Extreme Utility Player Makeover

As I mentioned a couple days back, last night's non-tender deadline bore some potentially intriguing fruit, including a very attractive option in Ty Pennington, er, or Ty Wigginton, rather.

The 'Stros attribute the move solely to the financial crunch, and, given that there's no reason not to believe them, this pickup would be a step up from your run of the mill reclamation project.

Did I mention that Wigginton plays third, second, first and even outfield in a pinch? Did I also mention that he can hit for power? And he's even from the right (left) coast, so in the first time he explores free agency as a player of stature, there's presumably an interest to come out West.

Please Santa Sabes, don't sign Rich Aurilia, God bless him. Tell ole' Billy Boy to pony up a few mill more and get this guy. Two years. It's a good thing.

Other non-tender names that would intrigue me: Takashi Saito, Chris Burke, and Daniel Cabrera. Find the full list of non-tenders here.

Shades of '82

With Rich Aurilia playing the part of Joe Morgan.

Still, have to agree with Bobblehead Boch when it comes to playing spoiler: September euphoria ought to be limited to the spectrum of actual contenders, not those teams that barely stave off 100 losses.

Comment! So what role are the Giants playing next September?

Thanks Geritol!

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 older dudes that got it done.   

Barry Zito turned in a Lincesque performance, going six innings and striking out nine, while only allowing two runs and driving one in at the dish. 

Food for thought:  If we throw out the horrendous performance of two weeks ago in Cinci, Zito has averaged more than seven innings over his last four starts with a 2.17 ERA and a 2.9 K/BB ratio.  Me likey.  Me likey very much.  It begs the question, is Zito finally settling down into his Lard Lad-sized contract or is it just Zito's MO to start horribly every year and then get hot when it matters least?  Only time shall tell, but this fan hopes it's the former. 

On the offensive side, Grandpa Richie had a three-hit game for his seventh time this season and continues to show that he is a valuable asset to a club full of whippersnappers.  Omar Vizquel added a hit and two walks (one of them intentional) and scored a run on the way to the win.

In other news:

- Giants first-round sandwich pick Conor Gillaspie made his Major League debut when he pinch ran for Bengie Molina in the sixth inning.  While he was thrown out at second on a fielder's choice, he was given a warm reception by the somewhat slim hometown crowd.

- Brandon Webb sat down with Baggarly to talk about the Cy Young race and Tim Lincecum before the game.  My favorite piece from that article came when the two discussed what criteria should be considered when handing out the CY:

Q: And what about who has the most wins?
A: The thing with wins is we’ve got no control. You could have a 1.00 ERA but if your team doesn’t score, you’re going to go 0-30. It’s not something you control. That’s why the wins and losses are skewed.

There you have it, folks.  Lincecum's win total doesn't matter to BWebb.  Too bad he's not a member of the perenially thick-headed Baseball Writer's Association of America.

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.

Romonic

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.

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.

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.

I'd say shut him down, but I am genuinely interested to see if this guy can stay healthy while pitching for stretch. If he can't rehab an injury that, by all accounts, is not major, in this length of time, I'm not sure this kid will ever be able to withstand the rigors of relieving. His injury history certainly does nothing to refute that.

Comment! Out of left field, so to speak, but, on the heels of his recent drop into the third spot, do you think Fred Lewis can become a legitimate middle of the order hitter?

TD Minus 6 Hours (Now With Live Blogging!)

Let's get this out of the way first: I hope you'll excuse me for my Oedipus eyes after watching Benedict Davis throw out the first pitch out in a DODGERS JERSEY.

What's worse, though, is he could have stayed on the mound and dominated this lineup. Instead, the most talented youngster Chad Billingsley did the honors, finishing off a series victory for Captain Colletti's Band o' Men.

More importantly, we're now six hours away from the non-waiver trade deadline and all sorts of interesting things are happening:

~ Manny Ramirez may be heading to the Marlins in a three-team blockbuster, although time is working against the principals.

The rumored deal would send Ramirez to Florida, Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida to Pittsburgh and Pirates outfielder Jason Bay to Boston, with all other pieces still to be worked out.

~ An agreement has been reached to send Ken Griffey, Jr. to the Chicago White Sox. Now Griffey, having 10-and-5 veto rights, needs to okay the deal.

~ The Yankees decided that they're the Yankees so they went ahead and bought an overpaid mercenary to replace the injured Jorge Posada.

~ And, as you all know, stars such as Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia have already been moved.

