FU Fine Reaction to WBC (and Jeff Passan)

In a column today, Yahoo's Jeff Passan opines that American players simply don't have as much national pride and that is why talented player after talented player is turning down Team USA manager Davey Johnson's desperate recruiting pleas.

Among those expected to decline an invitation is our own Tim Lincecum, otherwise known, quite literally, as The Franchise.

It would seem that Passan's assertion that Lincecum, Cole Hamels, Josh Beckett and other WBC party poopers are just un-American is a bit simplistic. I mean, those guys all seem decent enough, right? Guys who gave it all for championships and are pretty much beyond reproach in the effort department. They don't have a Bondsian, Cobb-esque stigma that would make it seem like they're all about themselves, others be damned.

Well, Jeff has an interesting perspective. Here's another perspective, which I'd like to dub "The Right One." If you were one of the 18 to 24 solid major league pitchers in 2005 and you pitched for your respective country during the '06 WBC, well, chances are you weren't as good in 2006. And, perhaps most importantly, many didn't recover at all.

In a completely unscientific sample, I present...

"Good Pitchers Who Were Not So Good After the 2006 WBC" (Catchy, huh?)

Jake Peavy: Which one of these seasons is not like the other? Peavy remains the poster boy for post-WBC traumatic suck syndrome. His meteoric rise into this generation's Kevin Brown (no knock on your personality, Jake) was severely curtailed by his workload for Team USA in 2006.

Although he pitched over 200 innings in 2006, his ERA shot up from 2.88 in '05 to 4.09 that year, and he pitched with shoulder discomfort the entire season. Peavy's sublime talent and overall build won the war of attrition, eventually, and he came back in 2007 to win the Cy Young. Some, however, weren't as lucky...

Chad Cordero: Cordero was coming off a stellar season as a full-time closer for the Nationals, posting a 1.82 ERA and racking up 47 saves. His 2006 saw that ERA shoot up into the 3s and his decline continued into 2007, when he battled injuries. Cordero tore a labrum in early 2008 after struggling with his velocity, and is currently a a free agent.

Bartolo Colón: Here's a good example of a patriotic foreigner who gave it all for his country. The 2005 Cy Young winner (seriously, look), Colón has been completely awful since his stint for the Dominican Republic. He's compiled a 5.50 ERA in just 194.6 innings combined over the last three seasons after throwing for 200 in seven of the eight seasons prior.

After pitching on an incentive-laden deal with the Red Sox, Colón is hoping to land another Missouri contract for 2009.

Freddy García: García had been prone to lapses in consistency, but overall, was a horse of a pitcher, amassing 200 innings pitched in five of his first six seasons through 2005, to go along with a 3.93 ERA in that timeframe, including a 3.87 in '05 with the White Sox. After? 4.79 in the 289.3 innings he's managed to pitch over the last three campaigns with three different teams while struggling with shoulder injuries.

The 33 year-old García is currently seeking work.

Dontrelle Willis: Permanent WBCitis doesn't just afflict 30 somethings negatively. Coming off a brilliant 2005 in which he finished second in Cy balloting, the 24 year-old Willis manned up for the Jeff Passans of the world and participated in the WBC. The herky-jerky lefty has never been the same.

The Bay Area native is working to get his career back on track with the Tigers after spending a bulk of the season in the minors...

A couple of pitchers from the WBC came back fine, namely Carlos Zambrano and Johan Santana. But the list is no longer than those who regressed considerably from 2005, many (Estaban Loaiza, J.C. Romero, Huston Street) of whom I didn't list above.

As for the notion of mandatory pitch limits in the WBC, I'll leave you this comparison: 65 pitches in Scottsdale against the A's split-squad team in close quarters with the trainers and coaches that know you well is slightly different than the same number of heaves in a high-pressure competition. I'd hope the body of evidence above proves that.

So, sorry, Jeff, Davey Johnson can't have Timmy. And, while I'm at it, he can't have Matt Cain.

None of them, however, are unpatriotic. They're smart.

