Brian Sabean's Successor

A Stalemate

2009-08-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was talking to my friend Jeremy who happens to be quite the A's fan. I was jeering him about the shape the Giants are in comparison to the A's. Naturally he took the bait and decided to make a case that though the Giants may have more valuable pieces the A's have quite a bit of depth. I countered and reasoned that though the A's may have "quite a bit of depth" they lack in quality and the A's couldn't even muster a five player package straight up for Tim Lincecum. This made him appalled he gave me an offer of Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Brett Wallace, Chris Carter and Adrian Cardenas for Tim Lincecum. At first I was taken back to a degree by what I had just said but then I realized that all I had to argue was Lincecum's immediate value to the franchise now and in the future. He reasoned that the Giants aren't playing for this season necesiarily so it's best to build for the future right now. I countered and said the following. Tim Lincecum is under team control through 2012. He currently may be the most valuable commodity in baseball. He is a 25 year old starting pitcher who won a cy young award in his first full season, he's well on his way to arguably another cy young award. He will be a San Francisco Giant barring injury for at least the next three seasons. Due to his level of sustained dominance in his brief career,his youth and health you could argue he should net the biggest return out of any player in baseball. Jeremy is quite aware of Tim Lincecum's value and dominance he then countered with Dan Haren noting that Haren was dealt for a package of five players to of whom would be in the proposed deal. He said that Lincecum and Haren were "quite similar" at the time that Haren was dealt.

Dan Haren and Tim Lincecum were horses of a different color at the same point in their respective careers. When Dan Haren was 25 he went 14-13 with a 4.12 era with 176 k's in 227 innings pitched. In the midst of his second full season at age 25 Lincecum in currently 12-3 with a 2.18 era he has 191 k's in 156 innings pitched. It was not until age 26 when Dan Haren was even able to be mentioned as a front of the rotation starter let alone a bonafide ace. At age 26 Haren went 15-9 with a 3.07 era he had 197 k's in 227 innings. Lincecum has six less strikeouts in 71 less innings pitched this season. At the time of the trade Dan Haren was under team control for two years whereas Lincecum was for three. During his time in Oakland Dan Haren averaged 7.2 k's/9ip. During his time in San Francisco Lincecum has averaged 10.3k's/9 ip. So no Dan Haren is in no way shape a form a good comparable to the package of talent Tim Lincecum would warrant. Tim Lincecum is a legitimate ace he has won a cy young award, he has made two all star teams in two full seasons. He was the superior pitcher to Dan Haren from a younger age. When Dan Haren was dealt he was dealt with a year less of team control. Dan Haren is now 28 and he has NEVER put up a season in which he is comparable let alone superior to Tim Lincecum. So Jeremy, I'll say this maybe Dan Haren should be a starting point, at best for Tim Lincecum

"The Giants aren't necessarily going to win this season, they have been in the midst of rebuilding for sometime which is why they should do this trade" Ether. You presume that the Giants aren't going to contend this season or anytime soon. But let's take a look the Giants are tied for the wildcard lead as we speak. So they are clearly in contention. Let's also not pretend like this is a mirage the Giants are anchored by to aces ages 25,24 respectively in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain and a 22 year old third baseman with a .938 ops who happens to be the best case scenario for Brett Wallace. (Who is only 12 days younger than Sandoval by the way.) The Giants also happen to have two of the best five prospects in baseball half a season away so the Giants are not far away from competing at a high level for years to come at all. Let's hypothetically say the Giants do reach the playoffs which is not a big stretch whatsoever. They can throw Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez few if any team in baseball can match that combination this gives you as a legitimate shot as any to win the world series and makes you incredibly dangerous in the postseason. If the Giants were to trade away Lincecum it would set them back for years to come due to the fact that they would not be able to reach the postseason in the next two years possibly due to the fact that they would not be able to replace Lincecum's production for years to come. With Lincecum, Cain, Sandoval producing the way they are the Giants have built a trio of talent that will ensure the Giants the ability to compete year in and year out especially with comparable nearly ready to contribute at the major league level. Trading away the most valuable piece in Lincecum will only further stagnate our ability to compete and eventually win a world series in the coming years. The Giants clearly have a decent staple of young established major league talent at the major league level which is something the A's do not yet have. Which is why one franchise is pushing for the playoffs while the other is dwelling in last place. Not having Tim Lincecum's production this year abd instead having that of Brett Anderson And Trevor Cahill would have created a dramatic dropoff in wins. If your looking for eveidence on how dominant Lincecum has been this season let's put it this way. According to fangraphs so far this season Albert Pujols has been 5.6 wins above replacement for any batter. This figure is the third highest in baseball behind Zack Greinke with 6.4, Greinke trails only Lincecum who has been 6.6 wins above replacement this season the highest figure in baseball. Is Time Lincecum the most valuable player in baseball? Is he the most valuable player in baseball even without considering his contract?

You cannot possibly accept Brett Anderson as the centerpiece to a starting pitcher that is under team control for nearly the same amount of time that Lincecum is. They were both drafted in 2006. Lincecum made his debut two years prior but if I'm right that means Anderson only has an extra year of being team controlled than Lincecum does. Brett Wallace is a questionable defender at third base and his best case scenario is likely Pablo Sandoval however Wallace is only two weeks younger than our Sandoval and while Sandoval has posted a .938 ops in the majors this season Sandoval, Wallace has posted a .777 ops in the EXTREMELY friendly confines of the pacific coast league. Pablo Sandoval makes Brett Wallace look like Neifi Perez there is no comparison to be made right now. Cardenas is a solid prospect in his own right who put up a good line in the Texas League before being promoted .326/.392/.446 at the same ever since his promotion to AAA he has a.......125/225/225 line thats right folks he has a .450 ops right now through 71 ab's in AAA yes it's a very small sample size at the same time when were trading the most dominant pitcher in baseball and perhaps the most valuable piece in baseball I want a top 5 prospect at least. But to be far, he's a very good prospect who I liken to Jose Vidro in his prime on the other hand. We just gave up a piece in Tim Alderson for a second baseman for the next year as well. This also obviously speaks volumes about the Giants intentions to compete for the next two seasons. If we were to make such a trade you would assume they would have no thought about trading Tim Lincecum correct? If your making this trade you are essentially banking that 3 out of the five players in this deal hit their absolute ceiling. Coming into the year most experts saw Anderson and Cahill as front of the line starters but not true aces like Lincecum. Neither have done anything to dispel these prior thoughts before the season. If you were to acquire Chris Carter and brett Wallace you would have a log jam due to the fact that you have Sandoval firmly entrenched at third base and no DH in the national league as a result these players would lose significant value to the Giants since for the time being only one of them could be in the lineup at once meaning you wouldn't be able to have Wallace and Carter in the lineup at the same time without sacrificing substantial defensive value by having one of them miscast in the outfield at the same time as the other. Besides Brett Anderson the most interesting or sought after piece to me would be Chris Carter due to the fact that he's an impact bat putting up very impressive numbers at first base in the hitting starved Texas league.

In the end I think this is a slam dunk for the Giants. My point being if I'm Brian Sabean and Mr. Beane calls me and offers me this trade on July 31, 2009 I hide back the laughter and say to him on the phone "let me get back to you." I then run over to Larry Baer, John Barr and Bobby Evans and we start crying out with laughter. I think the point has been made clear however, the Giants clearly to plan to win this season the recent acquisitions of Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez prove that as does their standing in the National League Wild Card race. The team is already built for the future in mainstays such as Lincecum,Cain,Sandoval and Wilson at the major league level. There is also an influx of talent on the way. I also believe I have proven why it would be in the Giants best interests to politely decline this deal as their future isn't far away and in fact it may be in front of us. Trading Tim Lincecum at this moment would lead to a significant drop off in performance as well as putting contention on hold yet again. You could also reason many of the players in the deal are far from sure things and if you were to make such a deal you would want at least one established major leaguer in return. So no Tim Lincecum>Brett Anderson,Trevor Cahill,Chris Carter,Brett Wallace and Adrian Cardenas

Bay Area Winds........Giants Edition

2009-08-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit I was very very keen on acquiring Freddy Sanchez for a variety of reasons. For one our production out of our second baseman has been the worst out of any position in the major leagues this season. i figured whenever you sub a position with a player that has a 2.2 War (win above replacement) for a platoon of players that had a -.7 WAR your instantly improving your club. I figured only 2 everyday position players had a higher ops than Sanchez (Sandoval, Rowand) so we would be adding another major league bat to our lineup in a lineup that is void of many. I also figured Sanchez would come somewhat cheap due to the fact that he had an 8.1 million dollar option for next season. I heard the rumors... Frandsen and Bowker, Frandsen and Guzman. Hey sounded great to me these players are good enough to be major league role players but had no place on our team given the way it's currently constructed. When I heard we acquired Sanchez I thought "sweetness" I was ignorant I didn;t think the great Neal Hunnington would pull such a heist. When I heard we had forked over Tim Alderoson however my voice cracked. Who, What, Where and Why? It made me want to call Mrs. Hunnigton and tell her her son was bullying Mr. Sabean. I'm not saying Sanchez isn't a very legitimate major league second baseman. I also didn't care as much for Alderson as other bloggers due to the absence of a quality major league fastball. I am however weary due to the fact that I believe Alderson could have been a significant piece to add a legitimate middle of the order bat that we so sorely need.....(Victor cough* Martinez) i'm not going to go to into Alderson's scouting report because I have in the past but he did give up 114 hits in only 104 innings....at the same time he had a 35/9 k/bb ratio which is preety damn good. On the contrary opponents were hitting .273 against him. At the same time he still only has a 3.54 era in AA a a 20 year old. The reason why I was always fascinated by Alderson was because of his frame. I always figured at 6'6 219 he had plenty of room to add to his frame and if he were to grow into* a low 90's fastball he could be a front of the rotation starter, Reports from baseballamerica had him mid high 80's which is somewhat disturbing given his performance, his pedigree and his size. At the same time I guess it's the price you have to pay for an all star second baseman which will make us stronger without a doubt for the remainder of this year and next, don't get me wrong.(.....it also appears that all of a sudden our pitching depth has vanished........but thats another story.) To wrap it up I'll say this you have to give something to get something.

Bay Area Winds........

