if he jumped to get it.  Leap he did, hand outstretched clutching for this tiny piece of concentrated happiness.  As soon as he reached the apex of his jump, the fun-size bar was magically yanked out of the range of his grasp, and he descended back to Earth empty-handed and crestfallen.

No, kids.  That douchey big brother isn't Eric Roberts, it's the Giants bullpen stealing joy from the hands of Giants fans everywhere.  Each time the boys in blue hats (not the Cubs in this case) clawed their way back into the game, our illustrious relievers seemed to wag a Dikembe-sized finger in our collective face.

In the sixth inning, with the Giants trailing 3-0, John Bowker clobbered a 2-run shot that ended up swimming in the Bay to bring the Giants within one. [JUMP]

However, in the top of the seventh, Sergio Romo and a no-throw by starting catcher Eliezer Alfonzo conspired to allow two runs to score on a Soto single.  All of a sudden, it was once again a three-run deficit. [YOINK]

Then, in an exciting turn of events, the Giants got a little two-out magic when  Ray Durham (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs) snuck a shot over the right field wall to tie the game at five apiece. [JUMP]

Unfortunately for the guys in mismatched hats, Mike Fontenot, a lefty who weighs 160 lbs soaking wet, somehow managed to muscle a Tyler Walker fastball over the green tin roof in right to put the Cubs up by one going into the bottom of the eighth. [YOINK]

The rest, as they say, is history as the Giants four, five, and six hitters went up-n-down in the bottom of the inning, quieting the good half of the crowd.  Though a glimmer of hope did shine on a two-out, pinch-hit triple by Jose "Shrek" Castillo in the bottom of nine [JUMP], Freddie Lewis snuffed it when he struck out looking to end the game [YOINK].

This has to be one of the most frustrating losses of the season.  Just ask Kevin Correia, who looked good enough to win through 6.1 innings and still took the no-decision.  Just ask Ray-Ray who wants to win and look good doing it so he can get traded to a contender.  Just ask AaRow, who has shaved 52 points off his average in the last 26 games.  Hell, ask the whole team, as they've now lost 16 of their last 20 at home.

At least when I was growing up, I was the big brother and got to enjoy this sort of torture.  Now it seems all too painful.

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.

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?

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?

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!

It's All Your Fault!

Maybe Zito didn't get the emails in time. I'm putting this one on you.

And Ray Durham.

Hopefully, his "calf injury" keeps him out for a bit and we can see a little more of what Travis Denker can do in regular duty. Good on the kid for his first ML homer.

Meanwhile, the media overreacts.

Misch-cast

Good news for the pitching staff as Kevin Correia and Merkin look to be progressing. Correia could even be back by the second week of June, if I'm reading correctly - which, between the glass eye and the early morning cocktail, I'm probably not.

KC and The Sunshine Band's return might spell the end of one of my favorite pun-jockeys in Pat Misch. Love the guy, but I'll be happy to see him either slide to long relief or (more likely) go back to Fresno.

Hope that Merkin can stay healthy once he's back. If he came back today, I'd guess Sadler would go down - but there's still plenty of time to think of a fake injury!

(I'm looking at you, Ray.)

???

Who were those guys?

Excuse my confusion, but those mysterious men in gray scored in double digits - for the first time all season. (They were the second to last to get there, however, with the Royals still reliably being the Royals.)

I gave Feliz-lite grief yesterday for his atrocious hitting with the bases loaded, but the team as a whole entered last night's play hitting .094 (3 for 32) in such situations. In yesterday's win, they went a blistering 3 for 4.

Jonathan Sanchez acting the part of poised pitcher while the opponent's starter repeatedly got rattled? You had to see it to believe it. In the words of Boch:

"He's just really growing as a pitcher. He had it all going tonight, and aside from the command, he was very composed. It's great to see how poised he has become."

Some great stuff from opposition press about the throttling the Giants delivered last night. Melvin calls it their worst loss of the year. Fantastic.

A legitimate leadoff hitter, cleanup hitter, and #5 hitter really does wonders for an offense. It's too much to ask that Bengie and Rowand keep up this whiffle ball streak, but it does underscore what the presence of one legitimate power bat could do for this team.

If only there was one available...

As for that #6 hitter - well, he had a good game, actually a good month, but I still say he kills any of our fathers if he gets a chance.

I can't wait until his value invariably bottoms out with a bottom injury and he gets traded for Shea Hillenbrand.

Some more good news: with yesterday's win, the Giants move to 5-3 and clinch a winning road trip.

Bad news: a suddenly decent Big Wet Rat takes the mound against Zito tonight.

8 Bits of Wonderful

Tim Lincecum is good. Really quite good. I can't overemphasize how good he is.

He proved it again last night.

He has a third of our team's victories. In other words, if this team wins 75 games, he would have 25 wins.

He's 5-0 when the Giants enter his starts on a losing streak.

He's 7-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 76 Ks in 69.2 IPs.

Simply, Tim Lincecum is video game good.


- Ditto Big Money. Out of his mind. An 8 for 8 stretch with RISP? Get outta here.

- On the other hand, or perhaps foot, Jose Castillo (800 foot homer notwithstanding) can't get a hit (or a sac fly) with RISP to save his life. .217 overall and a ghastly 0 for 9 with the bases loaded and 0 for 3 with runners on 2nd and third.

He's Pedro Feliz...lite. I just said it. Deal with it.