P.S. We'll gladly donate Randy Winn again.

Dissident Dis

Evidently, Chris DeLuca of the Chicago Sun-Times was the lone writer to omit Tim Lincecum from his ballot altogether.

Our good friend Tim K. wrote him this letter in response:

from: Tim K [email redacted]
to: cdeluca@suntimes.com

Chris,

Hi, how are you? Before today I didn't know who you were, but I'm not sure if you know this, but you got written up in a few national publications earlier this morning following the announcement of Tim Lincecum's Cy Young award win. I noticed that not only did you not vote for him to win, but you didn't even rank him in your top 3. You totally omitted him from your ballot. That was a little bit curious to me, so I had a few follow up questions, if you don't mind. They are listed below:

1) Do you even like baseball?
2) How long have you been writing about sports? How did you get a job at the Chicago Sun Times? Are you related to someone who works there?
3) Is the stress of being one of the official Cy Young voters too much for you? In other words, are you somehow trying to get your privileges revoked?
4) Where have you been living for the last 8 months? How is it possible that wherever it was did not have access to Satellite Television or the Internet?
5) Are you from Florida? I ask because I'm wondering how difficult the Cy Young ballot was to complete as compared with the 2000 Presidential Election ballots. Must be close, if not harder.
6) Are you doing this for attention?
7) Okay - here's a fair one: Did you intentionally leave Tim Lincecum off of your Cy Young ballot?
8) Really?
9) Seriously?
10) What is wrong with you?

Thanks,
Tim K.
San Francisco

ConCyLation Prize

In the harsh world of Bay Area sports, for today, justice is served.

Congrats, Timmy.

Lincecum Wins Player's Choice

In what is turning out to be a historic election season, our very own Tim Lincecum comes out as democracy's big winner today, collecting two player's choice awards: The Sporting News' Pitcher of the Year and The Players Choice Award for Outstanding Pitcher. A huge congrats to The Franchise for the first and second of what is hopefully many awards.

Before you start laying down your Cy Young bets, bear in mind that neither are necessarily a precursor to winning pitching's highest honor: only 4 of the last 8 recipients of the Player's Choice and 3 of the 8 Sporting News honorees went on to win the Cy.

Schulman, however, finds a couple votes for Timmy in his unofficial exit poll.

Programming Note: Speaking of elections, I'm sure many have you have noticed the relative radio silence of the blog since the season's close. That is a result of the blogupational hazard of actually having other employment - principally the kind that pays. Mine is linked to these here elections, so publishing may be uneven until then.

Democrat, Republican, Green or other, however, all partisans are welcome here, except perhaps for Lasordans.

Until too long, my friends. In the meantime, I hope you've all taken the time to check out the biggest Cinderella story, possibly, well, ever in these Tampa Rays. If you can displace your jealousy with the hope for our very own boys to pull off this kind of turnaround, it's actually kind of fun to live vicariously through them.

Just try not to compare the teams too closely...

Bye Bye Cy?

Soul crushing start for The Franchise last night. For the glass half full types, Timmy did eclipse Jason Schmidt's San Francisco K record, notching his 252nd.

Perhaps more importantly, with Lincecum's Cy hopes all but a glimmer, the braintrust (and I use that term lightly) may finally be convinced to forgo risking his health and skip his final extra start.

JLev, who's generally known as a crotchety contrarian, and I actually see eye to eye on this point. But maybe we're too indoctrinated by the elitist, wine and cheese Baseball Prospectus pitcher abuse points crowd, and it's possible we lack the hairy-chested, red-blooded, beer-swilling attitude of the "throw 'em out there and let God sort 'em out" mentality the Bruce Jenkinssssss of the world espouse.

So let me ask you - if Brandon Webb throws a stinker in his next start and opens the door a crack for The Freak, do we try to let the kid storm through it? Do you think, perhaps, that the reason the kid was uncharacteristically mediocre yesterday have anything to do with the fact that he has thrown 383 pitches in the three starts prior?