2009-08-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

On July 31, 2009 the A's and Giants found themselves in very different positions. The A's were dwelling in last place of the American League West while the Giants were sitting high a top the National league wild card tied with a familiar division foe, the Colorado Rockies. Both teams made two trades a piece leading up to the deadline but had different purposes for making them. The first deal was A's shipping off Matt Holliday to St. Louis for a package of Brett Wallace, Clayton Mortenson and Shane Peterson. In many ways I found this deal to be ironic. ironic in the sense that there was an outcry after the A's had passed up Wallace in the draft a year prior for one Jemile Weeks. Ironic in the sense that he was almost traded to St. Louis the prior off season. This deal is a win win for both teams. For the A's they get a possible impact bat in Wallace. Comming out of the draft Wallace was seen as perhaps the "safest bat" in the draft due to his incredible feel for hitting. He was knocked a bit however due to the fact that he was questionable defensively and was likely to move t first base which would hurt his value due to the fact that scouts thought he had limited power potential due to the fact that he didn't offer much more projection in that his frame was pretty filled out. And rightfully so, while watching the futures game I instantly took note of Wallace's thick lower half which will most likely make his range detoriate in future seasons. He made a couple of routine plays but certainly didn't look the part of a solid major league third baseman he didn't have the smoothest actions and while he may be able to stay there to begin his career I eventually see him making the transformation to first base or DH. On the season Wallace is hitting .284/.364/.432 which is good for a .796 ops while not terrible isn't great either. In all fairness it's somewhat impressive that he's already in AAA. He's still getting on base at a decent clip but his strikeouts are a bit of an issue he currently has 81 in 103 games while I'm nitpicking a bit it's something to look for as we go forward I wouldn't quite promote him to the big leagues yet but I would be more willing to do so once rosters expand in September. Something else of note is that his BABIP for his career is .357 and his BABIP in Memphis before the time of the trade was .341 so I wouldn't say his step back from last season was a regression at all but that this is a more realistic indicator since his BABIP has come down a bit. I would still say I think Wallace can be a .300/.380/.480 player which is quite a valuable offensive contributor. They also received Clayton Mortenson in the deal. Mortenson was a supplemental first round pick out of Gonzaga in 2007. When drafted I saw him as an intruiging arm comming from a small school such as Gonzaga baseball speaking scouts thought he would need a bit more time to develop than most college pitchers in the first round. He hasn't developed slowly at all but sometimes his results aren't as good as one would think. He has a good 90-93 sinker with good late life and can dial it up to around 94 but then it flattens out. He also throws a slider that can be an outpitch as times but he struggles to find consistency with his third pitch his changeup this prompts many scouts to think he'll windup in the bullpen eventually. At the same time thats not all that bad, I figure he'd have a hard time cracking the Oakland rotation for years to come anyway. He does come with his fair share of red flags however, His whip in Memphis was 1.44 and so far in Sacremento in an extremely small sample size it's 1.77 so he's letting a lot of runners on base. Opponents are also hitting .284 against him so he's proving to be quite hittable .285 off of him. He's an interesting arm don't get me wrong but I see him as more of a reliever than a starter. Shane Peterson is an interesting player the 2nd round pick out of Long Beach State has played all over in his brief career 1b/rf/lf/cf he reminds me a bit of former Dirtbag and current Giants product John Bowker. He's somewhat similar to Bowker in that he profiles as a a corner outfield that will have to hit for substantial power to hold his value. He was promoted by the Cardinals earlier this season out of the Florida State League where he was only slugging .428 but in the Texas League he's only slugging .405. I believe he could be similar to Bowker in the since that Bowker had stagnated until a promotion to AA and so far Peterson is putting up a .324/.390/.486 line in Midland albeit 9 games but you never know.......

Tidbits

2009-05-10T13:10:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Inbox..

2009-04-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Hello all as I'm writing this Randy Winn just swung threw a Jake Peavy fastball for strike three. I'm displeased to announce I'm not publishing my article "How Ned Colleti" ruined the dodgers yet because I want to give myself enough time to do a job that makes the Dodgers organization look like well.....dare I say the Pirates? Without further ado I'm launching a new feature. For now on whenever Giants beat writer Chris Haft does a mailbag of questions I will answer the same questions. A to show I could do a better job and B I feel like it. I'm going to avoid dumb questions however such as what's Omar Visquel's future as a manager because frankly it's boring. Without further ado we have our first question!:

To Summarize Duncan's question (who lives in San Francisco) will Barry Zito win 15 games?

Hello Duncan and thank you for submitting this question, the honest answer no. However I am somewhat optimistic about Zito going forward. In thursday bights start against LA he was sitting 87-89 for the vast majority of the game following a second inning walk of Casey Blake I believe he just constantly started throwing harder which also makes a world of difference because it distinguishes an actual gap or difference between his fastball and changeup. He was also able to find the strike zone constantly with his curve. Yes, the man had an era of ten but there are some very promising signs for one he has a ration of 8 k's per nine innings. And hitters on the young season are hitting an artifically high .365 off of him on balls in play. For reference the major league average is .297. Another thing that is very encouraging is that he has a 46% ground ball rate so he is generally keeping the ball on the ground. Albeit a very small sample size. Going forward I would say Zito will pitch like more of a four starter than a 5th starter/long reliever but if the velocity bump is for real he could realistically put up an era under 4.2 in my opinion.

Mike From Murphysboro Illinois wants my opinion on the possibility of seeing Madison Bumgarner in the french vanilla at some point this year. Well Mike unlike our previous guest I would say there is a decent chance at seeing the lanky lefty gracing the mound at our beloved AT&T in my estimation he will be in double by the end of may early June give or take. I could see him coming up whether or not the Giants are in contention either to give him a glimpse of the majors if there in the cellar. Or to use him out of the pen if they are in contention similar to what the Devil Rays did with David Price last September (not saying he will have the same effect)

Well it looks like we have time for one more question......we turn to the locals where Chris from San Fran looks to beat a dead horse once again. Chris wants to know if I think we should trade Matt Cain given our staple of pitching at the major league level and soon to high minors. Well Chris once again given the time and circumstances I'm not sure why you would trade Matt Cain right now sure if offered Hanley Ramirez I would in a second but thats a pipe dream. I think we should keep the strength of our team intact especially since there all under team control the next three plus seasons. I would be more open to this if Bumgarner and Alderson established themselves at the big league level but thats at least two years away. (Not from being in the majors but making a firm impact) So it's premature to trade Cain because of their presence at the same token I'm we have a decent amount of positional talent in the organization that is only a year away in some cases. I think the best thing to do would be to stand pat with our talent.

What Ned Colleti Has Done To The Dodgers

2009-04-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

As I'm writing this I'm watching our very Giants down 3-2 in the top of the fifth and our favorite manager Joe Torre has come out of his dugout dwelling to converse with the one and only Eric Stults on how to attack Rich Aurilla. But something struck me while I was watching the game. The Dodgers, believe it or not have some very good homegrown fixtures in their lineup and rotation (ie Matt Kemp, James Loney, Russel Martin, Andre Either if you count him, Chad Billingsley,Clayton Kershaw and Johnathan Broxton) You can attribute this to a combination of front office fixtures scouting director Logan White, former GM Paul Depodesta, current giants scouting director John Barr or Colleti. The majority of talent was amassed before Colleti got there however with the exceptions of Either whom he directly traded for and Kershaw who was drafted during his regime. While all looks peachy currently in Dodger land it's safe to say "what could have been."

Going over Colleti's trade history there are no glaring holes, though I have the hunch trading switch hitting stud catcher Carlos Santana and dependable future setup man Jon Meloan for a mediocre Casey Blake will be uttered in the same sentence as the Kazmir and Liriano trades. If anything he has done fairly well picking up a dependable run producer, current and future right fielder Andre Eithier for a disgruntled Milton Bradley. And the cherry on top, being the Manny Ramirez trade that put them over the top and is still paying dividends. On this front I'd give the man a B/B+ but once you delve deeper you find disturbing parallels between Colleti and his former boss. (Sabean)

Take for instance the curious case of Jason Schimdt. Two years into his 3 year 47 million dollar contract he has thrown a whopping 25 innings. So up until this point Shmidt (who earns 15.5 million this year in the final year of his contract) has made 31.5 million dollars over 25 ip in two years lets due the math. Thats 1 million 240 thousand per inning. Mind Blowing sure you can say whatever you want about the terrible Zito signing. But at least the guy eats innings albeit at 18 million a year. Then You have the Andruw Jones signing. Oh boy I don't even know where to start on this one. First off Jones is being paid by the Dodgers 18 million dollars a year to play for the Rangers. During his time in Los Angeles Jones, amassed only 3 home runs and 14 rbi's over 238 at bats. Realize, Jones has made twelve million dollars per home run and 2.57 million dollars per home run. In the same period of time the Giants have paid Randy Winn around 17 million give or take the past 4 years. During that time he has amassed 694 hits the past four seasons (counting his half season in Seattle) which means he has been paid around 2,400 per hit. Whereas Jones who collected 33 hits in his only season in LA (which cost the team 36 million dollars) was paid one 1.09 million dollars per base hit. Juan Pierre is in the third year of a 5 year 44 million dollar contract and while it's not his fault he has been releagted to the role of a fourth outfielder. He is making approximatley 14 thousand dollars per base hit, while not terrible compare it to Randy Winn who makes two thousand per base hit and throw in the fact that Winn plays elite defense and you have the superior bargain.

Ned Colleti is directly affecting the farm system. Yes I said it and I'll say it again. The Dodgers were ranked 23rd heading into this season and it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon. Sure, the Dodgers have consistently been amongst the top 6 but those rankings were helped by the likes of Matt Kemp, James Loney, Clayton Kershaw, Russel Martin and Chad Billingsley. During those years Colleti had the chance to leave his own thumbprint upon the system but questionable selections such as Preston Mattingly and James Adkins have left the Dodgers system well, lifeless. I'll commend him for his selections of Andrew Lambo, Ethan Martin and Josh Lindbolm looks like a keep but besides that trio there farm system in very unimpressive. I will go as far to say I could have run a better draft. True there's still time to turn thing around but they aren't nearly as aggressive in Latin America as they used to be. The reason why they had to unload Christian Santana along with Jon Meloan is because they couldn't take on a substantial amount of money so the Indians took better prospects in return. The point of the matter is 127 million dollars the Dodgers have spent over the past 3 seasons. For a return of 25.1 terrible innings, 3 home runs and 14 rbi's and for a quality fourth outfielder. The reason why Colleti isn't looked at as a terrible GM is due to the fact that much of the talent the Dodgers are using right now to claim first place in the National League was in place before he ever walked into Dodger Stadium. Their farm system is only getting worse and his terrible decision making has cost them millions, and victories. Either way you slice it......the Dodgers still suck

I"M BACK

2009-03-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hola' fellow bloggers I'm back and just in time. I'm sorry the hiatus I took was much to long and I'm going to resume regular posting on www.caincecum.blogspot.com. Very much has changed in the past month and a half and I'm able to fully invest my time since I no longer play lacrosse and I'm healthy once again. On the other hand, our Giants are off to a less than inspiring 2-4 start and are currently down 7-1 in Los Angeles to our least favorite team. It's only been six games so there's no reason to hit any sort of panic button but there are some things that I find less than inspiring with some reason to worry.

Yes, he has only thrown eight innings the whole season but i am a tad worried about Timmy Lincecum. Opening day he wasn't hit particularly hard at all though he did give up 3 runs in as many innings. I wasn't worried one but since his stuff looked great that day. His fastball was sitting 93-95 touching 97 a few times i believe with great tail from right handed batters it would explode before getting to the batter. The only problem was that he had a big problem locating it. When he did find the strike zone with the fastball it was down the heart of the plate and straight. Much like his fastball his curveball had similar problems. It was breaking 12 to 5 but he struggled to find the strike zone with it consistently so hitters would lay off. His change was his most reliable pitch and leaned on it heavily. Again his stuff was there his command wasn't and he had just struck out 8 Oakland A's albeit in an exhibition game a week prior. Then I watched his San Diego start yesterday and was generally concerned. It's true you never want to see back to back starts where your staff ace struggles but when it's your 24 year old reigning cy young award winner just coming off a career high in Innings last season you only get more paranoid. What I saw in yesterdays start was a flat fastball that continually sat 90-91 with no movement though he was able to locate it. His changeup was largely ineffective and had no depth/fade whatever you wish to call it. His curve was great however and was able to move in it and out of the strike zone effectively. Yes, he did have a better line and struck out 5 batters in 5 innings. And yes it's true that he should have only given up 2 earned runs. But it also scares me a tad that his stuff has been so insistent on this young season. If your looking for another bright spot he has struck out 10 batter in 8 innings. I'm not to worried but like anything there's room for concern. As for the Giants current record they haven't played terribly. Remember there has only been two series thus far and they played great at home against the Brew Crew I'm just praying the play from San Diego doesn't hop on the team plane to L.A.

