The Dodgerhater: A San Francisco Giants Blog

The Giants' Bullpen is a Mess

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 19:45:00 +0000

Romo down. Flexor Strain.
Kontos out. Flexor Strain.
Lopez: 12.00 ERA.
Heston: 10.00 ERA
Strickland: 5.06 ERA
Casilla: Two blown saves, and a close call or two.

This is not the way you want to start a season. At all.

Despite their hot start, there are some serious issues going on with this team at the moment-- things we're not really used to dealing with. First of all, the injuries are ridiculous-- not that they happened, because you know, shit happens-- but that they're the same injury!

I can't say a "Flexor Strain" (if that is its real name) is one of the most common injuries I've ever heard of, but it seems to have made itself a home on the Giants' DL. Think of it as the hamate bone of pitchers I guess.

This is the very thing that shut down Cain for extended periods of time over the last year and occasionally leads to surgery. From the aptly named ThrowingInjuries.com:

The tendon on the inner side of the elbow is the Flexor Tendon. This is major attachment for the muscles in the forearm and wrist that power wrist and finger bending (“flexion”) and rotation of the hand into a palm down position (“pronation”). These muscles are clearly important in throwing a ball, from gripping the ball to putting spin on a breaking pitch. With frequent throwing, this tendon can become overloaded. This leads to inflammation of the tendon (“tendonitis”) and sometimes degeneration of the tendon. In more chronic or severe cases, the tendon may partially tear little by little. Rarely, the tendon may tear completely. Fortunately, most of the time these flexor tendon injuries will respond well to rest and time, but sometimes they don’t. In that case, surgery to remove degenerated tendon tissue and repair of the tendon is necessary. Though infrequently needed, the results are good, and the recovery is much faster than after UCL reconstruction.

So no, it doesn't mean Tommy John, but sometimes it is a precursor to something worse. Considering the abuse that Romo subjects his arm to by throwing that slider on a near daily basis, it's a miracle he's managed to stay mostly healthy for the duration of his career.

In the meantime, there are some holes to fill and some ships to right.

Lopez may be pitching his final season, but he's a crafty veteran and I expect him to figure out how to be successful one last time.

I'm not worried about Strickland really because he's got such an electric arm. He will figure it out, and he will one day be this team's closer. With him, I think it's mental more than anything. His confidence and firebrand of country hardball will one day mix with some constructive thought-- like a delicious series of mix-ins combined with Cake Batter ice cream at Cold Stone. At that time, he'll be great.

Old Jairo sounds like a budget bottle of Mezcal in a Tijuana liquor store. But that's what Casilla has been pitching like. He's hanging balls right in dudes' wheelhouses and they are getting hit a long long way. This is not something you want to see so much of so early. The weird thing is that there's nothing that suggests he is off-- at least on paper. His velocity is the same, his pitches aren't rated poorly. The only discernible difference between last year and now is that he's throwing his slider about 6% more and his curveball about 6% less. That's it.

So it comes down to pitch location and guys not being fooled. If this trend continues, we're going to have issues. The encouraging thing is that he's still throwing pretty hard and doesn't seem to be injured.

As far as Heston goes, I don't think he has a bullpen mentality. Some guys are just more comfortable starting games, and he may be one of them. I'm not quite sure what to do with him then, because clearly we need healthy arms with Kontos and Romo out.

{UPDATE: He was optioned to Sacramento today}

What's Jeremy Affeldt up to? Oh. Never mind. He cut his hand again.

And somehow I've successfully cut my finger washing my truck!!!

A photo posted by Jeremy Affeldt (@jeremyaffeldt) on Apr 18, 2016 at 3:39pm PDT

Somewhere down in Texas, Jeff Kent is wistfully stroking his mustache and nodding, his orange-lensed Oakleys reflecting the sunset. He knows all too well the dangers of washing a truck.

As far as what to do? Here's the AAA roster with the AA roster below it. Some interesting names in Triple A right now like Vin Mazzaro and Ricky Romero, but I doubt those two would be called up anytime soon as they try to rehabilitate their major league careers. I also doubt there will be any top starting prospects called up like Stratton, Beede, Crick, or Blackburn.

Steven Okert and Mike Broadway look like a good bet though.

{UPDATE: That's exactly who they called up. I was right. That's scary!}

In case you're curious, here's a list of our top prospects.

Also, I wonder what Tim Lincecum is doing? We seem to have a need to fill. Just saying...

Brandon Belt is one of the best 1Bs in MLB?

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 22:55:00 +0000

Really? He is?

Oh.

I have always had lots mixed feelings about Brandon Belt. He's too streaky, he's always finding ways to get hurt. He's too moody. His body language sucks. He strikes out too much. He's not clutch. When is he going to hit 30 home runs like a real first baseman? Is he ever going to change his walkup song? When is he finally going to put it together?

I can't be alone in all this. No way. I still find my mind poisoned by these feelings despite his significant role in two titles and on this roster since 2011. Is it fair?

Apparently it's not even remotely fair.

Apparently, he falls into the top third of first basemen since he entered the Majors in many rankings; both in traditional methods and in futuristic outer space metrics. It's surprising to me, even as someone who pays close attention to these things.

Since his first full season in 2012, he qualifies as 11th in both WAR and OPS. I'm not a huge WAR guy as you know, but I am an averages guy, and his .277/.353/.462 slash line has him at an .815 OPS-- putting him firmly among the game's truly elite 1Bs. Don't believe me? Look at this list.

Who amongst us would have put Belty in the same category as the rest of these guys? These are literally the best the game has to offer offensively, and there he is, The Baby Giraffe with the Gumby Shoulders.

Were you aware that Belty had a higher on base percentage than Adrian Gonzalez and Albert Pujols during this time frame? I wasn't.

Furthermore, nearly every defensive metric available has Belty in the top 3 or 4 of active first basemen. This is everything from advanced Fangraphs jibberjabber and gobbledygook like DEF, UZR, and UZR/150 to traditional methods like errors and fielding percentage. He's right up there with the best of the best. I hope this is the year he'll break through with a Gold Glove like Crawford did last year, but it'll be tough with Goldschmidt having won two of the last three and being one of the best players in the world.