Let me ask: are we off our rocker for suggesting this behavior is completely reckless? After all, the great ones (Marichal, Gibson, Koufax) ran up high pitch counts regularly and they were fine, right? Responses rife with needless passion and angst encouraged.

Shelly

It's the last day of summer camp.  In your hormone-infused awkward way, you have spent the last four weeks trying to get the second hottest girl at camp to let you get the goodies.

You have heard her gripe about how her boyfriend back home doesn't really listen to her.  You've been the benefactor of a number of arm squeezes and "Oh, you're so sweets."  You even copped a tiny feel while slow-dancing at the "Lucky Louie's Luau" dance in the dining hall.

Unfortunately, it became clear about a week ago that you probably wouldn't get any because she wouldn't want to forsake her beau.  "There's always next summer," you tell yourself.

You spend the last night on a moonlit walk, hand in hand, exchanging vows that you will keep in touch during the school year and even sketch out a plan for a winter-break visit.  On the porch of her cabin you say goodnight, she gives you a peck on the cheek, and you hug her as tight as you possibly can.

If you are the Giants, you then proceed to sneak in through the backdoor and hook up with her fat friend Shelly in her bunk as she watches, horrified.  You mortgage the future hottie for the immediate sow and you don't think twice.  This is what the Giants are doing with Tim Lincecum.

While the Giants remain hopelessly far out of playoff contention, not only do they continue to grope the fat girl, but they do so unabashedly.

Lincecum is presumably this team's best player.  He is also one of their youngest.  He is under team control for four more seasons at bargain basement prices and stands poised to lead this squad back to relevance in the very near future.  Why, then, when discussing pitch counts and pitcher stress am I hearing his name mentioned in conjunction with the likes of Mark Prior (done), Kerry Wood (limited), and Livan Hernandez (the opposite of Tiny Tim)?

Shouldn't we have shut this guy down already?  Isn't this the point in the season where a young arm is already stretched-out and each subsequent toss leads to exponential and not linear additional damage?

For your consideration: Over his last seven starts, Lincecum has averaged, averaged over 120 pitches.  That includes a 138 pitch outing which was the most by any pitcher this year and an outing in which he didn't get past the fifth, but managed to throw 92.  He has thrown more pitches this year than anyone in the Major Leagues.  He is seventh in the bigs with 215 IP and he has two starts remaining.  Am I going crazy here?

Additionally, Lincecum leads the league in Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP), a Baseball Prospectus metric meant to measure the stress or abuse that a pitcher takes over the course of a season.  Some of the names that have been near the top in PAP over the past few years:

- Daisuke: led the league last year, missed time this year
- Jason Schmidt: top-6 in '04, '05 and '06, do I need to say anything else?
- A.J. Burnett: top-5 in '02 and '07, top-10 this year and he has missed time in three of the last five years
- Wood and Prior: both top-5 in 2003, Prior again in 2005 and neither has been the same since

There are more examples, but I don't need to keep going.  You get the picture.

"But he might win the Cy Yooouuuuunnnnggg," you keep whining.

No.  No he won't.

Brandon Webb won his 22nd game last night making him practically a shoe-in for the award.  The BBWAA gets to see very few of Lincecum's games and may not realize how dominant he's been, so they look at W's as a default.

Timmy realizes this and has asked to pitch an extra game on only four days rest.  This game, the last of the season, is against The Bums and beating them would actually help D-Bags reach the playoffs.  This is a double-whammy in that not only does it hurt Lince's arm, it also helps Webb's CY chances if his team makes the playoffs.

In our earlier analogy, the attractive young maiden is the allure of, oh I don't know, a winning season somewhere down the line, while the pig-faced, pock-marked Shelly is the illusion of this year's Cy Young race and the benefits that such an award brings.

We are risking the future, nay The Franchise, for almost no payoff whatsoever.

Tiny Tim need not climb directly to the top in his first full season of major-league service.  He will compete for this award many times in the future.

Well, he will compete for it if he makes it that far without his arm flying off.