The thing that is the most troubling however is the Giants starting five. I'm quickly starting to realize that their vastly over rated and resemble the 05 staff. Coming in the 2005 staff was supposed to be the rock of the team. But an injury riddled season by Jason Schimdt, a declining Kirk Reuter, a mediocre season by veteran Brett Tomko, A strong debut by Noah Lowry and spotty spot starters Brad Hennessy and Kevin Corriea led to the teams downfall. I'm a bit worried that after Lincecum And Cain the staff is quite underwhelming. Zito is a fifth starter at best, for the nationals at best. Johnson is still a very effective pitcher WHEN healthy but has battled injuries this whole spring and is showing a big dip in velocity thus far. For a pitcher than has always pitched up in the zone and relied on his fastball slider combination this is a HUGE problem. Sanchez is what he is, a wild card someone who can turn in a seven inning gem with his fair share of whiffs, but he could also turn in a 4 inning Zito job with more hits than Lil Wayne and more walks than a retirement home. I'm not saying the sky is falling but rather the sky is cloudy. Perhaps I need to step away from the T.V because I've never cared so much but I'm a tad worried. (P.S I plan to go to a S.J Giants game this week to hopefully see Bumgarner and make a post until tomorrow! cya)

Sanchez...........or Lowry....................that is the question?

2009-02-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

Yes Mike, this is your turn. What Mike essentially asked Henry Schulman was what do the Giants do in the event that Lowry not only proves to be healthy but also "out-competes" Sanchez for the fifth starter spot? Well Mike good question because I don't think giantsmanagement has an answer either. At the same time I think we should look at the chances of such a scenario happening. Lowry hasn't proven to be healthy since Auguest of 2007 which in the baseball world is a substantial time. Sanchez on the other hand got the attention o the baseball world by bursting onto the baseball scence with his strong irst half of the season. In which he posted a 3.86 era before the all star break. With 121 strikeouts in 111 inninngs pitched which was good for a 10.1k/9ip ratio. Suprisingly however he finished with 157 k's in 158 innings so yes his rate fell from 10.1k/9ip to a 9.9k/9ips ratio. This shows a slight regression in "stuff" but not one signiicant enough to pin all his troubles on. And his walk rate stayed near the same so it was either his command within the strike zone or B. the league simply adjusted to him as the year went on. I'll take a combination o the two due to the fact that becuase Sanchez only threw 52 innings the previous year compared to 158 this past year it's plenty reasonable to say he could have been worndown. This isn't the only telling story though there are numerous other factors such as defense, park factors ect. One must also look at our current staple of pitching within the organization yes, Alderson and Bumgarner are among the best arms in the minors but at the same time you must realize that between the two of them they have 0 games pitched above high a so though they may have the upside of Scott kazmir and let's say Chris Carpenter(of the top of my head) they are still a very long ways away from reaching it. But, let's assume Lowry returns to his previous form of a 3 starter or so I think it's perfectly reasonable to look to trade Sanchez. With a rotation anchored by Lincecum and Cin for the next couple of the years and perhaps Alderson and Bumgarner as soon as next year it's reasonable to look to adress the other teams needs which is essentially any young position player with upside that is ready to contribute at the major league level. I think we should re-visit this train of thought...........https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3841533663452622434&postID=8084398248621842699 yes, take out the idea of Burris and replace him with Sanchez and you may be onto something. We have a very crowded outfield due to bad managerial deciscions by.........Sabean to sign Rowand, Roberts ect. but the potential impact bat ofYoung is something we are sorely lacking. The biggest problem i would have with this move is it makes it even murkier how we would get both Shierholtz and Young a substantial amount of at bats but it's defiently something to chew on especially since the twins appear eager to move him as well. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/02/twins-showing-i.html

Mini Mailbag

2009-02-03T21:19:00.001-08:00

Hello all, I'm only doing a "mini mailbag" I know I promised to field all the questions from last week's mailbag but it doesn't make sense to answer my own question s. So next mailbag we have I will need other people to field more questions to ask anyway here we go.

"Dear Henry, Out of the four highest touted Giants prospects whom do you see as the most likely to bust and who would you pick out of Posey, Bumgarner, Alderson and Villalona?) Thanks again I love your blog and love you even more. -Jeremy CA)

Haha Umm, well thank you Jay anyway let me disect your question like a lab rat. Conventional wisdom would point to either choosing Bumgarner or Villalona out of the four due to the fact that there both the youngest and furthest away from the majors. However I think in Bumgarner's case this is less applicable due to the fact that he flat out dominated an age appropriate level for him in low a and giants management is so impressed with him that there supposedly having him open the year in AA with Alderson. ( Bumarner struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings and issued 1 walk for ever strikeout while posting a minor league best 1.46 era so yes the term domination is appropriate. Yes, I agree Bumgarner is far from a sure thing ecspecially due to the fact that he's never thrown above low a and his fastball is much further along than his secondary pitches at this point. At the same token a mid 90's fastball with plus life and control from a 19 year old lefthanders arm is almost as rare as seeing big foot. But let's also forget Bumagrner's secondary offerings aren't chump change either. Bumganrer wasn't abllowed to throw a breaking pitch by his father until he was a senior in high school so the fact that he already has a major league average slider and shows great feel for it and a changeup as well are very promising signs that given the time the slider will be a plus pitch and the changeup at least average. He also has impeccable control having only walked 21 batters in 141 inning this year. For me he's a keeper, Jim Callis and John Manuel of baseballamerica have him as the second best pitching prospect in the minors behind that Price guy.......) Well I ain't tryna slack or jack but bedtime for this cat I'll finish this question along with Micheal's tm because of our short day good night and good luck

Hey all.....!

2009-02-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

Good news the Q and A with Schulman has been posted I couldn't post it directly on this site since I can't copy and paste. (as a way of preventing pirating other's content) so rather than typing it out line by one I posted it on mccoveychronicles.com ..........www.mccoveychronicles.com/2009/2/1/744193/q-and-a-with-henry-schulma

ill answer all the same questions tommorow also think of more questions becuase we have a mailbag comming up with the author of baybridebaseball.com jeff stevens check him out he's pretty accomplished.

Value

2009-01-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend earlier today, as usual we were debating prospects and various minor league systems. We then came to a stalemate. The question proposed: "Would you rather have Cahill or Bumgarner?" My A's amigo argued that Cahill was more of a refined product, is more likely to reach that ceiling and also has a substantial ceiling himself. I argued Bumgarner has a significant edge in potential and also has put up dominating numbers thus far to back it up and the argument that "he has a lack of secondary pitches" is baffling considering he's opening the season in AA and he already has a major league average slider and a promising change-up. This led me to another question......."If you were a general manager and you were given the choice money aside) to start your career with either the talent in the Giants or A's organization, who would you choose?

Let's dive in at the major league level, at the major league level I think it's safer the two most valuable commodities reside at AT&T park nothing against the A's but Lincecum and Cain are two of the more valued commodities in baseball today just ask opposing general managers. Two starting pitchers that are south of the age 25 and are proven frontline starters at the major league level are scarce. Throw in the fact that one of them just won his first cy young award and is arguably the best pitcher in baseball and the other has emerged as a strong #2 and has not even yet realized his potential and your talking about the San Francisco Giants. On the other side of the bay you have two very different players in Matt Holliday and Justin Duscherer both are veteran players whom have firmly established themselves as all star caliber players. However, Holliday doesn't figure to be in Oakland past this year thus damaging his overall value but it's still substantial enough to net a top prospect a solid back of the rotation starter and a closer. Duscherer isn't quite is valuable but as a number two starter he still figures to have a good amount of value especially given his team friendly contract. Well, this one is clear the Giants have the two most valuable pieces as far as the major league teams are concerned. Look no further than what the A's got in return for Dan Haren, then think of what Tim Lincecum could net the Giants on the trade market.

Let's not get to ahead of ourselves however, we must realize as a team you have to take the whole picture into account this favors the A's due to the fact that though they may not have players of tremendous value currently at the major league level they have many young players that could net a decent return..........part 2 TM

Brian Sabean

2009-01-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

As everyone here knows over the years I have been one of Brian Sabean's harshest critics however what he has done over the past two years or so has drastically changed my opinion of him and the organization. In my opinion the Giants very well could be in the best shape compared to any other national league organization. Let's put it this way the Giants have without a doubt one of the best farm systems in the game and the wallets to match. The Giant's will likely be one of the least effected teams by the recession because of the affluent Bay Area, there will still be a good amount of fans at games and a fair amount being spent on merchandise. They figure to field a competitive team in 2009 and beyond and a large number of their top prospects figure to at least be in AA by next season. The one glaring problem with the Giants is their lack of homegrown positional talent. But the times are a changing' out of their projected opening day lineup four of the nine were developed by the Giants in Lewis, Sandoval, Ishi and Frandsen. And three of the five members of the rotation were also developed by the Giants.

The past two seasons Sabean has shown a newfound dedication to the farm system as well. Sabean learned through the years that patching gaping holes on the field with ban-aid veterans was not a consistent way to win year in and year out. Unfortunatley Sabean started this re-building while competing formula about three years to late. Since putting an emphasis on building from within Sabean has flushed the system with a mixture of high ceiling talent with polished players that are ready to contribute at the major league level. If there's any quip I have with the Giants minor league system, it's the fact that the Giants have drafted "hard sign's" in recent years in the later rounds. My point being is that the Giants haven't really taken a gamble on high school draftees whom declare their going to school or draft eligible college sophomores I believe that you should draft them if there's no better avaiable talent and best case scenario you sign them and add the equivalent of a 1st or 2nd round draft pick to your system worse comes to worse you lose a 20th round draft pick.

As I look at the Giants system as it currently stands there's plenty of reason for optimism I see a possible all star catcher who could put up Russel Martin numbers offensively and whom scouts believe has the tools to be a gold glove worthy defensive catcher. I also see a pair of two teenage pitchers, one who has the chance to be the ace of a major league staff, one who is only a year away from being a member of a major league pitching staff and who can be a frontline pitcher as well. The one thing all three of these pitchers have in common is that they are only a year and a half away from the major leagues. All three are high ceiling talents that have been our system for only a year and a half (Bumgarner, Alderson) and Posey for six months. Given our resources we can also afford to hold onto these players long past their arbitration years ......sorry Jay. All I'm saying is that there's plenty of reasons to hold your head high if your a Giants fan.

