Tidbits

Hello everyone guess whoose back? Henry's back, tell a friend. Hello everyone I'm back and this post is going to be more of a general thoughts post then any particular direction. As I'm sure, were all relived and overjoyed that Manny is going to be gone until almost the all star break which is great news without a doubt. At the same token there's no real way to gauge how much of an effect no Manny will have in the lineup. The obvious being, is that I expect Andre Eithier to come back to Earth. I also very much expect the Dodgers pitching staff to come down to Earth. For instance Randy Wolf has a sub 3 era. Eric Stults has a 3.58 era. Yes, Billinglsey is an ace and Kershaw could be one day but in the present he isn't likely to be. The other troubling problem for the Dodgers is their lack of depth they have been juggling 5th starters this season splitting duties to John Mcdonald and Jeff Weaver. Yes, Kuroda is a solid 3/4 but he's out for a considerable amount of time. 

Yes, we can say all we want about how the dodgers will come back to Earth, but the point of the matter is, is there ANY reason to expect why we'll improve? As we all know the biggest problem the Giants have, and it's not even debatable is the Giants extreme inability to score runs let alone manufacture runs. We have a lineup full of 6/7 hitters on good teams that are hitting in the heart of our order. We have scored the fewest runs in baseball and the team had also drawn the fewest walks in the majors. It's way to early to speculate about any trades, I just didn't know it was going to be this frustrating to watch.

In other news, Brandon Crawford, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson were all promoted to AA Conneticut. I was surprised to see Crawford promoted and Posey not promoted. Crawford has been ripping the seams of the baseball to the tune of a .360/.430/.570 line this year in the minors. However, he has also had contact problems this year having struck out 34 times in 27 games which is troubling. I'm surprised Posey wasn't promoted due to the fact that he's very polished and AA Defenders manager Steve Decker is a former big league catching so I thought he'd be in Conneticut sooner rather than later. But don't worry he's still putting up a .298/.375/500 line and i expect his batting average to climb. He'll most likely be in AA come this time next month at least. Bumgarner makes his first start tomorrow with Alderson having made his debut today. Alderson was beastly he "gutted" the Fishercats lineup, striking out 10 and leaving the games after 6 and two thirds with a no hitter in hand. Well, thats all she wrote for now I'm trying to watch the game and getting distracted by tis blog post. Tomorrow I promise to have another draft preview up.

Draft Preview!

Hello Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls! I would like to welcome people of all backgrounds to Henry's 09 Giants Draft Preview! (J I'll do an A's one later) The amateur draft also known as the rule four draft, takes place on June 9th. The Giants have the good fortune of picking sixth. Unfortunatley, this draft is very heavy in a department the Giants have plenty of help in.....PITCHING. However, there are 3 elite position players in the draft. Dustin Ackley, Grant Green and Donavan Tate all figure to be top ten picks. The latter two should be avaiable when the Giants pick unless Green catches fire or a team in front of the Giants loves him.

 Ackley is the North Carolina starting first baseman. The guy can absolutely rake there's no question about that. He hit .419 as a sophomore last season and is currently hitting over .400 this season. The question isn't whether or not he can hit. The question is how much power he can hit for and where is his defensive home. The reason why he is at first base isn't because of the fact or due to the fact that he's un-athletic. It's because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery so they put him there in order to take the stress of his arm. Scouts think he has the athleticism to play center field but scouts want to see him play there this spring. Either way he figures to switch to a corner OF as a pro and he personally reminds me of J's favorite Andre Eithier. After looking at him on youtube I tend to agree that his swing isn't very condusive to power. 

Green is an interesting case, last August his draft stock was hotter than a Lil Wayne single. After a mediocre season in this fall at USC scouts are starting to question how "elite" of a talent he really is. Coming off his Cape Cod league MVP campaign he was compared to scouts as a Tulowitzki/Longoria hybrid which sounds like an all star shortstop. Since then he's faltered a bit and scouts are starting to over disect his game. He is far big (around 6'2 215) but similar to Tulowitzki he has average range but an above average arm. He profiles anywhere from the 2-5 hole in a lineup. The most glaring alarm about him is his heap of strikeouts and inability to make consistent contact this season. In that sense he's similar to 08 Giants draft pick Brandon Crawford. My guess is that he falls to them, it'll be between he, Zack Wheeler add Aaron Crow. (First round possibilities is tomorrows post)

Tate is the ultimate tease, a true five tool potential stud that oozes power and speed. In many ways Tate is similar to Marlins Center Fielder Cameron Maybin. Both were highly regarded athletes coming out of high school and figure to be top 7 picks. Tate, who hails from Georgia is also an outstanding football prospect who was recruited to play safety as USC before signing to North Carolina to play QB and Center Field for the Tar Heels. His true love is baseball and he will sign if he goes as high as six, he will most likely use his scholarship as leverage but won't turn down 4 million. He is also similar to last years first round pick of the Twins Aaron Hicks but offers more power potential. Like many two way players, and high school players he's quite raw and still growing into his massive potential. He is clearly an outstanding athlete and has every premium tool you could ask for at a premium position nonetheless. When the Giants are on the clock he will be a very tempting option to pass up between now and June 9th I may change my mind. 

Well folks thats all for tonight. This isn't a summary of all first round hitters but merely ones the Giants would consider at their position I will do a more comprehensive breakdown on the whole draft later along with some late round sleepers. Tomorrow I will do a post on probable pitchers.