Where he doesn't compare to the Goldy Goldschmidts and the Miguel Caberas of the world is in traditional power stats. I like seeing a guy with a sweet 30 HR/ 100 RBI season. It makes a man feel good, you know? It's a porterhouse and potatoes-- MEDIUM RARE. Hell yeah. God bless America. That's what a 30/100 season is.

If you need any more cliches, I've got plenty left, btw.

I think that's where some of the uneasiness around Belt stems from-- at least with me. Part of that is due to AT&T Park killing him constantly with 420 foot outs and balls off the brick that would be massive dongs anywhere else-- lest we forget.

But I have learned over the years that you can still be a really good player at a power position without putting up Edwin Encarnacion or Crush Davis power numbers. Sometimes, like we did here, you just need to read between the lines.

As for his contract, it's no biggie really in the scheme of things. Sure it's a significant raise, and will add another long term contract, but the Giants organization is loaded with soggy garlic fry money (they are terrible now FYI... poor quality control), and they can afford him.

"The new contract calls for a $6 million signing bonus, payable next Jan. 15, a $2.8 million salary for 2017 and $16 million annually from 2018-21. Each Nov. 1 starting in 2017, Belt may designate 10 teams he cannot be traded to without his consent."

So yeah, it's a chunk of change, and at first glance it's like, "Whoa. Brandon Belt is going to be making what??" But when it starts kicking in, they'll have Cain's albatross off the books, and (hopefully) the back two spots of the rotation will be taken over by prospects that are firmly and cheaply under team control.

Plus, don't forget that Panik and Duffy are still making absolute peanuts for years to come, and Pagan's salary comes off the books as well. In fact, between Peavy, Pagan, Lopez, and Romo, who are all free agents in 2017, a total of $40,250,000 is coming off the books.

This is another shrewd move by a team that seems to always be one step ahead and never manages to be weighed down by under-performing contracts.

More importantly, this organization has made a point of eschewing crazy splashes (although I suppose the Cueto/Samardzija moves were flashy), in favor of a bottom up approach and locking up its homegrown stars. I know they're all professionals, but it's gotta mean something special for all these guys to grow up together, to know each others' families and kids, and to be all locked up together on a team that gives a damn and does things right.

(We just became the Cardinals and Yankees by the way).

In a league with no loyalty and regular roster overhauls, it's sure nice to know that if a good young player comes out of the farm system, he'll be extended before he's out of arby years and that those high dollar shirzeys won't be irrelevant. We're lucky.

That's more than most fans can say.

Who the hell is Trevor Brown?

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Sat, 09 Apr 2016 20:15:00 +0000

No. Seriously. Who the hell is Trevor Brown? I don't even remember him from last year as a callup. That's how bad of a blogger I've been. I haven't even read up on randoms that made the roster. This isn't my job, per se, but people are hounding me to write something, and I'm not even prepared to do so! I suck.

Let's do some research together, Catfish style. Ok. Google Image search!

Click to enlarge. Borderline NSFW. And you will likely have nightmares.

I see mostly disturbing art by some sick son of a bitch that is into either abusing dolls or having dolls abuse him. Looks kind of like that weird school girl stuff the Japanese are into-- but way darker and more bizzare. Throw a sweaty, near-sighted serial killer from his mom's basement in Van Nuys with a Japanese pervert into a Vitamix blender and you have The Other Trevor Brown's art. I'm serious. Look at this stuff.

This is me right now. I feel you, Nic Cage from 8MM.

Mixed into this episode of Law and Order: SVU, I do see a couple of team mugshots of a guy that appears to be the goofy love child of Tim Lincecum and Matt Duffy! That's him!

The Giants took Brown in the 10th round back in 2012, and of course it's news to me that he plays a pretty damned good second base as well. In fact, he played 95 games as a 2B and 90 as a catcher between 2012-14, but they had him catch exclusively last season.

That's not only impressive, but it's super rare. More often than not catchers end up being more Bengie Molina than Craig Biggio (who began as a catcher), but the Giants really seem to have put an emphasis on versatility and fluidity. Hell, look at Posey. Even Susac fits into a similar body type with the ability to do more than just catch.

Susac of course lost the job in spring partially due to a sore wrist and Brown's hot start in AZ.

While I like what I'm reading about him, I don't think we can expect too many huge moments like the one Friday night against LA in which he:

Caught Matt Cain's first decent performance in forever and looked fine doing it
Broke up a combined no-hitter by hitting his first major league home run
Tied the game
He did so in the rain, AGAINST THE DODGERS
His moment ended up being bigger than Crawford's walkoff, which is insane
Most importantly, he endured and enjoyed the postgame Amy G interview like a true champ

Despite his red hot spring performance in which he hit in the high .300s, his track record in the minors stat-wise does nothing to move the needle. He only hit 7 career minor league homers, and sported both a .244 average and a .616 OPS. In case you're wondering, he hit .261 last year at Sacramento.

His moment was a great one despite its early season occurrence. In an early April game that felt like late September against the hated Dirtbags, he really rang the baseball bell for me, announcing that yes indeed, the boys were back in town.

While I wouldn't expect many more big hits from Mr. Brown, he's intriguing and I've enjoyed his presence thus far.

Odds & Ends

-- I'm really hoping that this pitching staff doesn't end being one where we "pray for rain" if you know what I mean. Remember those years when it was "Lincecum, Cain, or pray for rain?". Seems crazy, but let's say between Samardzija, Peavy, and Cain, we have 3 huge friggin wild cards-- Peavy and Cain being the least predictable, what are the next moves? Heston as the long man is there to fill a spot if Peavy or Cain go off the rails on a consistent basis, but when do they consider bringing up a Crick or a Blackburn-- neither of which seem ready.

What we should hope for is that Samardzija doesn't suck and regains his Cubs form that didn't take place all that long ago. As for Cain and Peavy? Just keep us in the game because I like this lineup.

-- Pitchers hit Eighth? I'm ok with it. It's certainly interesting. When Tony La Russa or Joe Maddon do it, it's quirky and weird, but when Bochy does it, he's got a reason, and the reason is probably a good one. Let's see where it goes.

-- How nice was it to see Dave Roberts picking up right where Mattingly left off? I like DR, I really do, but I'm going to have to make fun of him at every turn. He's the one that made that poor life choice.