Manny Ramirez and the Gigantes

2009-01-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know everyone is tired of hearing about the Giants and Manny Ramirez however, earlier today something very interesting was leaked via Fred Lewis of all people. Bobby Evans the Giants president of player personal assured Lewis that he would be in the lineup regardless of they acquired Ramirez. This would make one figure that if acquired that either Winn or Rowand would be dealt. If given the choice I would prefer to get rid of Rowand because he still has 4/48 million left on his contract and he would seemingly offset the Ramirez acquisition. Most likely scenario I could see is Rowand being shipped to the Yankees who still desperately need a center fielder. I could see a straight up swap Rowand for Swisher (Swisher has a big contract as well) but rather than netting Swisher back in return I would rather just have the Yankees eat the contract and we net a marginal prospect in return. At the same time if we did acquire Swisher for Rowand are lineup could look like this........Winn Renteria Sandoval Ramriez Lewis Swisher Molina Frandsen and the pitcher. That lineup features a lot more "thump" than any we have seen in years but it also features many slow veterans I would prefer to keep the money saved from dumping Rowand and slotting ISHI/Phelps at 1b if we do sign Ramirez. But then again if we do sign Ramirez and dump Rowand and put Winn in center for a year we have a much improved club offensively and if Ramirez signs for 2/36 3rd year club option for 18 mil we come out on top. So we would have a lineup that looks like........Winn Renteria Sandoval Ramirez Lewis Molina Ishi/Phelps Frandsen and the pitcher. Just some food for thought if we dump Rowand, Manny for two years wouldn't be all that bad.

Series of Posts Discussing Giants and the NL West......

2009-01-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

is being pushed back due to the fact that, a more appropriate time to do such a series would be Spring Training either way I'm going to make some posts about Angel Guzman and Buster Posey

The Others....

2009-01-10T11:35:00.001-08:00

Hello faithful on a slow moving January morning I've decided t try and size-up the competition to really see where our San Francisco Giants stand and the chance of them actually bringing home the NL West Division Title this is going to be a four part series to stack ourselves against the competition today we'll start with the Rock's and see who has the superior: Rotation, Bullpen, Outfield, Infield, Catcher and Team Defense and from there we'll see who the superior team really is.

ROTATION

This is where we have a clear advantage........LINCECCUM CAIN SANCHEZ JOHNSON zito........compared to Cook, Francis, Jimenez, Marquis, Smith. This is the way I see it the Giants have a clear #1,#2 two very good number 3 starters and a number five starter. The staff also has 3 cy young award winners on the staff and can potentially be the best staff in baseball if things break right it's also very plausible to say Cain, Sanchez and EVEN Lincecum can all take steps forward this season. I see the Rockies staff as a very good number two in Cook another number two in Francis a number 3 starter in Jimenez and two number 4/5 in Marquis and Smith. When it comes down to it theres not much competition let's put it this way in one 3 game series the Giants could throw Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez/Johnson (depending on preference) and the Rocks' would throw Cook, Francis, Jimenez don't get me wrong that's a decent group of arms but the Giants are head and shoulders above in terms of talent and production. Lincecum very well could be the best pitcher in baseball next season and Cain has a very good chance on being better than anyone on the Rockies staff and Sanchez will be most likely close to Cook and Francis in terms of production and perhaps better. There's not much of a debate about this give me the Giants in landslide. ADVANTAGE: GIANTS (on a side note this is how I see the rotation next season)

Lincecum 18-4 210 IP 255 k's 2.45 era

Cain 15-8 220IP 190 k's 3.45 era

Sanchez 13-9 185 Ip 175 k's 4.2 era

Johnson 12-10 170 IP 155 K's 3.7 era

Zito 9-13 200 Ip 135 K 4.55 era

Anyway I gotta Run LAX TIME! Post Tommorow

O' Boy

2009-01-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

"NOW BATTING #99 MANNY RAMIREZ!!" Oh Renel your crazy, what are you talking about Manny wearing the creme', orange and black? Wait, what if Renel's right? What if Manny is really roaming left field at AT&T like a water buffalo in search of a watering hole, dare I say fat contract? According to Denver Post writer Troy Renck the Giants have been actively pursuing the Disgruntled Slugger. And have also contacted Scott Boras numerous times. It makes a lot of sense on manny accounts (pun intended) but there are also plenty of reasons why it does not make sense.

As perviously disscussed the Giants have solidifed their bullpen as well as strengthen their starting pitching this offseason. They also figure to upgrade their offense regardles of any moves they make due to the fact that they have defensive liability Edgar Rentira pencilied in at SS (Giants had the second worst offensive output from SS last year only Orioles had worse) they also get a full year of Pablo Sandoval whom they only got 131 ab's out of last year. Aaron Rowand also figures to bounce back from his worst season in multiple seasons and a platoon of Killer Ishi and Josh Phelps figures to be more productive than Bowker/Aurillia. So adding arguably the greatest right handed hitter of our generation to that mix would only strengthen our lineup obviously but, theres a lot to consider.

We currently have an outfield that is more crowded than a community swimming pool on the fourth of July. With Lewis, Rowand and Winn figuring to log the most innings in the outfield and with Roberts and Shierholtz on the bench we already have five outfielders. So, it would be in our best interest to move an outfielder if we were to sign Ramirez. The most obvious piece to move would be Randy Winn who has 1 year left on his contract and has consistently hit .300 while providing above average defense in right field. His value will never be higher after putting up a .306/.336/.426 line to go along with 25 sb's 10 hr and 62 rbi's from the 2 hole. Winn should be able to bring back a B prospect and an organizational filler. At the same time we have to realize Ramirez will most likely comman at leat a 2/32 million dollar contract and most likely an option year if he reaches 1000 ab's in the first two years of his contract or 200 rbi's in 2 seasons in San Fran. Ramirez also brings an average line of .314/.411/.593. At the same time we must realize that Manny's best days are behind him and at 37 he on a steady decline even if he hit 37 home runs and raked in 121 runs and hit .332. I still think it's very plausabile to see him hit .300/.400/.525 with say 30 home runs and 100 rbi's. Which would justify the price tag but given the current glut of outfielders we have I don't know if it's the wisest acquisition ecspecially because let's not kid ourselves Ramirez would be a very short term solution to our great need for a bat. I won't deny the fact that we need a bat like no other but at the same time I'm not convinced it's worth 32 million dollars to pre-maturely try to win not only the west but the world series.
The idea of signing Manny is very intruiging due to the fact that it's plausible to say we would perhaps one of the best teams in baseball once you factor in our pitching. Yes, our lineup would still be hovering average but at the same time I expect our pitching to be well above league average think elite. The ability to throw Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez/Johnson in a 5 game series is as good as any team in baseball can match which instantly makes us serious contenders once we reach the postseason. At the same I have a big problem commiting the large quantity of money we already have to a very short term solution. Lets say we sign Ramirez to a 2 year 36 million dollar contract. We have already commited 21 million dollars to four players that don't figure to fit into our plans beyond next 2 seasons in Johnson (8), Howry (4), Renteria (18) and Affeldt (8) so we have roughly 38 million dollars committed over the next two seasons from these players. And 25 million dollars commited for the 09 season just from these four players. So if you were to add Manny to that mix you would have 43 million dollars commited to next season just from this offseason alone. And don't let me start in about Zito's contract let alone Rowand. My point being, is that were spending a good chunk of change currently and unless you really believe were World Series Contenders with Manny I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole.

Big Dick Part 2

2008-12-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

As I was saying a move to AT&T park will only help Johnson and it's not unreasonable to expect his era to dip lower to around 3.7-3.8 and thats a fairly conservative assumption to make. Because it's clear this helps us from a win now perspective let's look at the financial side as well as the future implications.

The only thing that stings is that Johnson is slated to make 8 million dollars guarenteed I was under the assumption that a one year 6 million guarentee with say 2.5 million in incentives would get the deal done because Johnson is from Walnut Creek he's no longer a 10 million dollar a year pitcher (which he could make with bonus incentives) and the fact that he's 45 led me to believe 6 million dollars is generous enough to grant to a 46 year old pitcher. However, Johnson will undoutebly bring in large streams of revenues from merchandise sales and ticket sales. He will be a huge draw due to the fact that not only is he from nearby Walnut Creek but he also five wins shy of 300 wins in his illustrious hall of fame career and will most likely be pitching his final season all leads me to believe that he could actually come close to paying off his contract.

When it comes down to it, this makes a ton of sense for the Giants, it gives them probably the best rotation in the NL West (future post) and perhaps the entire national league. Johnson is signed to a one year deal and will not block either Alderson, Bumgarner when there ready and propels this team from probable division contender to a team that strikes fear in Tommy Lasorda's heart.

I'm Back In Time To Welcome ...........

2008-12-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

The "Big Unit" to San Francisco! Wait what? Let's break this down like a cardboard box......... We now have a rotation featuring 3 former cy young awards, (which will later on become a trivia question down the road.) But trivia aside was this a good use of Hamilton's for our beloved San Francisco Giants?

Our rotation now sounds like a fantasy baseball melodrama with Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Johnson and the other guy........ZITO. That gives us the potential to be as strong 1-5 as any other team in the league because even as much as we all "strongly dislike" Mr. Zito he's still an above average #5 starter albeit one that pulls in 18 million dollars per year. There has been some scuttlebut going around the baseball world saying Johnson "fell off" his last album unlike Dr. Dre wasn't the chronic (sorry i had to) at the same time of course he isn't the 97 mph fastball slider that makes you want to cry dymano at age 45. But, he can still throw 89-93 touching 94 with good tilt on the old breaking piece and a decent splitter. And according to ESPN's Keth Law he struck out 22.4% of opposing batters last year which was well above league average.

Lat year Johnson went 11-10 with a below average league era of 3.91 and 173 k's. In the very hitter friendly Chase Field. Also remember the league average era was 4.32 for starting pitchers last year. What else is great is Johnson has developed impecable control as he has gotten older and only walked 41 batters of 181 innings last year which leads to a 4.2:1 k/bb rate. A move to AT&T park should only help his numbers to because Johnson has become a fly ball pitcher due to the fact that he's lost tilt on his slider and zip on his fastball which he has always thrown up in the zone anyway...................bed-time part 2 tommorow

I'll take suggestions

2008-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

to what people want me to write about. Open to all of baseball not only the Giants also I'm going to have a new column in which I answer the Giants mailbag on Monday's to

NL WEST DREAM TEAM

2008-12-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, it's Henry comming at you live on Monday morning from my room I'm sick so I'm obviously not at school. Without further ado let me propose to you my NL WEST dream team! I came up with this idea while talking to our very own Micheal Mcclure. This team should be built to win now and in the future you can fill out 1 25 man roster however you want.

C- Russel Marrtin Chris Ianetta CO

1b. Adrian Gonzalez SD

2b. Emmanuel Burris Sf

SS.Troy Tulowitzki CO, Stephen Drew AZ

3b.Kevin Kouzmanoff SD, Ian Stewart CO

1f.Connor Jackson AZ, Fred Lewis SF

Cf. Matt Kemp LA, Chris Young AZ

rf.Justin Upton AZ, Andre Eithier LA

SP.Tim Lincecum SF

SP.Brandon Webb AZ

SP.Clayton Kershaw LA

SP.Matt Cain SF

SP.Chad Billingsley LA

RP.Manny Corpas CO

RP.Huston Street CO

RP.John Broxton LA

RP.Hong-Chi Kuo LA

RP.Alex Hinshaw SF

RP.Sergio Romo SF

CP.Brian Wilson SF

Thats all she wrote! for right now folks either way, I'll make a minor league dream team NL west style to make us feel better. I also encourage other fans to make ones of their own divisions (cough, cough J AL west?) And yes I had a few biased picks but there's also no good 2b in the Nl West

C.C Sabathia and Sharks

2008-12-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone to the latest blog post on Brian Sabean's Successor today's topic you ask.......? What better than C.C Sabathia! But rather than pure speculation we now have very valid reason to believe the Giants are preparing to open their wallets and let those Hamilton's free. According to our friend Andrew Baggarly who said according to Tony Jackson Giants officials are extremely confident there going to sign Sabathia. Now, where do we go from here......