For discussion: Should the Giants have already shut him down?  Should they let him pitch tonight in his last scheduled start and then be done?  Or is the temptation of a Giants CY winner enough to let him pitch on the last day as well?

Further reading: Olney talks about Lincecum in the beginning of today's blog (subscription required).

Webb'd Feat

Brandon Webb collected his 21st win against the G-Men last night despite surrendering three runs in the first inning.

Webb also drove in a pair to make him 4-for-8 with six RsBI against the Giants this year.  That's Zambrano-like.

Tiny Tim takes the hill tonight looking to pick up his 18th W and bolster his Cy Young campaign.  The man he must best?  A five-time CY winner and Wet Rat.

Question:  If Webb gets to 23 wins, does it make Lincecum's achievements moot in the eyes of baseball writers?


 

Mission: Destroy Brandon Webb

San Francisco losses pile up in the desert - perhaps, may I speculate, due to the losses of Freddy Lewis and Manny Burriss - but, no matter. Because, for tonight, the real drama of the 2008 season continues: can The Franchise win the Cy Young?

Tonight, the offensive offense can redeem itself for the past two stinkers by hanging a crooked number on Timmy's chief competition in Brandon Webb, whose unpleasant September has put the hardware within his reach.

Relish the rarity of having a vested interest in the outcome of the game and cheer on Dirty and the troops.

- Power Vacuum: Both Schulman and Baggs mention the necessity of looking outside the organization in the offseason for reinforcements in the lineup, a list that includes Prince Fielder, Pat Burrell and Adrian Beltre.

Serious question marks with all of them, but man, does this make me depressed enough to pick up someone not coached by the Giants minor league instructors:

Haren played mind games in the eighth, after Conor Gillaspie came off the bench and made crisp contact on his first major league hit [Ed: Congrats, kid!]. Pinch hitter John Bowker was next. Haren turned to the scoreboard and noted that the rookie had drawn 19 walks all season.

"I didn't throw him one strike," said Haren, who offered a succession of splitters that Bowker swung through. "He's up there trying to tie the game, so I tried to take advantage of his aggressiveness."

Simply wow, both on JB's ineptitude and Haren's shocking candor.

Comment! Of Fielder, Burrell and Beltre, who makes the most sense for the Giants at this juncture?

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.

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.

Happy Dance

I guess the Cy race ain't over just yet.

Unfortunately, the win wasn't without a crappy casualty. Get strong and come back well next spring, Manny.

Many of you have inquired as to the reasoning behind the Giants shocking callup 2008 sandwich pick Conor Gillaspie. Per usual, looks like Andy Baggarly has the best theory:

So why call up a guy that you don’t intend to play?

I have to believe that Gillaspie’s promotion is part of a predraft understanding. It’s no secret that Gillaspie thought he should have been a first-round pick instead of falling to the supplemental first round. I’ll bet this was a way for the Giants to appease him into taking MLB’s suggested signing bonus of $970,000 – which puts the team in a little less hot water for going way, way, way over slot for giving $6.2 million to fifth-overall choice Buster Posey.

In return, Gillaspie gets a 40-man spot and all the requisite benefits — plus he’ll spend four weeks making a prorated portion of the major league minimum salary, which is $400,000. That’s roughly $66,000, not counting meal money.

Pretty good kickback right there.

Far be it for me to look down on opportunism, so I'll just say I hope the kid can back up his chutzpah come 2009. It looks like we might need a second or a third baseman.

Cy Go Cy Go Cy Go with Cy Go

Don't feel too bad, Tim, you'll have plenty of chances for more.

And, despite the heartbreaker, big ups to Nate Schierholtz, who backed up his Olympic medal with a nice debut.

Good Takeaways From A Bad Long Weekend

- Dirty returns and puts together a nice quality start; San Francisc still loses.

- Manny Burriss at shortstop. I'm not sure if Sabchy is grossly inept, doesn't care, or is pulling an Andy Kaufman on the Lunatic Fringe, but I guess it's better to have a completely obvious good idea later rather than never.