-- What would you have done with Ross Stripling? Leave him in to give up a hit and risk running up the pitch count? Expose him to possibly ruining his own no-hitter and bumming him out? Now that I've slept on it, I don't have a issue necessarily with Roberts pulling him. He's a rookie, it was his first start, and it's better for a young pitcher's psyche to know he left the game with nary a blemish on the field. Hopefully he's not going to be a pain in our ass for years to come and regresses toward the mean.

Giants sweep LA and find their footing

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 23:50:00 +0000

There are few things more satisfying than neatly piling up dust, debris, and various garbage, then unceremoniously removing it from the ground in which is lays. Sweeping they call it.

Indeed these Giants, weirder and more unpredictable than ever, managed to remove blue pieces of trash from their unsullied yard in their first three game set of the year against LA.

I for one, did not see this one coming.

But hey, baseball is a funny game, sometimes a team needs to hit the road for two weeks or face a tough rival while at their lowest to get their minds right.

Certainly this team has major holes, but sweeping the dreaded Blue Bastards before hopping a flight to Denver could certainly be what the doctor ordered. Being on a team means rolling with the punches, lifting each other up, and celebrating when things go well.

I'd say a sweep including back to back walkoffs, followed by a happy flight is a helluva good way to get some revenge on the Rockpile and get this ship sailing in the right direction.

Thoughts about stuff

This Justin Maxwell sure is helping us out. It's going to be a shame that he'll likely ride pine once Pence comes back.
Same with Matt Duffy. When does he play? Who loses time? Do you simply rotate him through the infield giving guys a day off?
Belt is looking better, but we need him to get hot. We've been waiting so long for this guy to have a complete breakout year, and he's struggling horribly. Hopefully this Thursday performance will help get his confidence up. He's streaky, remember?
Casilla is not exactly inspiring much confidence right now, but he's not doing horribly. I'd say a couple blown saves puts him on the hot seat, but that hasn't happened. If he does continue to walk this tightrope and starts to fail, Bochy will probably just go back to Romo, which sounds even less enticing. I'd almost rather have Affeldt do it if it comes to that. Fingers crossed he gets his affairs in order.
Lol Don Mattingly. I love when he gets mad.
Who the hell is this Alex Guerrero guy? Whoever he is, I just picked him up in both my fantasy leagues. Sorry, gotta take a chance.
Nothing could screw up this Dodger-sweeping high like going to Denver and having the New Blake Street Bombers light up all our starters leading to an obliterated bullpen. Again. Fingers-crossed. Those guys can hit.

The Giants can't score

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 00:59:00 +0000

I looked up from my sushi at the TV briefly. I had lost track of time getting back from work and stopping home. The Giants were on already. Damn, I'd missed the beginning!

Then I squinted across the restaurant at the score.

4-1.

First thought that popped into my head? Honestly?

"Ah shit, that's all the Rockies are going to need, isn't it."

And it was.

Then I took a swig of my Sapporo, the only beer on draft, made a disgusted face and thought, "Ugh. Seriously??" That stuff is gross. Truly awful beer, but at least it's not Kirin Ichiban. That stuff should be illegal. I think if I ever go to Japan I'm going to order anything but Japanese beer (unless Aoki buys it for me).

Anyway...

Sure we're only a few games into a marathon and they've had injuries, but there's really no good excuse for a capable team like this being so offensively inept. Capable of winning a game every now and then by feathering the ball into the gaps or stealing a base mind you-- I never said they would hit any home runs.

(Unless you own a 41 pound cat and are named after a fringe Simpsons character).

No one is here to freak out, but this team has too many guys that have started out cold.

Pagan (.378), Aoki (.375, 6BB, 3 SB), and Duffman (.333) are the only guys on the roster hitting over .250 right now, and save for Buster who has 2 HR with a .219 avg., no one is doing much of anything. I mean look at these guys below.

It's totally gross. Belt is hitting .118.

These guys really need to figure it out if this team is going to stay afloat-- let alone succeed.

Thoughts and stuff

How good is Nolan Arenado? Just another all-world talent that is going to waste away in a Rockies uniform. I'm developing a serious baseball crush on him. Sorry, but you can't deny how good he is. Just think what this cat is going to make when he's a free agent if Doofus Sandoval got what he did. Speaking of cats...
I'm already tired of hearing about Matt Duffy's giant cat, and yet I've brought it up like six times in this post. I'm part of the problem.
Tim Lincecum didn't look horrible in his debut, which is good. What's bad is that he gave up that dong to Arenado early on. This team already has problems scoring runs, it doesn't need first or second inning deficits to worry about. 4 runs is too much to overcome these days.
How do we keep Matt Duffy's bat in the lineup once McGehee returns? It's pretty clear that the Duffman means business. My thought? Put him at 3B, move McGehee over to 1B, and sit Belt down vs. LHP until he shows any signs of life. It's too early to declare any sinking ships, but we're leaking already. Or sit Crawford. Or Panik. Sit them all.
This whole 14 days in a row thing is rough on the Giants. Even though they haven't had to fly much and started the year 20 minutes from their Spring Training facilities, it's a difficult thing to be thrust into two straight weeks with no off days. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals have already had 3 off days. CONSPIRACY.

The Great Hesto Presto saves the day

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 19:28:00 +0000

I still find myself thinking Chris Heston's name is Hansen or Hester. I almost have to write it on my arm so I remember who this guy actually is. That's how little I knew of him before his callup and subsequent victory over Arizona Wednesday.

Of course you could point to my lack of obsession with our unexciting farm system as the culprit, but I don't care. What I do care about is that this dude could turn out to be something.

Based on his interesting mix of breaking/sinking stuff and composure during a rough 1st inning, I'd say we could have possibly found a back of the rotation guy for the future.

NOW, this is based on one start following an unexceptional minor league career and 2014 callup. So let's do our best to reserve judgement for awhile. With Heston scheduled to toss the Giants' home opener next week, his level of gusto should be on pretty good display sooner than later. What's nice about his '15 debut is that he got to get his feet wet in front of 20,000 quiet people against a beatable Diamondbacks team. Kinda different than a home opener with 42,000+ nuts and a flag raising ceremony. He'll be nervous alright, but let's see how he buckles down. It's a good litmus test.