Before you Say Lincecum, Sabathia, Cain and the other two (Sanchez.........Zito) sound all peachy think about this. Let's say we sign Sabathia to a six year 120 million dollar deal. Zito would still have 5 years and 98 million dollars left and Rowans with 4 years 48 million. So we would still be paying Zito and Rowand a combined 30 million dollars over the next 4 seasons add Sabathia to your tab and your on the hook for 3 players making 50 million dollars a year or in other words half of your payroll. Or in other words you would have 8% of your roster earning approximatley 53% of your payroll assuming it's around 95 million a year. I say don't sign Sabathia in all caps. The Giants have already made two "Giant" mistakes it's best to led the contracts bleed out over the years than try to salvage them by making another mega-deal. But let's say you must sign Sabathia let's say Sabean decides it's the best way to keep his job while also trying to improve ticket sales this is what you should do.

Trade Rowand as soon as possible and get rid of the remaining 48 million dollars. (He has a partial no trade clause this year don't know to which teams though) Trade him for anything you can find, if you want a true center fielder in return swap him for Brian Anderson as mentioned in previous articles but due to the Giants log jam in the outfield I say trade him for a bullpen arm: D.J Carassco and a polished low ceiling arm like Adam Russel. This way it would essentially be like signing Sabathia to a 6 year 72 million dollar contract. This way you would have Sabathia and Zito making 30 million dollars a year as opposed to Zito and Rowand still not pretty but this duo would be much more productive.

Suppose you take the philosophy of "Let's trade Sanchez for a young high ceiling bat" (which I wouldn't) but let's say you do. You turn around and ship Sanchez, Burris and.......Henry Sosa to the Nationals for young slugging 3B Ryan Zimmerman. You could then move Sandoval to 1B and do with Ishikawa as you please. The Zimmerman deal may look a tad out there but when you think of it, it could make sense on a number of levels. The Nationals have no starting pitching (save Scott Olsen) and Sanchez has front of the rotation potential. They also have no heir apparent to SS or 2B which are being currently filled by the likes of Christian Guzman and Ronny Belliard which screams for a pre-mature filming of "That 90's Show" and with Sosa they get a nice young high ceiling arm who could either turn into an ace or turn into a relief ace. One must also remember that Zimmerman just hit arbitration this winter....he's going to cost a pretty penny very soon.

With all these changes you could have this Lineup:

1.Winn CF

2.Renteria SS

3.Zimmerman 3B

4.Sandoval 1B

5.Molina C

6.Lewis LF

7.Nate Killer Schierholtz RF

8. Frandsen 2B

9. Lincy/C.C/Cain/Zito/Lowry or cheap 5th starter

Winter Meetings.........DAY 1

2008-12-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well it's the end of the first day in the winer meetings and shockingly the giants haven't signed another player! (Buh dum dum chh) Cheesy punch lines aside the first day came and went without any earth shattering news, though there was plenty of speculation. According to our friend Andrew Baggarly the Giants touched base with 25 other teams to discuss the avaiability of numerous power hitting position players. Thankfully we have also learned the Giants have never and will never inquire about the avaibility of a Miguel Tejada and Paul Konerko. We have also learned that team after team has inquired about the possibility of Senor Sanchez playing for their team next year. This has made me come to think of the value that Sanchez really has. One could argue he has the upside of a number 2 starter and that his struggles in the 2nd half can largely be attributed to the 106 IP increase from the previous year.

This has also convinced me to believe that perhaps it's best to stand pat unless a oppurtunity presents itself. We came into this offseason looking to solidify our bullpen. Check. We came into this offseason looking to get more production out of our SS which was an MLB worst last year. Check We came into this season looking to add a legitimate middle of the order hitter? Not so much...... at the same time I look at it this way in order to add another check to the list we would have to deal from an area of strength , our starting pitching. If we were to trade Jonathan Sanchez our starting pitching would go from good to very mediocre faster than an Eugenio Velez stolen base. If Sanchez were to depart we would have a rotation consisting of Lincecum, Cain, Zito, ?, ?. As you can see the two 4,5 starters would be unknown quantities meaning I have no clue who they would be. Also, where would the acquired slugger play? Presumably 3rd base but thats where Pablo Sandoval looks to be entrenched for at least next season. Move him to 1st base and you never get to see if Travis Ishikawa's resurgence was for real. Can't trade him for an outfielder because we have more outfielders than we already know what to do with which leads me to tomorrows post trade Aaron Rowand..........

Winter Meetings...........EVE

2008-12-07T20:40:00.001-08:00

Hello ladies and gentleman, boys and girls I would like to welcome you all to the Winter Meetings Las Vegas edition. This year I expect a flurry of trades and early signing that will blow open the quiet market. This year the most active team thus far has been your very own San Francisco Giants whom have already signed 3 free agents and are actively discussing many other avenues. (Cantu, Blalock, Encarnacion, Hermidia and last but not least C.C Sabathia)

I will go on record and say this will be the most important week of the offseason for the 09 San Francisco Giants and possibly the most important week of Brian Sabean's career becuase, if he flops this year he's gone. The winter meetings are so exciting and important for a variety of reasons. First off if anything substantial is going to happen the remainder of this offseason it will happen here. Though there may be no announced trade or signing the paramters of the deal will be discussed at these meetings. Remember Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain for Alexis Rios anyone?

For once the Giants go into these meetings with an abundance of buzz. Because the Giants have already signed 3 free agents and are discussing many potential trades they will have many eyes upon them come tommorow. I expect the Giants to move swiftly as well I wholeheartedly believe that if Sabean and his posse feel a deal is right senor Sanchez will be pitching in a different zip code come next season. A dealing of Emmanuel Burrris would also not surprise me for a number of reasons. It seems the Giants never saw Burris as the heir apparent to SS and with Frandsen and Velez there who has a very similar tool set Burris is as expendable as ever and his value may never be higher. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, not becuase I want to see Burris leave the Orange and Black but because I see a fit: The Minnesota Twins are in search of a young cheap SS whom they can control for a very long time. The Giants are looking to hoard talent at practically any position and have stated they would like more power production from their corner OF bats. Delmon Young has been made very avaible by Twins General Manager Bill Smith. With a Minnesota OF that consists of Denard Span, Carlos Gomez and Micheal Cuddyer Twins Manager Rod Gardenhire has made it known that Young, is seemingly the odd man out. What baffles me is that for only being 22 Young has been very productive he has averaged a .292 average with 12 hr and 81 rbi's in his first two seasons and can realistically turn into a .300/.360/.540 30 hr 120 rbi monster in right field. He has more potential than potentially that whole OF save perhaps the speedy Gomez. The most two similar players through age 22 are Carl Yastremski and Tris Speaker both hall of famers.( I'm not saying Young is going to be a hall of famer I just think it's of note)

All of this sounds just peachy but before we purchase our trade for Delmon shirts let's take a step back. The Twins are going to ask for more than Burris without a question it would be silly not to but he is a good starting point. Second the Giants have an already crowded OF with Winn, Lewis, Rowand, Roberts and Shierhotlz in the wings. At the same time I believe the Giants will move two of the outfielders potentially if their inquiring about the avaiabillity of the Marlins Jeremy Hermidia. Another problem being is that before we give Delmon the keys to patrol RF at AT&T shouldn't we give Nate ample oppurtunities? Yes, we should given that his upside is considerable to and he has proven he doesn't belong in the minors anymore for two seasons in a row. If it were up to me we would have a Lewis, Winn, Delmon/ Nate OF with the RF taking a seat when their not playing or letting Lewis or Winn catch a breather or take over RF when one establishes themselves. Boys get ready Christmas is finally here.

My Top 30 (first 20 today)

2008-12-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here I present You With my Giants Top 30 Prospects and a brief summary of the system I will go over the list player by player tomorrow.

NOTE: I would change Fairley to number 10 and Rodriguez to 12 also I'll give my thoughts on the system as a whole tomorrow along with the final 10 i need my sleep..........any thoughts, questions or comments?Fire away

KEY: $=high ceiling (good regular or better 1/2 starter) , &=low ceiling (utility player 4/5 starter) *=polished (close to majors) , ^=Raw(far from majors)

TOP 30

#1 Madison Bumgarner- LHP $ ace potential sounds like a wet dream throws 92-97 plus slider average change struck out 164 k's in 141.1 innings with a 1.46 era

#2 Buster Posey- C $* all star catcher potential highly athletic C who moved off of SS well above average arm also used to pitch could be russel martin 2nd best C in minors

#3 Tim Alderson-Rhp$* 2 starter potential throws plus curve and fastball shaky changeup sits 90-93 but his 6'7 220 frame makes one think he could add some oomph to the fastball very projectable still

#4 Angel Villanona-1b$^ perrenial all star potential hit most home runs on low a team as 17 year old has prodgious power could realistically be .280/.370/.500 35-40 hr 100 rbi

#5 Nick Noonan -2b $^ above average 2b think .280/.360/.425 12 hr 60 rbi's 20 sb's

#6 Connor Gillapsie-3b/2b * not going to say high ceiling, but can be a Bill Mueller type may have to move off of thirs becuase of erratic arm

#7 Travis Ishikawa-1b^ could expect line of .265/.335/.465 20 hr 70 rbi great defender at 1b I believe should be handed the keys next year ultimate potential is maybe .280 25 hr 80 rbi's but thats a very big if

#8Henry Sosa-RHP$^ Merkin Valdez's evil brother has high injury risk, could be dominant 2 throws absolute gas 93-95 with a lollipop curve average slider and feel

for change but can't stay healthy

#9 Roger Kieshenck-RF$^ a college player but still very raw has potential for 30 bombs but also 150 k's runs well has good arm. Led Hawaiin Winter league in Home Runs and...........strikeouts

#10Rafeal Rodriguez-RF$^ definition of raw but talented has been compared to young vlad signed for 2.1 mill. Scouts question his ability to hit for average due to long swing again extremely raw but may have more potential than Angel V becuase he can play a sound rf

#11Kevin Pucetas-RHP & throws high 80's to low 90's has average pitches fastball curve changewith decent movement and control can be number 4 if things break right for him

#12 Wendell Fairley-CF$^ Where do I start? more tools than Home Depot and also my facebook friend. Center fielder drafted out of high school with plus tools across the board 5 tooler but lacks "skills" or polish at this point. May have been drafted in top 10 if not for inicident where he hazed a freshman baseball player. Jim Callis of BA has said that he could be a middle of the lineup gold glove center fielder. Also had college football scholarships from top Universities to play wide reciever so much talent it's ridiculous.