If Manny can hold down the position, and all indications are that he can, it frees up second base for a spring training competition between Kevin Frandsen (who's rehab from an Achilles rupture seems to be progressing), Travis Denker (who has put together a nice stat line since his demotion to Fresno), and Eugenio Velez.

- Yippee ki-yay, Scott McClain got called up!

Call me a sap, but I want this guy to get one good year in the majors. I can't think of a better team for him to do it than this rudderless ship. Do you have any better ideas for acquiring a dirt cheap power-hitting corner infielder?

- Speaking of power-hitting corner infielders, The One just had the best month of his pro career.

- The Franchise goes tonight. For those of you haven't noticed, NL Cy Young frontrunner Brandon Webb hasn't been all that in his past two starts.

Another dominant outing by Timmy and, at the outset of September, he could be in control of his Cy Young destiny.

Comment! Why will you watch the Giants this September? Or, perhaps, why won't you (you bandwagon fan)?

Terrifying Thought Of The Day

From today's Baggarly piece on last year's embarrassment of then-rook Timmy after missing a team charter:

The next day, Bonds couldn't turn down the opportunity to undress a rookie in front of his teammates.

"Bonds showed us something," Zito said. "He calls a meeting and he's like, 'Are you kidding me, Timmy? This is ridiculous.' He gave him the itinerary and said, 'Dude I don't want this thing to leave your sight the entire trip.'

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.

If You Kent Say Something Nice...

On the heels of a tough four game sweep at the Big Orange, Barry Zito, he of seven shutout innings, and the kids leading these Giants to a series victory is sweet music to my ears.

Sweeter music to my ears? Down the 5, Giants über villain Jeff Kent is doing his damndest to tarnish the legacy of what I'll grudgingly admit is a Hall of Fame career.

His latest offense? Assailing the virtual patron saint of the Dodgers, a man so revered as a baseball institution, many Giants fans are even able to look past his association with our hated rivals and genuinely appreciate his contribution to the national past time.

Yes, Jeff Kent verbally assaulted Vin Scully.

Evidently, Kent was miffed that Scully (along with most multi-celled organisms) believed there may be a correlation between his hot bat and the presence of Manny Ramirez in the lineup. His message to Scully: you talk too much.

I'm not going to launch into a massive diatribe but simply point out that, for a guy that is probably be a first-ballot inductee, he will most likely have the least fans of anyone else who shares the same honor. Maybe that's not why Kent plays the game, but I hope, once he walks away, he realizes that something ain't right about a superior career that no one besides yourself appreciates.

Sanchez Shut Down?: KNBR reported this morning that management may use Dirty's shoulder strain as an excuse to shut the lefty down for the rest of the season. Smart move, in my opinion: Sanchez has thrown more innings this year already than he has in any one of his other pro seasons.

With any luck, there may be something to play for next year. Sanchez, although he had his ups and downs this season, showed quite a bit in his first year as a starter, consistently ranking near the top of the league in Ks. Hopefully, he'll be back stronger and wiser in 2009.

Comment! With little left to play for this season, should the Giants shut down their other two horses in Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum?

Freak Show

I've been remiss in recently overlooking some of the great writing of fellow Lunatic Fringe bloggers, an oversight I look to correct with some gusto here and now.

It goes without saying that today's game was an absolutely marvelous way to wash out the taste of poor Matt Palmer's first big league start (and subsequent shellacking).

In hitting his first career bomb, the endearingly earnest Travis Ishikawa picked the right starter to back. Yes, it looks like our very own Franchise is no worse for wear following the Ausmus Liner Heard 'Round The Bay, regaining the Major League lead for strikeouts. JC from Raising (Matt) Cain puts what we're witnessing in perspective:

1. 13-3 is the second best start in SF history (5 occurences). Only a couple hacks named Perry and Marichal were better at 14-2. I venture to guess they had better teams playing behind them, ya think?