Notes & Stuff

-- Nice to see Casey McGehee get off the schneid so soon and dong that HR on Wednesday. People ripped the Aoki/McGehee moves as unexciting and weak, but they are the type of players that win ballgames. Think back to some of the hackers we've had on this team over the years. Pablo/Pedro Feliz/Brandon Hicks types that swing at the first pitch and take more poor ABs than good ones. Not a problem with these two. They don't care if they reach on errors every game, take a HBP, or single a Texas leaguer up the middle. They just love playing and contributing. They are perfect Giants. I don't care if it's only 3 games in. They're my kind of players. WAR be damned.

-- Matt Duffy rules.

-- I like that the Duffman is getting into the lineup and contributing, but I hate to see it at the expense of Joe Panik's ABs. Something will have to give at some point. Maybe Duffy will replace Joaquin Arias as our go-to utility guy and he'll end up playing more. I just like his energy.

-- Last year, I painstakingly made this Duffyman picture by hand-coloring his cape and hat orange and his boots black. I also added little 'y's to all the things that say "Duff", including the beers on his boozebelt, his chest, and hat. My S-Pen got a good workout that night. Please tell me you love it and it was worth my time.

-- For those of you that listen to KNBR in the morning, how nice has it been that Gary Radnich has been on vacation? Hate to say it, but Pauly Mac on vacation has been nice too. Anything that gives us less filler and more susbstance-- aka more Kate Scott, is good. Same goes for Ray Ratto on Mr. T. They really need to shake up some of these pairings.

Brian Murphy, Kate Scott, Larry Krueger, and Tolbert should be kept. Fitz and Brooks is awful (mostly due to Rod Brooks, Fitz is okay) and needs to be re-done or cancelled. The guy that needs more daytime exposure is Ray Woodson. He gets banished to Sportsphone 680 or fill-in duties, and he's just so much better than some of th
e guys I mentioned.

The other guy who no one talks about is Ted Ramey, who took over for Damon Bruce over on 1050. Since Fitz and Brooks is so painful to the ears, I listen to Ted Ramey a lot on my lunch break. I'm glad he got a shot. He deserves to be on 680 doing something.

If they only make one move over at The Leader though, it has to be canning Radnich. He is the worst kind of entrenched curmudgeon. Completely un-listenable, out of touch, uniformed, obnoxious... I could go on forever. Do people actually listen to him? If so, why?

-- At least we don't have that issue with our announcers. I can't tell you how nice it's been to get regular doses of Kruk/Kuip/Miller/Flem again. Best in the business.

-- Anyone excited for this Padres series? I know they went out and got themselves a team all the sudden and we want to dismiss them as hype, but you can't.

I personally love it when the West is competitive. It's so much more fun when these games matter. September in Denver, San Diego in April, they all matter, baby.

-- When Madison Bumgarner retires at age 46, he clearly needs to be our Head Groundskeeper/Seagull hunter/Security/Criminal beater-upper.

Good thing the Giants re-signed Vogelsong, huh?

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 22:17:00 +0000

Scarcely a day has passed in this ODD YEAR, and things are getting really weird already (See the title of my Opening Day post).

Cain giving the finger to his pitching arm.

No one quite knew the state of Matt Cain, but we were all expecting him to pitch in Phoenix this week. The excitement of his triumphant return has been quashed, like cow shit shoveled by a rancher onto an out of control burn pile. No, he's not set for Tommy John, but my God does that cow manure fire smell terrible.

That fire smells even worse now because a bunch of animal hair blew into it, and it's all Jake Peavy's back's fault.

Vogey is getting chainsaw angry.

Downwind of this shitty hair fire started by Cain and Peavy stands Ryan Vogelsong, the King of Shoulder Chip Mountain, calmly eating an enchilada, nostrils flaring, intense eyes burning-- not due to acrid smoke, but because he's ready to prove everyone wrong for the 417th time.

This fragile, inconsistent, aging rotation (minus Bum of course) was an issue from day one. Fortunately the Giants have a solid quantity of potentially quality arms ready to step in and piss on a few fires. Vogelsong, who thought he was destined to a season of long relief, becomes the first man up during the first series of the season.

No one knows whether he's going to be a guy that can rack up more quality starts than not, but as we know, he seems to thrive on doubt and pressure. He wills himself to get big outs, and has resurrected his career more times that anyone can count.

I love Vogey's fight and his spirit. Hopefully, we will love his pitching, as he attempts to fill the void left by Cain and Peavy, however long it may last.

Thoughts and stuff

HAY PABLOO! HAVE ANOTHAH LOBSTAH ROLL YA BASTAHD! (Pablo went 0-3 with a Silver Sombrero in his first game as a Sawk. Good.
Unfortunately, Pablo's BFF Hanjob Ramirez hit two home runs. Can't win em all I guess.
I feel like Game 1/162 is going to be a microcosm of 2015. Everything from the Romo double to Roberto Kelly's stop sign, to...
...the top of the order being AWESOME. How bout those OBP machines Aoki, Panik, and Pagan?? Yeah!!! I can't tell you how nice it is to have a team that gets hits. I don't even care that they just hit a bunch of singles. We've had years when we don't even get THAT.
I'll take a team that hits a bunch of consistent singles than a team that hits a HR once a game.
It's ironic that a guy that is just so awesome is referred to as "Bum" so often.
Anyone see how the Marlins had a rain delay in their retractable roof stadium? Apparently how they judge whether to open or close it is based on three executives who check apps on their phones and let stadium staff know. Perhaps it's time to consult an expert. Good luck getting Jeff Loria to sign off on that.
List of new Dodgers that we have to hate: Jimmy Rollins, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson, Howie Kendrick, Yasmani Grandal, and Joc Pederson.
I was watching the Madres-Doyers game at work yesterday and Jimmy Rollins hit a 3 run homer because Shawn Kelly and Yonder Alonzo couldn't figure out where first base was. Rollins is on my list now, whether we like it or not. It's a shame.
Also a bummer that we have to hate Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy, who absolutely OWN Twitter. McCarthy just called some Yankee fan a "tit" the other day. Gold Jerry! Gold!
Classy move by Arizona to honor Lon Simmons. Kuiper was surprised that they did that, because he has been retired for some time and didn't have connections to Arizona. But, Kuip forgot that Lon Simmons has connections to the Oakland A's, and Tony LaRussa and Dave Stewart now run the Diamondbacks. So classy move, TLR and Old High Voice.
When new Cubs manager Joe Maddon hit Jon Lester 8th on Sunday, do you think Tony LaRussa called him to congratulate him or did he ask for royalties? #PitchersHit8th
Casey McGehee and Nori Aoki will be fan favorites almost immediately. Guaranteeing it.