#13 Brandon Crawford SS$^ comes from major college baseball program but still had significant problems with making consistent contact but when he did he showed plus power and has good bat speed. A good athlete he shouldn't have a problem staying at short could be .260 20 hr 70 rbi 12 sbs

#14 Aaron King LHP$^ Think Jonathan Sanchez! throws low 90's and can reach back and hit mid 90's when the ladies are around throws promising curve and a rough change. Drafted in the 7th round this year out of a JUCO went un-drafted out of high school previous year which is an oddity for someone to improve that much. Has 1st round tools but little known track record due to recent emergence as a prospect my personal favorite/sleeper!

#15 Thomas Neal OF$^ probably to high for most fans taste but I'm a big fan of the burly outfielder, had a lot of hype after singing as a draft and follow in 2005 but has been injured often but still just turned 20. Has strong arm, doesn't run as well as he used to and has plus power. 2nd on the Greenjackets in home runs this year expect a breakout next year as he goes to the California league.

#16 Jesse English LHP^(Not high enough ceiling to justify ranking of a $ but still considerable if he regains stuff this year will be a $) Lefty with a very interesting background, same draft class as Matt Cain and actually outshined and outperformned Cain in the arizona league used to throw mid 90's with plus slider feel for a change. Conditioning became an issue and he was never fully healthy until this season. Throws low 90's gas with average slider curve and a plus changeup. succesful do to plus control but, if he regains stuff he can become a force to be reckoned with again.

#17 Ehire Adrianzia SS$^($due to defense) young 19 year old dominican SS with great defensive skills plus range arm and instincts but is currently lagging behind though. Came over to the U.S this year and hit .286/.382/.482 .............sounds great! but in only 66 ab's an eye to keep on in the future will never develop much power but may hit 10 hr's one day

#18 Clayton Tanner* Lefty who doesn't go anything great bu also does nothing poorly resembles Noah Lowry in many ways due to average pitches across the board besides plus change and gets by on pitchability (studying hitters, pitches to contact ect)

#19 Joey Marinez RHP &* Drafted out of Boston College in 05 Martinez is the younger version of Steve Trachsel unfortunatley has absolutely no above average pitches but has amazing control and is a groundball specialist has done great at every level of minor league baseball and will get a shot somewhere but probably not with the Giants. Watched him pitch in 07 and he looked like a 5th starter or short reliever at best

#20 Charlie Culberson^ (could be a starter or utility player as ceiling, ceiling undefined) very raw very rough, when THE G-MEN made Culberson a first round pick in 07 many were surprised due to the fact that he was seen as a slight overdraft but he rewarded them after signing and hit .282 in rookie ball. Oh the difference a year makes, Culberson stuggled mightily this year offesnsively and defensively at low A Augusta before being sidlined for the year with a broken wrist, true it was his first exposure to full season ball but at the same time it's disheartening to see a stepback from a talented youngster I could see him being a utility player at this point along the lines of Ramon Martinez

Edgar Renteria

2008-11-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

If you claim to associate yourself with the Giants you would know rumors were flying around today that we had signed Edgar Renteria to a two year eighteen million dollar contract. At first I was infuriated why was Sabean signing a rapidly declining 32 year old shortstop? The other increasingly baffling part was that Sabean was signing Renteria a week away from the arbitration deadline, why would Sabean sign a Type A free agent before the team can even offer the particular player arbitration ( this would ensure the Tigers our 2nd round draft pick due to the fact that we have the number six overall pick in order to have your first round draft pick protected you must have a record among the fifteen worst in baseball if you sign a type a free agent before their previous team can offer them arbitration or sign the type a free agent after the team has offered them arbitration.)? After thinking for a good chunk of time I came to the conclusion that the value a team would get in return from signing Renteria compared to Furcal would be astronomical.

First of all the latest rumored "high bidder" for Furcal is thought to be the Braves whom are rumored to be offering a 4 year deal worth 52 million. The Giants so called offer stands at 2 years 18 million but he would also probably accept a 3 year 21 million dollar deal. Furcal's contract comes out to around 13 million on average over 5 years whereas Renteria comes out to only 7 million over 3 years, a whole lot less risky considering the fact furcal only played in 36 games last year.

Over his career Furcal has averaged 11 r 66 rbi's and a .286 average which is not shabby at all. as well as .353 obp and .412 slg resulting in a line of .286/.353/.412 but, with stellar defense. Renteria on the contrary has averaged 11 hr 72 rbi's a .290 average and an obp of .347 and a slg% of .405 which = a line of .290/.347/.405. Oddly how remarkable similar the two players are huh?

Both players have their fair share of questions marks though, Furcal is comming of an injury plauged season and his defense has regressed a bit. Renteria is comming off a season where he hit a very low (for him) .270 and only drove in 55 runs but also made 9 less plays than the average ss according to the fielding bible. At the same time I found it remarkable how similar last years stats were for Renteria compared to his previous only trip to the AL with the Red Sox in 2005 Renteria hit .276 with 8 hr and 77 rbi's before being shipped back to the National league where he hit .296 with 14 hr and 76 rbi's. You have to remember prior to going to the Tigers he hit .332 12 hr and 57 rbi's. And last year he hit .270 10 and 56. Again I don't expect the guy to hit .332 next season but I definetly think .290 12 and 65 is well in reach, which would be great offensive output from the ss position for us, only the orioles has worse production from the ss position last year. I think much of his regression last year could simply be attributed to playing in the American league similarly to what happened to him in 2005.

Over the last five years Renteria has 54 home runs compared to Furcal's 53. Renteria has average 64.2 Rbi's over the last five seasons compared to Furcal's 48.3 (albeit he only played 36 games last year but that's still a difference of about 8 rbi's per year had he been healthy) And lastly Renteria has averaged a .291.6 average the last five years while Furcal has hit, .284.4. As you can see not only is Furcal the much more expensive riskier option, but he has also not been as consistent or performed as well as my new friend Edgar Renteria. At the same time I truly do believe the Giants have a deal in place for Renteria but don't want to announce it out of fear of the Tigers offering Renteria arbitration to claim the Giants 2nd round pick I expect the deal to be announced sometime soon after December 2. I commend Sabean and the organization if this is the case for making a great decision they very well could be gaining the greater offensive player for half the price. Thank you

Q and A with Giants Beat Writer Andrew Baggarly

2008-11-22T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hey guys here you go Mr Baggarly was nice enought to answer our q's and like to thank him for giving his time. Either way here ya'll go! Also visit his blog: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/

#1 From James in Larkspur, CA
1. Do you have any memories of Jt Snow?
I only covered the end of J.T.'s career, but the best memory I have is a catch he made at Wrigley Field in 2004. It was a foul pop and he had his back to the infield and flopped Jim Edmonds-style while making the play. It's got to rank among the best plays I've seen, and the best he's ever made. I'm sure he remembers it, too, because he tore a knee ligament on the play and a few weeks later he had to undergo surgery. J.T. is a classy guy and it's no surprise the Giants wanted to keep him in the organization as a coach and broadcaster. Oh, the Darren Baker save int he World Series ranks up there, too.
2. What is the best type of training for a sports beat writer like yourself?

If you really want to cover a beat, you've got to be able to write on deadline. The next time you watch a game, pretend you're writing a story and keep revising it as the action happens. You need to be ready to hit "send" as soon as the final out is made. There's no way to prepare for that situation unless you practice it. Also, I'd challenge you to write as succinctly as possible. Make your point and relay your information in as few words as possible. You may think you've got all the answers, but remember, people have short attention spans. It's only valuable information if other people take the time to really consider it. Verbosity can be a problem on the Internet, where you don't have the space limitations of a newspaper.

Writing is only half the job, though. You've got to be a good reporter and have good interpersonal skills. So take time to imagine how an interview would go: What specific questions would you ask? Then be prepared to listen. Don't have an interview script. If you aren't really thinking critically about the answers you get, you won't be in the right frame of mind to ask intelligent follow-ups. Often the story you intend to write becomes far less interesting than the story you get.
3. What is the favorite part of your job?
Being able to write authoritatively on a subject that I love and that interests me. And interacting with interesting people every day. That includes competitors and colleagues. I laugh a lot on the job.
#2 From Micheal in Greenbrae, CA
I Nate Schierholtz I believe is part of the future of this organization. Sabean has said that he doesn't see where he fits in in the future, but I don't understand how Sabean can overlook the fine numbers that he put up in limiting playing time at the end of las t year, as well as consistently impressive numbers in the minor leagues and a great showing in the Olympics. Would you personally rather have Winn, whose Giants tenure is coming to an end in right field to start the year, when we may not contend, or would you rather have Nate playing right? What kind of value could we get for Winn if we traded him now, or at the deadline? Thanks. believe is part of the future of this organization. Sabean has said that he doesn't see where he fits in in the future, but I don't understand how Sabean can overlook the fine numbers that he put up in limiting playing time at the end of last year, as well as consistently impressive numbers in the minor leagues and a great showing in the Olympics. Would you personally rather have Winn, whose Giants tenure is coming to an end in right field to start the year, when we may not contend, or would you rather have Nate playing right? What kind of value could we get for Winn if we traded him now, or at the deadline? Thanks.

That question is Barbieri-esque in its length! I'll use fewer words to answer: Schierholtz will get an opportunity at some point. He's out of options, so he'll have to make the roster out of spring training. Or he could be traded. A talented player will get a shot eventually. As for trading Winn, I don't get any sense this is something the Giants want or plan to do.

#3 Myself Tiburon, CA
I'm at a crossroad's, part of me would love to go and see the giants sign C.C Sabathia in order to give them the most dominant starting rotation and baseball as well as compete=2 0year in and year out because I'm tired of losing. This is my last year in the bay area for quite some time. At the same time giving him the proposed 20 million dollars or so over six years doesn't sound like the greatest idea when you have two other players, (Zito and Rowand) signed to long term contracts that already consume at least a third of the teams payroll. Signing Sabathia would make it so that 3 players earned an annual average of around 50 million dollars which would leave little roster flexibility and would be a problem with Tim Lincecum going through arbitration and making it harder to sign him to a long term deal without totally freezing the vast majority of our payroll in four players. My question is don't you feel it would be better to wait especially when we have numerous potential front of the rotation arms in the minor leagues (ie Alderson Bumgarner, Sosa and Aaron Kings interests me)?

First off, CC will cost more than $20 million a season. You're right, it's a risk to have so much money tied up in two pitchers. But perhaps the Giants don't believe they can lure any premium hitting free agents because of their ballpark. So if the cash is burning a hole in your pocket, you might as well go after a mega-rotation and try to win in a weak division that way. (It's also easier to trade pitching for hitting, though I'm not necessarily suggesting a Sabathia deal would result in trading Matt Cain.) The Giants may not feel they can afford to wait, since ticket sales are dropping off and it's hard to reenergize a fan base after the buzz wears off. Also, don't forget Brian Sabean is in the last year of his contract and he's got a new boss. He's motivated to do more than just coast through another rebuilding year. To answer one of your other concerns, signing Sabathia wouldn't affect the Giants ability to negotiate a long-term deal with Lincecum.
#4 Myself Tiburon, CA
My Giants top 10 list would be:
1.Bumgarner
2.Posey
3.Alderson
4.Angel V
5.H Sosa
6.Noonan
7. Roger K
8. Connor C
9. Rafeal R
10.Fairley/Aaron K (really really like what I hear)
a. what would be yours?
b.Player you deem most overated in the system doesn't have to be on top 10 list
player you deem most underrated?