Oh, wait, I'm sorry, you wanted Giants deadline news?

Well, I'm not in the business of fabricating, but I hear Brian Sabean is working the lines hard to rid Bill Neukom of contracts to fund a San Francisco production of No, No, Nanette.

Okay, there's one piece of gossip that has the Twins looking into acquiring Rich Aurilia. Although the Twins have been rumored to be using Boof Bonser (as in the third pitcher the Giants sent to the Twins in the...wait, seriously, you don't know this story?) as trade bait, don't really see how a Rich for Boof deal makes much sense - principally, because I don't know how Rich is worth that much.

It looks like everyone, from the Marlins to the Phillies to the Tigers to the Cardinals, have rumored interest in Jack Taschner.

And the Bengie Molina to the Marlins for Mike Jacobs talk has officially reached the players' ears:

Jacobs, who has 22 home runs, said he wouldn't be surprised if he is dealt to the Giants for catcher Bengie Molina.

It's no secret the Marlins have coveted Molina, who would solidify their catcher position.

Jacobs said he caught wind on Tuesday that he could be headed to San Francisco. So when he was removed after six innings, he wondered in the dugout if he was about to be dealt.

"It crossed my mind," Jacobs said after the Marlins edged the Mets, 7-5, on Wednesday. "Nobody said anything to me."

Jacobs's average be damned, I will never ask for anything again if Sabean pulls the trigger on that deal, pulls a rabbit out of his hat and trades Randy Winn for a Crazy Crab bobblehead and moves John Bowker to right.

But, because I just said it combined with the fact that it makes perfect sense, absolutely none of those things will happen.

Baggarly weighs in. Did you know that The Franchise is half Filipino?

Oh, and don't worry, Balloonhead Bochy ain't sweatin' it - he's going fishing with Felipe.

[9:01AM]: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick is saying that Molina won't be dealt. I'm going to choose to believe that Crasnick is a damned dirty liar - at least for four hours.

[10:07AM]: Scratch the Marlins off Taschner's possible destination list - they just traded for 68 year old lefty Arthur Rhodes.

[11:18AM]: Schulman opines that nothing's brewing but has this tidbit (that I won't let myself believe):

By the way, a source told me that the Twins do want a second baseman, and the Giants and Twins have been talking. Despite denials by Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy, they might have stuck Jose Castillo at second base throughout the Dodgers series to showcase him for Minnesota. You'll know Friday when you see who's at second base agains San Diego.

[11:34AM]: There have been some rumblings of the Giants' potential interest in Adrian Beltre, but it doesn't appear talks are going anywhere.

Looks like one of those "one man's crap is another's (salary) dump" kind of things (I really need to start laying off the poop jokes).

[1:30PM]: The deadline passed a half hour ago and there seems to be nothing doing. Deals can be announced much after the fact, but that would be giving this front office the benefit of the doubt. And that's just stupid.

Comment! Open deadline thread engage!

Trade Deadline News No Match for Veriz*n Crappiness

You can pin the no-post weekend on a certain unnamed internet service provider that, quite frankly, never delivered on their said promises of a telecommunications entourage.

I'm sure the loyal crazies, er, readers of the blog were up in arms over the lack of my pontifications regarding the ghastly D'Bag sweep of the good guys. A few positives, including a Fred Lewis four-hit game against one of the best, albeit, ugliest lefties of all time and another lights-out start by The Franchise in the game that shall not be mentioned.

(On an unrelated note, in case any giant-headed managers are reading: Scott Linebrink > Akinori Otsuka > Alan Embree > Steve Reed > Jim Poole > Your Mom > Everyone > Tyler Walker)

And now, your Monday Before The Deadline Primer!

~ Randy Winn: Winn seems to be drawing tepid interest from the corner outfielder-poor Metropolitans. ESPN speculates that the Giants are amenable to sending some cash with Randy in order to facilitate getting actual talent back.

The Yanks had been scouting Winn, but it looks like they've addressed their outfield vacancy by dealing for Xavier Nady.

~ Bengie Molina: The Marlins and the Yankees have emerged as potential suitors for Molina.

Following the Yanks' emptying out of their already thin cupboard in the Nady/Damaso Marte deal, the Marlins would seem to be a preferable match for the Giants. They have a lot of depth on the farm if not top-line talent (that seems to be pretty much all with the big league club, Cameron Maybin exempted). Given the Marlins depth at the corner infield spots, there could be a match here somewhere.

~ Rich Aurilia: Looks like the Cards may be interested.