- Ray Durham doesn't play hard. In the words of Mark Grace, who I don't often quote, "Durham just stretched a triple into a double."

UPDATE: The fantastically bitter (and insightful) Mr. Lomez of the Bay Area Sports Machine devotes an entire entry to the hellacious sucktitude of Ray Durham. A must-read.

Holm Is Where The Heart Is

Steve Holm: pinch-hitter extraordinaire, clutch, good defensive backstop, and ripe for puns. He's my kinda guy.

The Holm recovered from a case of the squirts (TMI?) to hit a pinch-hit double in the top of the ninth that delivers a second tying run after 8 donuts. Durham and Vizquel back it up in the tenth to get the boys a much needed come from behind series clincher.

The Giants leave Colorado in third place, after showing, at least for one warm Denver day, miles and miles of heart...



Quick observations:

- Give credit to Dirty for battling in a start where he could have given up a huge amount of runs. He showed some guts, but needs to tighten it up. The Rockies shot themselves in the foot a number of times.

- Tyler Walker is the winning pitcher and looks to have recovered nicely from a recent rough stretch with a 1-2-3 through the heart of the lineup, which absolutely killed the Giants this series. Good to see him back.

- Brian Wilson makes the tenth inning save less dramatic than last night, but still shows the need to run up 3 ball counts on literally every hitter, walking one - paging Dave Righetti...

- Vizquel really does do all the little things. Made the game-winning sac fly look easy and got the rally started in the ninth. I'll happily eat crow on my earlier assessment of the guy.

On the other hand, I will never ever acknowledge the skill of Durham.

Comment-starter: What's the deal with Brian Wilson? Should we let him take his lumps? Is this Dave Righetti's fault? Can we assign blame to more people, just because we can?

SabeanMetrics

A suddenly shaky bullpen blows the game in late innings once again as the Giants lose to Fat Elvis and the 'Stros 6-3.

Meanwhile, unclutch hitting, a constant for this team, cosst Pat Misch a chance at his first win, as hitters go 1 for 12 with RISP, including two instances in which runners were stranded at third with less than two outs.

Giants can (and will) get the split as Hold Me Closer Tiny Lincecum faces Chris "I want to talk to" Sampson in the day game.

So the Giants are on a 91 loss pace.

But don't sweat it - Brian Sabean isn't. In fact, he thinks the Giants can contend...this year.

When it comes down to it, I think I'm an optimist. Sure, I've enjoyed watching the Giants play this year, and like this team much more than the one before it and the one before that. There's some interesting (gasp! positional) prospects up looking like they belong, and the pitching, notwithstanding the bullpen's recent hiccups and Baked Zito, is very solid.

Sabean, however, is either shrewdly spinning a bad product or has really gone off the deep end. Yeah, maybe the Giants can catch lightning in a bottle and go on a little run. But statements like this make me scratch my head:

"You're seven games under .500. That's where you don't want to be, but I really feel good about the energy around the club and I feel good about some of our choices. We've now got a solution at first base. We've got a solution at third. We've gotten Omar (Vizquel) back. Freddie Lewis has come into his own and (Emmanuel) Burriss has been a real factor lately."

We've got a solution at third? Really? Is this the double-secret probation solution to which the general public is not privvy? Surely, you're not talking about Jose Castillo, right? The guy otherwise known as the bastard child of Pedro Feliz and Shrek. (Shrek's been thrown around lightly in describing ballplayers, but seriously, I think this one really does work.)

As for Fred Lewis and Emmanuel Burris: they are playing out of the sheer dumb luck (or inevitability) of Dave Roberts, Omar Vizquel and Ray Durham being out with injuries. This wasn't by design - so don't claim it as if it was.

And then there's this nugget:

With that in mind, Sabean said he does not contemplate moving his most marketable experienced players before the trade deadline, as many rebuilding teams do. Catcher Bengie Molina and outfielder Randy Winn, both signed through 2009, might yield the most in return. But as of now, Sabean plans to keep them.

"Both of those guys are unique," he said. "On any team, whether you're in transition or you're a veteran team, you want a veteran catcher. You want somebody like Molina who has an upside with the bat. In Randy's case it's the same thing, somebody who is so versatile, a switch-hitter who can play all three outfield positions. Their relative value is going to be consistent no matter what year it is or who you have around them."

Okay, I can understand Molina, although I would trade him in a heartbeat if yielded a package that included a legitimate prospect at third base.

But you won't trade Randy Winn? THE Randy Winn, our venerable punch and judy right fielder? He can play ALL three outfield positions, you say?

However would we replace that? It's not like we have a glut of young outfielders who need playing time, correct? It wouldn't be useful to, I don't know, call Nate Schierholtz up, or play Dan Ortmeier (who's showing a decent bat in limited time) there, or even try playing Eugenio Velez at a position at which he's more comfortable and where his rocket arm would shame Randy's noodle in comparison?

But I guess Sabes has got a point, Winn is actually REALLY versatile - he can play point guard in a pinch.

Granted, it could be Sabean double-speak - but he lost OBnB's benefit of the doubt somewhere between Jason Schmidt and Neifi Perez.

Maybe the combination of another tough loss and the office downgrade from slightly crappy coffee to Kirkland Signature EconoCoffee has made me crabby.

So here's a comment-starter: do you really think the Giants can contend this year? And what will it take to do so?