So the odd year begins, may it be weirder than ever

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 19:04:00 +0000

Sometimes you just run out of things to say.

What can you say that hasn't already been written or said about the Giants and these last 5 years? It's simply mind-boggling what they've accomplished, and I'm still pinching myself from 2010, let alone the other two.

As this team heads into another odd year with yet another unexpected ring in tow, they have the unique distinction of having more questions than answers, and having two teams in their division significantly favored over them, fair or not.

I say "unique" only because, you know, it's the Giants.

What other team could win 3 in 5 and be considered a 3rd place team before the season starts with so few changes?

The lost Pablo. Okay. Sort of a big deal.

Sometimes Pablo was great, but let's be honest, he was good for about 3-5 streaks a year and a great postseason performance (after he got his life together post-2010). They'll miss 3 HRs against the Tigers and all those singles from 2014.

The honest to God truth of the matter is though, that he was just a little bit better than average. Larger than life, and a marketing department's dream, yes. A regular season superstar however, he never was.

Look at 2014's regular season. .279 with 16 HRs and above average defense. That's a solid player, that's a a good player, but that's not a great player.

I am not downplaying his contributions to this team, especially in the postseason. I am not downplaying his impact on the fanbase or on the bottom line. He was a great Giant overall, but a great player, he was not. He was the 11th most valuable 3B last year according to WAR, and he had a lower batting average, on base percentage, and only scored 8 more runs than his cheap and scrappy replacement, Casey McGehee.

Again. Not saying we're not going to miss him at all, I'm just saying that he wasn't truly great, and all that shit he said on the way out left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Adios Pablo, and good luck with Boston being sympathetic to your cold streaks and new lobstah roll addiction.

Other thoughts

-- Tell him goodbye. Rest in peace Lon Simmons. Although your heyday was well before my time, there's no question you were an absolute legend. What I wouldn't give to sit down with our Giants broadcasting team with a couple other legends and hear the stories they'd tell. Hell, invite Vin Scully while we're at it. Maybe this can be arranged once we're all dead because of ISIS or Al-Shabab and we'll all meet up in heaven. It's a plan.

-- Get well Hunter Pence. This team's OF will probably account for 35 HRs combined WITH Pence. Without him, as I read somewhere, "this OF has so little power, it's comical". Where have we heard that one before? Oh yeah, like almost every year.

-- OH YEAH! Duffman returns. Get your Duff and Duff Light ready, because Matt Duffy made the roster with a .361 Spring over the perpetually lame Ehire Adrianza. I will be glad to see Adrianza finally off the roster, as he is out of options and will probably be grabbed by some desperate team of jerks. Adrianza was a poor man's Manny Burriss. I'm glad to see Duffy rewarded for his play, and I'm also looking forward to him playing all over the diamond to get into the lineup. Then he will take advantage of a random injury, gain 5 position fantasy eligibility and will become the new Ben Zobrist.

I guy can dream, right?

-- If Gary Brown gets cut and claimed by the Cardinals and assigned to AAA Memphis and no one cares, does he make a sound? The answer is no, because that happened, and no one talked about it once. I wish him well, but it's safe to say, he was a complete waste of a 1st round pick.

-- The rotation possibilities are endless, because we don't know who's good and who sucks. Who will join Bum, Peavy, Cain, and Hudson in the rotation for the long haul? Or will it be a constant revolving door of maybes, has beens, and spot starts between Lincecum, Petit, and Vogelsong? Spring training numbers told us they all looked pretty bad, with Peavy having a near 10.00 ERA. If I had to wager a guess, they'll trot out Lincecum until we've all had it with him, then Vogelsong will end up in there with Petit mopping up innings and spot starting due to injury.

Then there's the what ifs related to injury. Will Matt Cain regain his form or will he be a gopherballer with diminished velocity? Is Hudson done? Is Peavy done? Is Lincecum done? Is Vogelsong done?

Hahaha. Patterns and speculation are fun!

-- The Padres have a lot of good players

-- The Dodgers have a lot of good players

-- I think we're still good, but I'm not sure

-- Tell me the last time a paper champion won a World Series. 2009 Yankees? 2007 Red Sox? The point is, it doesn't happen very often. Good luck trying to buck that trend, Doyers and Madres.

-- I predict that Belt, Posey, Pence, Panik, Crawford, McGehee, Aoki, and Pagan will hit a combined 100 HR. We'll get another 20 from randoms, and that puts us at 120. That is 12 down from last year's total of 132, which would have put us at 25th in the league. No Morse, no Panda, makes a little too much sense, right?

Don't feel too bad about our return to the bottom of the power rankings though. Kansas City hit 95 HR last year-- which was worst in baseball. So, we can still make it to the World Series and lose, right? Pretty good for an odd year.

-- Bochy and Sabean are locked up until they're really old. Good for them, they've earned it. I have no issue with that. Also good to see Bobby Evans named General Manager. He's been the guy behind the contracts and scouting for a very long time. Sabean made the decisions, but Evans was the one talking to the agents, drawing up the contracts, and doing the research. He was the man behind the man, and now he is the man. Truly proving that in the right situation, hard work pays off. Plus, he's a very candid interview to listen to. Wonder who he got that from...

Once Pagan and Belt go down with their annual injuries, can we find a way to trade for Allen Craig please? Boston is literally not using him this year. Maybe being close to his old stomping grounds at Cal will help him find his mojo. Just a thought.

Speaking of Belt, how many more years of snakebitten disappointment are we going to sign up for before it's time to cut bait? It's the same thing every year. Freak injuries or lack of confidence do him in one way or another. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a goddamn 150 game, 30 HR breakout season. He's well overdue and I'm tired of waiting.

I'M EXCITED.

LET'S PLAY SOME BASEBALL!

A dynasty is born, just like we all predicted

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 20:00:00 +0000

Ha. What a lie. No one saw this coming. Well except for me, kinda.

I think once the ball got rolling during the NLDS though, we were all convinced that the Giants would take these playoffs and make them their bitch.