As a fungible piece in the last year of his deal, I'm sure he could get moved for a low-level prospect. But he's one guy I don't necessarily want to see get moved. He's a solid backup and a great presence on this team, the kind of guy who will mentor the youth and embody the notion that this franchise was once relevant.

~ Jack Taschner: Left-handed reliever. Available. If the Giants want to trade him, they will be able to. The Marlins are also looking for a lefty reliever, so there's a larger trade possibility here.

~ Tyler Walker: Seriously, he has come up in rumors involving his the Rays, for whom Walker moonlighted in 2006.

If Tampa is willing to cover 3% of his salary and promises not to make fun of the Giants, that's Brian Sabean's biggest win since the Jason Schmidt deal.

~ Omar Vizquel: No real news that I can find. A team could theoretically opt for him as an insurance policy. Once again, wouldn't expect anything but some salary relief.

~ Matt Cain: Included simply out of due diligence, although indications seem to be strong he's not even close to being on the block.

Then again, Brian Sabean does have a certain cloak and dagger element to his oft-questioned ways, so I would never take him at his word.

The Rangers, as I've harped on before, would be a perfect match in any potential Cain trade. But the only thing I'm seeing is that the Giants are scouting Hank Blalock.

While the writer in the above article has a point that Sabean ain't all that, I will pay the gas-cost inflated ticket price to fly to Dallas and punch him in the face if Madison Bumgarner or Tim Alderson were to be included in a package to secure Blalock.

Don't really know what to believe, but for a guy who hasn't hit very well in recent seasons in a hitter's paradise while battling back problems, I simply don't see the Giants moving anything more than a couple B-level (read: not Bumgarner, Alderson, Villalona) prospects for him.

For the record, I would still think that's too much.

Comment! Open trade possibility thread! Great opportunity for first time commenters.

Straws Clutched Much?

So the Giants continue their domination of the Washington Natgonnaworkhereanymores. Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, and Bengie Molina each contributed mightily to the win. And would-be Olympian Geno Espineli get his first ML W.

Now I may come off as snarky, negative, and mostly detached in my ramblings about this team, but I'll tell you what, a win's a win, and it always feels good.

Disclaimer having been declared, comments like these detract from said win (over the worst team in the league, records be damned):

Will manager Bruce Bochy really plant Vizquel on the bench in August if he keeps hitting the way he has in this series? Vizquel is 4-for-6 since he had "the talk" with Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean on Tuesday about his curtailed role after the trade deadline.

Already, Bochy is rethinking his plan to rest Vizquel and an equally hot Bengie Molina today. Finally, Vizquel said after his first three-hit game since May 15, he is starting to feel it with the stick.

And Richie, God bless him, has used the two straight wins over the contraction-worthy Nats as a platform for his pro-vet agenda:

"There's a wealth of knowledge in this clubhouse with a few guys," Aurilia said. "I hope people realize that and take advantage of it."

Hey, Sabean! Can that guy for insubordination!

But seriously, don't let the craptastic wins fool you: trade 'em all.

Sandoval Still At Large: The Yeti of hopeful Giants fanboys (and girls) remains tucked in a weird expanse of the Northeastern United States where pastels and boating shoes are the norm...for boys. For now, OBnB fave Steve Holm is back up with the parent club to replace the departed Eliezer Alfonzo.

I expect this won't be the last transaction pertaining to Giants catchers we see this season. And you just have to wonder, what with Big Money heating up and news like this coming out of the Bronx, could Sabean actually pull the trigger to deal our admirable if overmatched cleanup hitter?

Schierholtz an Olympian: Congrats to Nate! Perhaps this will prompt management to call him up and give him a good look. Not because he earned the spot, mind you, but because they're jerks.

Further Proof That Farm System Doesn't Suck: Rotoworld took a break from fantasizing about major league ballplayers in their mothers' basements to fantasizing about minor league ballplayers in their mothers' basements, releasing a Midseason Top 150 Prospects list.

Giants check in with five (it would have been six with Buster Posey signed - he would have been at #32); Madison Bumgarner leads the pack at #21.

Comment! Where are potential landing spots for Aurilia, Molina, Vizquel (yes, Omar Vizquel), Jack Taschner, Randy Winn et al? Throw out your trade package ideas.

I Figured Out Bullets Tildes

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

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

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

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

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

Heady times, indeed.

Moment of Zen

The shot of Matt Cain up top is absolutely classic.

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

Props to Logan's Freedom Ride.

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?