2. With his sixth double digit strikeout game this year (8 in his career), he ties Marichal (1966) for number 4 on this all time list. Only Schmidt (9 in 2004), Sadecki (8 in 1968), and Montefusco (7 in 1975) are above him. With at least five or so starts left, Tim has a good shot at taking over the lead of that list.

3. The Enchanter has limited opponents to 3 or fewer runs in 40 of his 49 career starts, including 21 of 25 this year. The Giants are 26-14 in those forty games. Tim is 17-0 (29 starts) when the Giants score at least three runs for him.

Simply mind-boggling. Great research, JC.

The bullpen (with the notable exception of the increasingly dominant Brian "Servin' UAK" Wilson) continued their shaky ways. Luckily, erstwhile number-cruncher Chris at Bay City Ball provides us with statistics to back up our daily stream of obscenities at the television.

The bullpen has largely struggled this year. Wilson has emerged as the top arm but with the disintegration of Tyler Walker, Brad Hennessey, Vinnie Chulk and the majority of the younger arms having their expected ups-and-downs, it hasn’t been a pretty sight. (Fielding Independent Pitching) isn’t thrilled with Taschner but he’s having a decent year, he might be pitching over his head right now to some extent. The Giants are last in the National League for bullpen ERA at 4.44.

Ouch.

- A San Francisco Giants Minor League Blog posts it's most excellent daily roundup of minor league notables. While Mad Bum continues to do his thing, note the continued hot hitting of Ben Copeland at AAA. You may remember Copeland as the Giants first pick in 2005 - in the fourth round. But don't worry, throwing away those first few picks were totally worth it.

Anyway, Copeland, after a slow start to his pro career, looks to be breaking out at 24. The speedy slap-hitter may need to change positions, however, to have a shot at making any headway with this club. Still, he's a kid worth keeping an eye on.

- Check out this interesting piece on Buster Posey from one of his hometown rags. It looks like, at the very least, no one can deny the kid's makeup, something that can't hurt at his position.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be dreaming of cerebral pitch-calling and a staff of mentally happy young fireballers, oh, sometime in 2010.

Washed Up Major Leaguers Seek Brains

A hopeful start by the youth-infused lineup is once again obliterated by a haggard bullpen.

But I'm sure you all are more ticked at something else:

LaTroy Freaking Hawkins.

I can't even believe he has a job. But, of course, he picks up the W, joining the likes of Chan Ho Park, Jason Johnson and Mike Hampton as baseball zombies who have feasted on the collective ineptitude of this meek, meek franchise.

And now, without further ado, your midday roundup.

Snark Alert: I really debated kicking this guy while he's down. But, ultimately, I decided to be the smaller, more petty person.

Jose Castillo (remember him?) had a bit of a reputation as a malcontent on his previous stops on his DFA Tour of the NL. So while John Bowker was nothing but classy in accepting his assignment to Fresno, what did Castillo have to say?

"I'm not happy," he said. "I'm surprised. I think I played good for this team. It was the first year I played third base."

Well, in addition to the fact that Shrekstillo made more than a few of his appearances at third with the Pirates last year, I'd like to pose this question to Jose: what, exactly, is your definition of "good"? Does it include an assessment of a .191 average post-All Star Break?

Add "delusional" to the list of colorful adjectives you may already ascribe to Jose.

Cold-Blooded: The Giants cost Geno Espineli his Olympic dreams by calling him up just ahead of the games in Beijing.

So it makes perfect sense that they would send him down just as Olympic baseball heats up. Matt Palmer is the beneficiary of Sabean's ice cold trigger finger, in a move that presumably covers the Giants if they need long-relief or spot start in the dog days.