It's been the story all three times-- unfolding differently, yet the same. They just get rolling, the pitching shows up when it needs to, and the rest is history.

Of our three World Championships though, this one was the least expected, and the closest contested. Sure 2012 required multiple massive comebacks in the NLDS vs. Cincinnati and the NLCS vs. St. Louis, but the World Series was a 4-0 breeze against Detroit.

There were no such breezes in 2014. In fact, it was nothing but a strong and steady headwind.

The way in which this team ground out series wins one after the other, how they won big games on the road, and how they bounced back after tough losses was nothing short of incredible.

The way this mix of young and experienced players gelled together and turned this into another winner was unexpected, and a joy to watch.

Between Bruce Bochy's steady hand, Panda's consistency, and all the clutch plays-- Ishi's NLCS Walkoff, Panik's insane double play, Morse's unexpected contributions... it's just hard to put it all into words. But hey, that's October for ya.

This cute Colorado isn't worthy of Madbum.

And is there anything else you can say about Madison Bumgarner that hasn't been said already? He is a monster among men, a pillar of strength, and the type of dedicated, broad-shouldered, fearless man on which this country was built and why it has prospered.

High enough praise for him? Probably not.

Just like his World Series MVP present, the mid-sized Chevy Colorado. It could never be enough.

This is a metaphor for Bumgarner. Ford or Ram work too.

Get that man a Silverado 3500 dually 4x4 with the Duramax Diesel. Madison Bumgarner ain't no sissy gas engine. He's a big ol' American diesel capable of pulling 20,000+ pounds of steer. He has the torque and dependability to pull an entire organization and city with him. Without his brute force and excellence, this team would've been stuck on the side of the road in Pittsburgh.

If Bum is the truck, Bochy's driving, Pence is the fuel, Panda is the dual heavy duty batteries, and Buster is the tires. The rest of the players make up various parts, and Hunter Strickland is in the trailer passed out drunk and being carried along as dead weight. But enough of all that nonsense.

We'll all remember each World Series title for different things. For obvious reasons, nothing will top the feeling we got for the 2010 title. The delirium and euphoria of the first time could never be replicated. 2012 was the one we all got to enjoy, the icing on the cake. 2014 will forever be etched as the title that clinched the Dynasty-- the Madison Bumgarner World Series; the "House Money" run that no one expected. It is as unique and beautiful as the other two.

I can say that no matter what happens for the rest of my life as a Giants fan, that my life was made-- THREE TIMES-- and no one can ever take that away. Even if they never sniff another title as long as I live, I'm satisfied.

But I'll always want more. Let's do it again.

San Francisco Giants dynasty status four wins away

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 22:30:00 +0000

How did we get here?

I'm not sure I can answer without shaking my head incredulously and rambling uncontrollably. I'm not sure if the Giants themselves can answer that question. Although the simple answer may just be "Champion Blood".

To put it more simply, they just have "it".

"It" could mean anything. Difficult to define, but you know it when you have it. In the Giants' case you've got a great mix of players-- many of whom have won a World Series in San Francisco before. You have an excellent, and successful coaching staff-- one of the best in baseball. You've got a home field advantage, chemistry, an electric atmosphere, and a little bit of luck. It's in many ways, a perfect storm.

Kansas City may have "it" too though. They don't have the experience, the coaching staff, the big names, or the success. What they do have, however, is an exceptional mix of young players, who literally don't know any differently-- which could be a huge advantage. Fearlessness is something is to be feared by an opponent.

Furthermore, KC's style of play is conducive to winning close games-- much like the Giants. Bunts, stolen bases, hit & runs and the like all put pressure on defenses, on pitchers, catchers, and everyone else.

A single by Lorenzo Cain or Jerrod Dyson is more than a single. That single has the potential to take scoring position by force. Any further hits have the potential of driving in a run when a similar hit would only move most runners up. Couple that with a nasty bullpen, excellent defense, and timely hitting... well... the Royals start sounding a bit like the Giants.

As similar as these teams are in some facets, the Giants have a distinct advantage overall.

The advantage isn't about Bumgarner or Posey. This advantage isn't an intangible such as experience or chemistry. In fact, it has nothing to do with players at all.

The Giants' most significant advantage over the Kansas City Royals is Manager Bruce Bochy.

If you're reading this, you know I'm right. You've seen it, just like I have. You saw Bochy's steady calloused hand guide this mess of ship with a scurvy-afflicted crew and tattered sails straight into the World Series.

When this team started taking on water halfway through the season, his only response was, "Steady as she goes."

When people started jumping overboard and giving up. He didn't flinch.

Instead, he found a way to plug the holes with a Petit, a Peavy and a Panik, and made it into the Wild Card round to face Pittsburgh-- doing so without Matt Cain and Angel Pagan. He did so saddled with an ineffective Tim Lincecum, an injured Mike Morse, and Travis Ishikawa playing left field.

Even with this seemingly desperate situation at hand, his low, gravelly vocal chords barked out,

"FULL STEAM AHEAD!"

And they haven't looked back.

After distinctly outmaneuvering and carving up inexperienced ex-Giants Matt Williams and Mike Matheny in the NLDS and NLCS respectively, the Giants' fearless old captain has Ned Yost squarely in his sights.

People who know things about baseball know that the Royals have accomplished what they have at times in spite of Ned Yost, not because of him.

Think of how we got here in the first place. Ishikawa hits a HR off of young starter Michael Wacha, who never should have been put in the game by Mike Matheny. Bochy never makes that move in a hundred years.

Well Yost made the same boneheaded move earlier in the playoffs with his young starter Yordano Ventura, who'd never made a bullpen appearance and was pitching on two days rest.

Again, the Royals are here in spite of Ned Yost.

I'm not going to sit here are tell you he's the worst manager ever and that he's useless. His players love playing for him, and his aggressive NL-style small ball parade has been successful.

I just know that Bochy knows what he's doing, and nearly everything he touches in the postseason turns to gold.

This will be the biggest difference in this series, and you would have a helluva time trying to prove me otherwise. With this unthinkable third World Series on the horizon getting closer and into view, the Giants have the Royals exactly where they want them. Forget the numbers, forget the talking heads. Remember where this team has been, and where you know they're going.

They're about to pull into port and raise that third flag; he flag of the Giants Dynasty.