Party Like It's 2002

On the strength of back-to-back homers from their 4 and 5 hitters, a solo shot from their third baseman, and two doubles from Rich Aurilia, one of an RBI variety, the San Francisco Giants easily dispatched a hapless Florida Marlins team 8-2 for their third win in a row.

In other news, Barry Zito turned in a Cy Young performance to get an easy win.

Also, the New England Patriots upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in a completely fair and square Super Bowl XXXII, the reign of Kobe and Shaq has no end in sight, and the nation collectively shudders at the sight of Gary Condit.

Okay, that last paragraph didn't happen, but you would forgive me for thinking we entered a time warp last night.

Instead, Baked Zito has shed the Zit0-8 label (Zit1-8 doesn't quite have the same ring) with an encouraging performance in which he allowed only one hit after a allowing a first inning run in 6.1 strong innings.

Zito now has a 3.26 ERA following his paid leave of absence. Although he continues to walk way too many people, his command of the two-seamer, which he had put in mothballs years prior, seems to have made a difference.

An impressive win over arguably the best team in the NL with their de facto ace on the mound. Cainer faces the Burke Badenhop in the Saturday night game.

Gigantes Roundup:

- Vizquel should tie Aparicio tonight.

- An interesting (if slightly played out) "what-if" on what could have been if the Giants outsourced their ace position in 2006.

- Bruce Jenkins opines (in a way only BJ does) that, given our knowledge of Bill Neukom, Brian Sabean may not see the second year of his contract.

- Yabu san rocks.

Commentary Igniter: How many wins will Barry Zito get this season?

Stop The Bleeding, Tiny Dancer...

Timmy tries to be the stopper tonight. After last week's bullpen implosion against the Astros (in which Tim left with a 7-3 lead in the 6th), I'll hold back on any hubris this week.

That being said, a win tonight would be full circle for the kid, who got his first win against Colorado last May.

Lineups up - Podsednik replaces the struggling Tavares and Hawpe is back in right.

No surprises for the G-Men's starting 9. Unless you count Aurilia starting at third.

Will tonight be the night they hit in the clutch? Does clutch hitting even exist? Talk amongst yourselves.

Bochy's Veteran Loyalty

DISCLAIMER: This is not an endorsement of Bruce Bochy, but I did want to dig a little deeper on the seemingly widespread consensus that Bochy is blindly loyal to veteran players

I don't know what's going to need to happen to get Ray Durham and Rich Aurilia to permanently be out of the lineup. I actually don't mind the thought of carrying Rich as a backup - he can play three of four infield spots adequately and short in a pinch and is a good clubhouse guy - but Ray's got to go.

This leads me to the thought as to whether or not Boch has fairly received criticism regarding a blind loyalty to vets. When the Giants hired him, there were myriad articles by local beat writers referencing the Padres' displeasure with him as he continued to rely on an aging Vinny Castilla, prompting his release against Bochy's wishes. I believe it was a reference to this retrospective piece by Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

One thing I noted was that, in addition to a real sense of leadership that Castilla brought to the clubhouse, there were absolutely no alternatives at third for the Pads at the time, unless you count Geoff Blum and Mark Bellhorn, themselves no spring chickens. So the Castilla situation isn't particularly reminiscent of what's happening at second and first base here.

Eric Young was another oft-bandied example of a vet playing over a deserving youngster, but Boch played youngster Josh Barfield almost exclusively at second base in 2006 on his way to amassing 530 ABs, with Young playing the role of utility infielder. Now that may have been an edict by higher management, but it doesn't necessarily support the theory that Boch is blindly loyal to vets.

Other overly-coddled veterans in the article included Phil Nevin and Brian Giles. Again, in both cases, there didn't seem to be a particularly competent kid pushing them, unless you include Xavier Nady and Ben Johnson. Condemning Nady and Johnson may be a fallacy as they were not given a chance in the first place, a charge that has been made against Giants management in the past in the way we handled our youngsters. However, not watching those Nady and Johnson closely, it's very tough to say. And the Padres did win back-to-back division titles in 2005 and 2006.

So, I guess my point here is that, while, at this point in time, it looks like Boch is completely clueless in playing Durham and Rich over Velez and Ort, respectively, that this may not be a reinforcing of a previous "known" notion that was perpetuated by the media - that, in fact, other factors may be in play, including a decree for him to showcase those vets from Sabes.

The thought at least gives me (false, perhaps) hope that our regular lineup will fundamentally change from what we're seeing very early on in the season.