Prospect Bonanza Continued: Baggarly (who's on a roll, I must say) reports that the Giants inked intriguing 13th-rounder Juan Carlos Perez. The D2 outfielder slipped because of visa issues, but you can't argue with the numbers. This is what Baseball America had to say:

Perez put up the craziest statistics in the state. Playing at hitter-friendly Western Oklahoma JC, he set Division II junior college records with 37 homers (one short of the overall juco mark) and 102 RBIs while batting .465 with a 1.102 slugging percentage. While his stats might be inflated, the 6-foot, 185-pounder has legitimate tools. He has a sound swing with bat speed and easy power, average speed and arm strength, and a chance to play center field. The bigger issues with Perez are his age (he'll be 22 in November) and his immigration status. A Dominican, he stayed in the United States after his original tourist visa expired, which could prevent him from gaining a work visa to play pro ball. If he gets his paperwork, he could go in the first 10 rounds.

Baggs, meanwhile, makes a comparison with this guy.

From your mouth to God's ears, Andy.

Contract Talk: A quick primer for those of you who are wondering what the difference between a major league contract (which Buster Posey signed) and a minor league contract, the more traditional contract for draftees.

Essentially, a major league contract is guaranteed, and the signee is eligible for the minimum required salary of a major leaguer, which is set at $390K this year.

Perez, for example, will get his bonus money, but will be salaried at a minor league level, which is generally peanuts at the lower levels, and, um, cashews once you work your way up.

Look Out, Earthquakes: James at A Giants Minor League Blog (a nice recent complement to the already excellent Giants blogosphere) proposes a very interesting, and likely, scenario for the Single-A Giants next spring:

Various baseball people have been musing about whether or not Conor Gillaspie should be moved to second. Here’s one reason why it might not happen. It is likely that he will begin next year on the San Jose roster with Nick Noonan who is limited to only second base. There has been some talk that Noonan might be promoted straight to Connecticut but that’s absolutely crazy. Unless Noonan makes huge strides in plate discipline this offseason, sending him to Connecticut is just setting him up to fail. So, it is likely that the San Jose roster next year will consist of Angel Villalona at 1B, Nick Noonan at 2B, Conor Gillaspie at 3B, and Buster Posey at C. That’s a hell of an infield. Madison Bumgarner will also be on that team.

So, come '09, there could very well be a dominant Giants ballclub - you'll just have to head further down 280 to find it.

Comment! Freak excluded, who is your favorite current Giant? Tough, isn't it?

Ryan Rohlinger: Rookie Roosebumps; RiGetLost

Well, no one said these kids could make the transition seamlessly. But although Ryan Rohlinger had some miscues in his ML debut, you'd be hard pressed to pin the abhorrent pitching on the kid, unless you were some kind of psycho.

So, before the 11AM kiddie parade pre-empts your regularly schedule rants and raves in this space, let me take this opportunity to use the Giants second consecutive loss to the 'Stros as Exhibit R that Dave Righetti must go?

Some doomed contrarians may ask, "Why is that? Don't you think that Barry Zito sucks independent of coaching?"

My retort? Some thought the Giants would be an excusable team, in spite of their horrific offense, because of their sublimely talented pitching staff, but instead they have proven consistently inconsistent and maddeningly middling. Three-quarters of the way through the season, the Giants are in the bottom half of the league in ERA and rank fourth (in a bad way) in walks allowed.

And although I can't find a stat that proves it (and I encourage all you sabermetrician nose-miners to back me up), the pitching staff is inexcusably charitable to their counterparts, a point that Kruk and Kuip have repeatedly echoed.

Last night, once again, was an example of how this staff is liable to give games away. The Astros would have won if Larry, Moe, and Curly were in their lineup last night.

"But what about Lincecum?" some of the soon-to-be-dealt-with dissenters may point out. Well, I suggest you review last month's SI cover piece on The Franchise. Or just read this:

"His dad obviously did a very good job with Timmy," says Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti. "I treat Timmy differently from most pitchers: I leave him alone."

But for the other poor saps that are subject to Righetti (think Cain, Sanchez, and all the other young guns in the pipeline), we risk wasting the sky high potential of these talents because Giants brass are too hardheaded to let a crony go.

A point of optimism? If Sabean could fire his curiously close pal Joe Lefebvre, he could conceivably give the axe to Rags.

Comment! Should Dave Righetti go?

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?