The Giants didn't come this far to lose, and they're not going to. We have that Champion's Blood running through us, so let's saddle it the hell up. We're burnin' it down.

Giants "House Money" run boggles the mind, makes me happy

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:51:00 +0000

People will ask me in passing, "Getting nervous for tonight?" or "This must be nerve-wracking. Isn't it crazy?"

I've finally come to grips with my actual feelings recently, and they're not what I usually expect to happen.

Over the years, I've driven myself to tears and even to dry heaving over playoff sports. You could say I'm pretty into it. This year though, there's something different.

That feeling is, I'm just happy to be here, and I'm enjoying it, win or lose.

Obviously I want them to win the World Series, and I'd be disappointed if they didn't, but honestly, this most recent "even year" run is so unexpectedly awesome, that I'm happy no matter what. It's sort of the difference between the 2010 and 2012 title runs. With the first one, I was a nervous wreck and could hardly be around other people, followed with the euphoria and disbelief of victory being one of the best feelings I've ever experienced.

The '12 World Series? Whole 'nother ballgame. I enjoyed that one so much more while it was happening, because in effect, we were playing with house money.

I could already die a happy man after 2010, so 2012 was just gravy on this magnificently unexpected train to baseball immortality.

So you can imagine that this trend has continued for me-- as strange as that may seem.

No one, absolutely no one in their right mind thought that this particular Giants team would be 2 wins away from the World Series during the Great Depression they put us all through this season. It was such a low point of such sickening losing, that I almost just wanted the season to end. We all did. It was so depressing.

How could a team go from so good, to so horrific, to magically successful all in one season? It all defies logic, and because it makes no sense that we're here, I'm enjoying every bit of it.

I can't help thinking though about how much more nervous I should be; how I should be more upset when the ball doesn't bounce our way. Why aren't I a basket case like I used to be?

The answer is simple: we weren't supposed to be here.

Not only that, but we aren't beloved underdogs like the Royals either. America is soooooo over us. Luckily though, America is even more over the Cardinals, so I think people root for us by default.

But come Series time, America is rooting for those underdog Royals, or possibly Orioles, if they pull off the unthinkable. We're no longer cute and intriguing underdogs. We're weirdly successful and confusing to the mind.

We're the quirky, socially awkward team that's never been good enough on paper, but continue to run said paper through the shredder, then make accidental recycled works of art that sell for millions.

That's why I'm having such a good time. We're on the verge of creating another one of those accidental recycled masterpieces out of the paper we never look good enough on.

Dealer, let's let it ride. We're playing with house money.

Thoughts and musings

LOL Dodgers!

Seriously! How great was it when they lost? I was almost more excited about the Dodgers losing than the Giants beating the Nats. It was amazing.

Part of being "The Dodgerhater" means that those bastards winning the World Series is the worst possible thing ever-- similar to the feeling I got when the Seajerks beat the Niners en route to their Superbowl win. Damn you Broncos. Damn you for losing.

But I digress.

There's nothing better than the failure of such a star-studded group over overpaid a-holes. It damn
near brings a tear to my eye, it's so beautiful. Thank you Cardinals, thank you for that.

Also, thank you for Randy Choate's poor throw to first base.

Also, thank you for Mike Matheny's questionable managing decisions with pitchers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce Bochy has apparently caught Mathenyitis, because he too has made some questionable pitching moves. You know, with the Stricklands, and the Romos and such.

My question isn't so much to do with those things, but WHY ARE TIM LINCECUM AND YUSMEIRO PETIT ON THE NLCS ROSTER IF THEY'RE NEVER GOING TO PITCH?

Lincecum, I get. He's a liability. Fine, don't put him in the game. But then why is a rookie who never pitched in Fresno getting the call? Why is Lincecum on the roster instead of oh, I don't know, SOMEONE WHO WILL PLAY?

It's truly bizarre to me.

Also, can we get Petit into the game? The guy has been nails, and he hasn't even been seen in the bullpen in Christ knows how long. What is going on here? Give me Petit after the starter gets the hook, and save Javy Lopez and Affeldt for lefties later on in the game. It's just plain weird.

Long series though. We'll see how it goes. Just an interesting use of personnel.

I won't question Bochy anymore though. If there's anyone who could turn Joe Dirt's lucky meteor into an actual meteor, it would be him.

PS: Joe Dirt's "lucky meteor" wasn't actually a meteor.

Peavy, Uggla are low risk

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 18:34:00 +0000

Firstly, if you haven't read my piece about Mike Krukow. Please do so here.

Now onto other stuff.

I wasn't very happy about the Dan Uggla addition. I felt like it reeked of desperation and that he wasn't much of an upgrade over Brandon Hicks or Adrianza. Maybe it's true. Maybe he won't find any semblance of his long lost stroke, and he'll strike his way out of his minor league deal. Who the hell knows? It's worth a shot, as Adrianza and the sadly broken Marco Scutaro have shuffled their way onto the DL, leaving a black vortex vacuum tornado thing at second base.

As Bochy told Kuip during the KNBR pregame show on Friday, "We're a little desperate, to be honest."

Well, I appreciate honesty. It's the same kind of honesty we've been getting from Brian Sabean during interviews. The ones where he essentially says, "Look our prospects aren't very good. We don't have a lot to trade. If we do try to get a Zobrist or a Price, or an Utley, we'll gut our system that sucked to begin with. Plus I've got an assload of money committed next year to guys like Cain, and I still have to figure out what to do with Panda, Morse, and Vogelsong's spot in the rotation. So just chill out and let me work."

I like when Sabean is honest.

For all of our trials and tribulations this season, it's still not that bad. The Blue Bastards aren't going away, but even after Friday's loss, the Giants are still in 1st place. Pretty remarkable for how bad they've been. That is simply a testament to A) How underachieving the Doyers are and B) How good this team was while firing on all cylinders.

Those cylinders may not ever be fully repaired this season, because labor costs are a bitch. So let's just rent a decent car in the meantime, alright?

Once you get to the Hertz counter though, you're like, "God renting a Chrysler 300 is expensive. That's like $300 a day! WTF? I could lease one for $300 a month! Okay, fine, I'll settle for the non-premium full-sized model. Those new Impalas are pretty handsome..."