You'll have to wait till February, when the Baseball America list comes out. We've got a lot of names in common, though.

Danger Will Robinson!

2008-11-19T17:56:00.002-08:00

"According to Tony Graziano the San Francisco Giants plan to make free agent pitcher C.C Sabathia an offer of 6 years and 125 million dollars." - MLBTRADERUMORS.COM

"Wake Up Henry Wake Up" "Hello who goes there?" "Barry........Bonds" "O Mr. Bonds it's been so lonesome without you, the times are troubling the Giants are at a stalemate rebuilding while signing unesecary veterans (yes Zito and Rowand I'm talking to you) that don't seem to play an integral part in our future and don't justify their robust contracts by their performance." "Henry, let me talk to you son when I was a free agent in 1992 and signed with the giants do you know what their record was the previous year?" "Why yes the Giants went 70-92 just like the 2008 Giants and finished fourth in the division also just like the 2008 Giants." "Well Henry you took the point of the story right out of my mouth adding a bona fide slugger or ace never hurts, you know we ended up winning 102 games the following year" "Why gee thanks Mr. Bonds!" "Don't mention it"

It's finally happened the giants have finally pushed that red shiny button, the one that you see in Austin Powers to release the shark's with laser beams attached to their heads. So what exactly are we getting ourselves into? Or what are we getting ourselves out of?" Before you utter a word from your quivering lips imagine a rotation of: Lincecum, Sabathia, Cain, Sanchez and the other guy........Zito. This rotation would feature 3 cy young award winners. Three pitchers under twenty six that have the potential to be at least number 2 starters. This would be the best rotation in baseball for many years to come. This rotation would greatly compensate for our troubled offense and put less pressure on our suddenly formidable bullpen. In 2008 the San Francisco Giants threw the fourth fewest amount of innings in all of baseball.

In 2009 the San Francisco giants very well could throw the least amount of innings in all of baseball.

To sign Sabathia, or not to sign Sabathia that is the question. C.C Sabathia over the last two years combined sports a 36-17 record with a 2,95 era and 460 k's in 490 innings. The 6'7 250 native of Vallejo is the definition of a workhorse and an ace. He also is only going to be 28 all of next year so assuming we sign him to a six year deal we will have him for his prime seasons. (Normally ages 28-32) We all know C.C is a great baseball player a true staff ace and if you pair him with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum the trio would wreak havoc on the league, at the same time should we really allocate 126 million dollars for yet another pitcher when we did so two years before? And the returns thus far have been short of inspiring? Lincecum and Cain are going to go through arbitration soon and must be locked up to long term contracts.

The 2008 San Francisco Giants have 57 million dollars currently dedicated to the 2009 payroll. (according to Tom Hardcourt of jsonline.com) Most players on the team are making around league minninum due ti service time besides Zito, Rowand, Winn, Roberts, Molina and Afeldt. Also, Roberts, Molina and Winn contracts come off the books after next season so there's 20 million right there. The Giants would still be with Rowand,Zito and Sabathia for the next four years at an anually average of 51 million dollars per year and they have also told Sabathia's agent they plan to go after free agent shortstop Rafeal Furcal even if they sign the burly lefthander. At the same time I find it quite troubling that the Giants could seemingly have so much money invested in 3 players. Which would leave them with little roster flexibility or in the future could prevent them from signing homegrown players to long term contracts. At the same time the Giants are finally out of the red (from the ballpark) and have began to make large amounts of profit that coupled with the fact that they only had a 76 million dollar payroll probably saved them at least 30 million dollars. Assuming they made more than 10 million in profit and the fact they usually have around a 95 million dollar payroll. Which would also cause one to believe that there payroll can be substantially higher than it has been in the past because our debts have been paid off.

Without a doubt in my mind signing C.C Sabathia could transform us into an immediate contender next year as well as the next couple of years. We figure to have the best rotation in baseball, with the most upside a decent bullpen and an improved but still well below average offense= a winning team. Our pitching will keep us in every game if we sign C.C and the addition of Furcal maturation of Lewis a bounceback from Rowand and a year with Pablo "thinder thighs" Sandoval in the year equal a much improved offense that could produce more runs than one would think.

Now time to put myself on the spot "Henry would you make the deal?" Had you asked me earlier in the offseason I would have answered with a resounding no , however given some logical thinking I would now resound with a resounding yes!" Let's face it I HATE LOSING so much that I have come to trick myself that losing is acceptable as a way with dealing with the current situation which is probably why I have become so obsessed with the minor leagues to distract me from the fact that we have been pounded by the likes of the dodgers for the last four years in the row. I have also come to the realization that given the Giants resources and amount of talent in the minor leagues we can be a sustained winner and we could afford to make these types of moves even in the midst of mediocrity. We are going to be good very good, very soon once the likes of Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson arrive we will be able to make a claim that we have the most talented home grown ML tema in the entire national league. With a rotation that consists of C.C Lincecum and Cain we could win the Nl West with that type of a pitching staff we could win the world series as soon as next year.

Good News!

2008-11-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

We have an interview lined up with Giants beat writer Mr. Andrew Baggarly, he write for the San Jose Mercury news and even personal favorite Baseball America and even has his own blog which I frequently read. This is very cool for me because it's the equivialent of collaborating with Lil Wayne for me. he even had a vote in the NL MVP ballot this year either way everyone can submit one question to ask him and I'll post the results via email when they come........must be about the Giants Organization ML, Minors, Front Office, Free Agency Ect

his blog: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/

This Week

2008-11-17T22:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry everyone I wasn't able to finish up with the "Henry Plan' tonight the unexpected signing of Affeldt was more important in my opinion and I also have my homework to do like anyone else either way, hopefully I'll get to the Henry Plan Tuesday and I have some interviews possibly lined up for later in the week. Sleep easy giants fans we hit a home run today.

Confusing?

2008-11-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

You know what's odd? A fairly prominent free agent has already signed just three days since the free agency period began. You know what else is odd? It was a reliever signed by the Giants. A move that is truly baffling considering we desperately needed a reliable late inning workhouse in our bullpen. Which means Brian Sabean made a great move? Wait that's an oxymoron but Brian Sabean did the impossible and actually made a sensible move. Which is a lot to say considering our last two free agent signings..........cough cough Zito? Rowand? On Friday November 17th Brian Sabean inked free agent Reliever jeremy Affeldt to a two year eight million dollar contract. For a reliever that sounds like considerable money and it is, but let's take a look at Affeldt's body of work.

Yes, he has an ugly 4.55 era but consider that this is greatly inflated due o his days as a member of the Royals rotation since making his move to the bullpen the guy has been lights out. The last two years as a member of the Colorado and Cincinnati bullpen he has posted era's of 3.51 and 3.33 respectively and also appeared in a total of 149 games which is an average of 68 and a half games over those last two years the true definition of a workhorse. You may be concerned that he's been overworked but I say say nay! Here's why up until the second half of 2006 he was a starting pitcher so he surely has the endurance to pitch in these games. He only threw 137 innings the past two years which is a far cry from the 194 innings he threw in 2006. Also consider the fact that he's been pitching half his games at Coors and Great American ballpark which have been known to take pitchers as their prisoners. Also you could expect him to put even better numbers than last year if his road numbers serve as a telling sign. On the road he held opposing batters to a .203 average and a .573 ops (obp plus slg) ladies and gentleman those are Brian Bocock numbers! Also eh's a true power pitcher whose average fastball is 94.1 mph according to fangraphs.com my favorite part is that he struck out a ghastly 9.7 batters per nine innings last year. Guess what? That's the second highest on the Giants! Tha's right go crazy folks go crazy! We all know he who shall not be named is first but he even beat out Brian Wilson and his bazooka fastball. (9.21/per 9)

Folks I pleased to say this is truly a very, very intelligent free agent signing I tip my hat to you Brian Sabean for being quick and moving in on the prey. I also must admit this signing whomps my "wishlist" signee Joe Beimel whom I like but I put up there because if they Giants had signed him it would have made me look very intelligent. I must say followers, fans and close friends our garlic fry money was put to good use.

Henry's Plan

2008-11-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

The giants are in a weird position this offseason, like a teenager going through puberty their uncertain what the future has in store for them, their also confused with their own identity. The giants are anchored by a powerful trio in the front of the rotation and they don't have much else(at the ML level) save Brian Wilson (pun intended) some interesting bullpen arm (Romo, Hinshawand, Matos and Espinelli) and thunder thigh Pablo Sandoval. They should be sotckpiling any young talent they can right now ala the A's and Nationals the past year however, the Giants are confused, very confused. Due to the fact that they play in the mediocre NL West and the fact that they have considerable recources they believe they have enough homegrown talent that they can throw money around and see a pony turn into a thoroughbred.

First:

Sign an established work horse reliever for the bullpen perhaps 2 a righty and a lefty. (Joe Beimel and Juan Cruz sounds delicious.

Second: Unload Aaron Rowand and his contract to the White Sox for: Brian Anderson? Yes, the numbers are ugly very ugly however this would be seen as a salary dump and the Sox are looking to contend next year so it would not be all that shocking to see them make this type of a move. Also Anderson is young (25) and plays a better centerfield than Rowand, he's a former top prospect with decent potential and maybe just needs a change of scenery? Yes, an obp under .300 makes me think of Neifi Perez to but let's cut our losses and hope we strike gold.

Third: With the money that was unloaded with the Rowand deal sign Rafeal Furcal to a 3 year 36 million dollar deal with a 4th year club option. less face it, Burris is not a good shortstop on a winning team....................will finish later going to james bond!

2008...........In Review (I'll do pitchers at a later date)

2008-11-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

We finished 2008 with a 72-90 record, tied for the sixth worst record in baseball, we only improved by one win at the Major League level and our 18 million dollar man was so bad at one pint he was removed from the rotation. Sounds like the script of major league doesn't it? I dare you to ask me "Henry was this season a success in your mind?" "Did we progress?"I would respond with a resounding yes and yes we did. In my mind this was the most successful season by the bay in quite some time but my friend you must look in between the numbers.

The player that made the most progress was undoubtably 2008 cy young award winner Tim Linceceum!! Boy that makes me think of opening day............at the same time there were many giants other than the scrawny fire baller who took giant leaps forward.

Emmanuel Burris! Most don't know this but Burris was a first round compensation pick back in 2006 out of Kent State university. He was taken 37th overall in front of a handful of players in that round who I would rather have Adrian Cardenas, Joba Chamberlain and Chris Coghlan but it's ok because Burris has actually turned out to be well pretty good. Comming into this year Burris's professional career looked to in Limbo, he had faltered terribly at High Class San Jose prompting the Giants to Send him down to Low A Augusta where he dominated the competition but still some of these players were 18 and Burris was 22. For context purposes this is where Angel Villanona played this year while he was 17 years old. This year was a make or break season for Burris and the giants pushed him harder than Salt n Pepa's 90's hit "Push it." The giants agressively skipped him past high a san jose and aa Conneticut surely developmental death right? NO! Quite the contrary Burris established himself at te major league level he hit .282 in 242 abs and even had a nifty .357 obp his slugging percentage was well a disgusting .387 but you know that's ok he was drafted for his speed (stole 68 combined bases in 07 but only 17 last year at MLB level has the speed to steal 50 consistently) and contact abilities and that's what he's proven to at the ML level thus far. He displayed great discipline and only struck out 24 times and even walked 23 times which is almost unheard of. ( To have 1 less walk than strikeout) At the same token one has to wonder if he can stay at shortstop. Yes, he probably can I'm just making things sound dramatic but it would be a stretch to call him a "good defender" or above average there he is merely mediocre or worse due to his arm. But, he would immediately be a plus defender if moved to second base due to his magnificent range and his arm wouldn't be exposed there.

