Random Rumor-Mongering

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comment! What you got, Armchair GM?

Dirty Dismissal

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

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

Plus, he kinda sucks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Shot of Hennessey

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Well, how about that for a move? (From Baggs)

Huge, huge shift today. The Giants have a whole new corner infield. John Bowker and Steve Holm were optioned to Fresno and Jose Castillo was designated for assignment. Rohlinger, a third baseman, comes from Double-A Connecticut along with Sandoval, who can catch and play first base. Ishikawa was lighting it up at Triple-A Fresno. He switches spots with Bowker, who was hitting .154 since the All-Star break.

Wow, is it me or did it just get a whole lot less suck in here?

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

RF Winn

2B Burriss

LF Lewis

CF Rowand

1B Ishikawa

C Sandoval

3B Rohlinger

SS Ochoa

What a difference a day makes.

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

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