Fred Lewis legitimized himself as a starting corner outfield for years to come. He put up a very respectable line of .282/.351/.440 which is good for an ops (on base plus slugging .770 is mlb corner of average) of .791. Consider this the giants had a team ops of .707 which is 28th in baseball only the Nationals and the A'S! Consider this Rowand and his 5 year 60 million dollar bag of fun put up this line .271/.339/.410 which = an ops of.............(drum roll) .749? Eww! sure he's playing center field which definetly relaxes the expectations of his offensive putout because the position emphasizes defense but still a 2nd year player (barely missed rookie eligibillity) had a far greater offensive output? Let's take a look at Randy Winn he put up a line of .306/.363/.426 which = an ops of .789 SNAP! Fred Lewis was our most productive outfielder? That's right ladies and gentleman Freddy was the best at getting on base and slugging the crap out of the ball (Extra base hits essentially) If it were up to me/if I were Brian Sabean both Winn and Rowand would be on the way out of town.............but that's a future post..............regardless of which as you can see we have finally produced a quality major league hitter. First one since dare I say, Bill Mueller? Or you could count Pedro Feliz if your in the mood?

Pablo Sandoval! Talk about "the cream rises to the top" this guy was only known to die-hard giant minor league enthusiasts last year. (such as myself) I remember seeing him play in San Jose in 07 and remember thinking "good bat speed, good level swing that has natural loft, good arm" but then I also remember seeing him chug slowly around the field and thought to myself if he doesn't lose weight he can't stay at catcher and the bat isn't good enough to project to 1st base. Boy was I wrong this offseason he dropped 20 somewhat pounds and his bat made opposing pitchers wilt like flowers on the mound. Consider these numbers..... .350/.392/.578 20 hr 92 rbi's those were sandoval's numbers in 112 minor league games! what my friends are Albert Pujols esque, yes, yes Jay before you ruin our excitement those are in the minors but remember minor league numbers are often the best indicator of Major league success. He then went on to hit .345/.357/.490 in 145 abs in the majors it's safe to say he's arrived. I personally think he can become a .320 30 hr 100 rbi switch hitting monster remember he has played 3b in the past and it was his original position when he signed..............thank you for whomever id brave enough to read this far

p.s FREE AGENT MARKET OPENS IN 4 HOURS AND 16 MINUTES!!! I'll make a free agent plan later ta ta!

Hola

2008-11-12T18:39:00.001-08:00

Hey whomever may be reading this, I have some homework I must slay before I can get on to doing other posts later tonight but I have any idea. How about you post a reasonable trade you would like to see your team make and give your reasoning?

Giants trade: Randy Winn and Kevin Frandsen to the Mets for David Murphy

First off Randy Winn is 34, his value will never be higher and I believe he is due to make 9 million next year while blocking Nate Schierholtz whom would provide better defense, power and would be much cheaper and we would be able to gauge whether he would be an important fixture in the future. (I put Nate's numbers through a minor league to major league spilts converter and over a full season Nate's number came out to be .283 19 hr and 77 rbi's) Randy Winn will also be gone after next season so may as well trade him and get value for him while we can and we have a potentially better option.

Kevin Frandsen is highly replaceable and even if he reached his ceiling would figure to be a .270 12 r 60 bri man anyhow with adequate defense and is already 26 while Murphy is 23 and put up an impressive line of .317/.397./473 albeit in 131 ab. But would be able to be an above average 2b. With good range and a stong arm for 2b (currently plays lf played 2b and 3b in past)

Post Away!

Jake Peavy: Swirling Trade Winds :Braves

2008-11-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Unless you have been hiding under a rock the size of Petco Park you have heard rumors involving jake Peavy and the Atlanta Braves more than once. It's not often that a very recent cy young winner in his prime and under a team friendly contract for the next three years is dealt. Especially to a team that had the sixth worst record in baseball the previous year. All of this along with Jake Peavy's no trade clause make for a very interesting scenario I say it's time to analyze.

The current package is rumored to be Yunel Escobar, either Jordan Schafer or Gorkys Hernandez and either Charlie Morton or Jo-Jo Reyes heading to the Padres. The other team believed to be in serious discussions with the Padres for the Alabama native are the Chicago Cubs whoose package would have to be considered far inferior given the current state of their farm system.

Yunel Escobar would be a fine centerpiece for the Padres. Yunel is a fine defensive shortstop (and just turned 26) and last year the fielding bible had him as the second best shortstop in baseball behind Jimmy Rollins. According to their data Yunel made twenty one more plays than the average shortstop. Pair that slick glove with ten home runs and fifty one rbi's you find yourself a fine shortstop indeed with an ops that also ranked seventh among all major league shortstops.

Jodan Schafer is an interesting one. A year ago at this time he was seen as a top 25 prospect by many after combining to hit .314 15 hr 63 rbi's and a nifty 23 sb's on the year. A potential all star center fielder with well above average defense in center (BaseballAmerica says he has plus ranger and a plus-plus arm). But.......things got worse this spring he tested positive for HGH but once he came back played very impressive in AA Mississippi where he hit .269 10 hr 51 rbi's and 12 sb's in little over half a season his obp was up and his slugging was barely down .(.06) Schafer illustrated he still has all star potential out there in center. As a player he does everything average to plus.

Gorkys Hernandez is the other option in the deal. Gorkys can be a Willy Taveras type player in the future. A center fielder he has strong contact skills but, his knowledge of the strike zone is a re-ocurring problem that keeps him from becoming the player he can be. He is a plus defensive center fielder due to his plus plus speed which gives him a knack for tracking balls down off the bat. He has a fringy average arm but his speed more than makes up for that. His instincts on the base path are raw so his pure speed doesn't translate to stealing as many bases as he could currently. But in a perfect scenario he becomes a great lead off hitter. .300/370/430 isn't out of the question throw in 40 sb's and thats a dandy player. I would still take Schafer over Hernandez though because in my mind he has a higher upside and is more likely to reach it.

Charlie Morton has always been an enigma of sorts, he was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2002 draft. He struggled greatly in his first 3 pro seasons but once he got to Mississippi a light bulb went off and things clicked. He then went to the Arizona Fall league that year and dominated prompting the Braves and Baseball america to hype him up. Morton throws a 92-94 fastball with late life and can dial it up to 96 when he wants to. He also throws a plus curve that has been described as "nasty" and an average slider and change to fill out his arsenal. He has the potential to be a number two starter but is wildly inconsistent but figures to be a three or at worst fourth starter with flashes of dominance.

I think this is a fair bounty to pay for three seasons of Peavy. (Though I am confused why they would want to acquire him at a time when they have numerous holes.) If not for the Padres making it none thee trimming payroll or Peavy's full no trade clause I would expect offers to be substantially higher. If I were the padres I would wait until after the free agency period to deal Peavy because chances are teams that lost out on Sabathia, Burnett, Lowe would focus their attention to Peavy

Matt Holliday and Billy Beane? Sounds dangerous...........

2008-11-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

When I first heard rumors of Matt Holliday being shopped around I envisioned the Yankees trying to find a replacement for the free agent bound Bobby Abreu. I then envisioned a package that centered around Austin Jackson to fetch the right handed hitting slugger. Say a package of Austin Jackson, Phil Coke and Brad Suttle. When I heard the A's were interested and having on-goings talks I assumed it was just Billy trying to gauge how valuable his own commodities were and thought nothing of it. But then when I saw that headlines I became confused. What was Billy Beane doing? But then the more and more I thought about it the deal made sense. Let's face it.....Billy Beane is a genius and this will be just another example. He seemingly took a centerpiece of the Dan Haren trade coupled that with a throw in of the deal and a two thousand five supplemental pick and turned it into a right handed hitting slugger that has produced along the lines of the Manny Ramirez's of the world in the last three years. In my mind Huston Street is an average to good closer at best last year he blew seven saves in twenty five chances before losing his job. No matter how you slice it gregg Smith looks like fourth starter at best and sure Carlos Gonzalez has more tools than Home Depot but it's not like he has proven he can hit consistently at the major league level.

If I were the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" I would be scared, very scared Billy Beane is on the prowl again and this time he's hungry, very hungry. I expect the Angels to have a big regression last year the proof is in the pudding. For one super closer Francisco Rodriguez and his record sixty two saves are gone. John Garland is gone. Joe Saunder's isn't likely to replicate either his 17-7 record or 3.44 era because his components don't lie. he gave up 187 hits in 198 innings, he hold had 101 strikeouts but also had 55 walks hiving him around a 2:1 ratio. Vladimir Guerrero is regressing. No more Juan Rivera, chances are Mark Teixeira will go where the money is which will more than likely be New York. To me all of this signals a fall from grace which should make for a very competitive American League West. I also don't expect this to be the last move from Beane. I expect Beane to trade for brewers shortstop J.J Hardy with a package that should resemble Vincent Mazzaro, Travis Buck and Justin Sellers? This would give the A's a very competitive team and a good offense to complement their young arms.

This also allows Beane flexibility, Beane could fool all of us turn around and give Holliday to the highest bidder. He could also sell him for a C.C Sabathia esque deal in July. Or if the team is as competitive as I think, he could allow the A's to go for it all offer him arbitration (which he wouldn't accept) and would net Beane and the A's to compensation picks. If anything this deal illustrates the A's amount of jewels in their system. They didn't have to sell of practically any of their future since all of the players traded can be easily replaced. Gonzalez by Aaron Cuningham. Greg Smith by Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Vincent Mazzaro or Brett Anderson as soon as next season all of which can be at least number three starters long term. Huston Street can be replaced by Andrew Carnigan or Henry Rodriguez in the not to distant future. This made me think of doing an A's system overview in the not so distant future...........either way in 2012 I'm going to get enough signatures to put Proposition B on the ballot making t illegal for Billy Beane to trade with any General Manager in baseball.

Plans

2008-11-11T10:49:00.001-08:00

In the near future I plan to do the following things. A. Analyze the Matt Holliday trade. B Give an offseason overview for the San Francisco Giants. C. A Giants Top 20 Prospect List D. Give my thoughts on the rumored deals for Jake Peavy.

p.s I also plan to try and get in contact with prominent baseball people and hold Q and A's

Allow Me To Introduce Myself

2008-11-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Hello my name is Henry 'm an eighteen year old baseball fanatic that plans to bring the San Francisco Giants their first world series title to San Francisco. The purpose of this blog will be to inform people, let people discuss their own opinions as well as analyze trades/acquisitions that effect the league as a whole not only the Giants but, this blog will have a strong focus on the Giants. So welcome! And encourage your fiends to stop by, I whole heartedly expect to eventually have a following that rivals MccoveyChronicles Mlbtraderumors ect.