Jake Peavy is an expensive rental, but he's a veteran, a former Cy Young winner, and an experienced NL West arm. Maybe something will click and he'll feel reborn. His 1-9 record doesn't look good at all, but his team sucked this year, and looking at his peripherals, it looks like he's had some bad luck. He also had to pitch in the AL East. Which is littered with hitters' parks and big time sluggers.

I'm not going to pore over stats here, but I'll say that yes, he's lost a lot off his fastball. It's the same issue Lincecum and Cain are learning to pitch with. It doesn't have the same effectiveness that it once did, forcing him to work with more offspeed stuff, which inevitably leads to more walks and hanging pitches that get clubbed.

But look, it's Peavy or Petit... or Kickham while Cain is out. The truth is unfortunately, we don't know what we can expect from Cain the rest of this season. It's a no brainer to me.

Hembree during his callup last year.

The other side of this is the prospects that we had to give up, Heath Hembree and Edwin Escobar.

I won't sit here and claim to be an expert on what these minor leaguers project as. I'm not a scout. I don't go and watch these guys pitch. All I can do is regurgitate what the experts say.

What the experts say is that Hembree projects to be a decent reliever. His ceiling is a decent closer or setup man, and his floor is an average right handed reliever.

We've heard about Hembree for years, and yet he's not a big leaguer. He has an ERA near 4.00 this year, and I think it's about damn time that he figured this stuff out, because he's apparently had the ability and arsenal to be successful this whole time.

Secondly, Edwin Escobar, a southpaw starter in AA who is related to Kelvim and Alcides Escobar is rated as the Giants' #2 prospect overall, went to Boston in the Peavy deal.

Seems steep.

Well it is and it isn't.

Baseball America seems to think the guy's ceiling is as a 4th starter. That's nothing to scoff at, but it's also pretty indicative of how absolutely piss poor this farm system is. Just as an example, our second best prospect projects as a 4th starter, and our best prospect, Kyle Crick, has some scouts wondering if he's a back of the bullpen reliever, and possibly not even a starter.

Recently the A's traded shortstop Addison Russell to the Cubs for Jeff Samardzija. He was their top prospect. Billy Beane says he's the next Barry Larkin.

Who does Kyle Crick project to be? Escobar?

Certainly nowhere near the breadth of a Barry Larkin-type comparison.

That's why prospect rankings are so relative. This top prospect is Barry Larkin and the other one is Chad Qualls.

So yes, we gave up some solid prospects for Peavy, but as we know, starting pitching doesn't grow on trees and you have to give up something to get something. The Cardinals were also in on Peavy, and undoubtedly drove the price up. In addition, this team just doesn't have the pieces to make a huge Samardzija or Price move work. It's simply not possible.

So look, the team has plugged a couple of former all-stars into the dike's holes for now, and it's not very sexy, but it's going to have to do, because Zobrist and Price ain't walking through that door unless the Rays are in town.

Why Krukow's revelation nearly brought me to tears

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 04:09:00 +0000

I'm not a crier.

I'm a dude. I love baseball and beer, and Eddie Money and smoking pork shoulder for half a day, and I love football and America and hating the Dodgers.

I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a crier.

This is why I was so shocked at how absolutely emotional I became when I heard about Mike Krukow's degenerative muscle disease.

I was driving to work listening to KNBR, and I was nearly brought to tears.

I got that weird feeling with the lump in the throat and the misty eyes. I was just plain crushed. Later in the day, I began to come to grips with my reaction and why I felt so horrible.

I just love Mike Krukow. That's what it is. I literally love the guy. I also love Duane Kuiper and Jon Miller, even Flemming.

I don't know about you guys, but these guys are a huge part of my life. I listen to them almost every day, and I can't remember a time where I didn't hear them broadcast a game 140+ days a year. Although I've never met them and they wouldn't know me from Adam, they are, in a way, family.

Kruk & Kuip are just the best. They really are. They make watching a game exponentially better. There is no better team in the world to broadcast a sport than these two, it's a fact. We're truly privileged to have our Giants games enhanced like this.

This duo makes us laugh, they keep us positive, they keep us entertained. They were just as excited as us to win those championships. They're with us through the good times, and the horrendous ones. Hell. We can turn off the game if it becomes too much. They're the ones that are subjected to it until the end.

They're also great friends outside the booth-- just like we imagine them to be. Why don't you ask Steve Stone if he hangs out with Hawk Harrelson outside the booth. The answer would be a defeated but resounding 'no'-- probably with an extended sigh at the end.

That's why the part of CW Nevius's article about Kuiper being a "sherpa" and carrying Mike's bags for him-- because that's what teammates do-- gave me that same choked up feeling I got while I was driving.

The idea that Mike Krukow, the funniest, most baseball loving-ist guy ever won't one day be able to toss a baseball in the booth or show someone how to throw a curveball is just plain heartbreaking. The idea that he some day soon won't be able to play golf or guitar or throw a baseball with his grandkids is just plain depressing.

No, he's not dying. No, he's not retiring from broadcasting. He's going to be okay for the most part.

It just really sucks.

Perhaps there's a bit of selfishness embedded in my feelings.

I just recently came to terms with the fact that I didn't want anything to happen to Kruk, partially because my Giants experience wouldn't be as good. If he lost his trademark enthusiasm and humor, games just wouldn't be the same. Who would blame him if he did?

Fortunately, ol' Kruk doesn't show any signs of slowing down. In fact, it occurred to me that if there's a solitary soul in this world that could overcome such a lousy thing with flying colors, it'd be Mike Krukow.

Look at him after 13 inning games on the postgame wrap. He's still yukkin' and yakkin' with Flemming like it was the first inning, while Kuip is hilariously hunched over, ready for bed, and Miller stays as professional as possible. It's just plain remarkable.

As he told Bruce Jenkins of the Chronicle, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world - again," he said. "All I need to do is get in that room and talk baseball. It's my island. Once I get behind that chair, I am bulletproof, man. I am a young, vibrant man."

That's why I know I won't have to worry about Kruk. He's going to suck it up, the way I wouldn't be able to. He's going to keep entertaining us and keeping us positive, even when we feel like the sky is falling over some meaningless lousy road trip-- not because we want him to, but because he needs to.

It's the epitome of irony that someone who actually has the sky falling on him incrementally, to the point of an eventual wheelchair reality, won't lose the very things that have made him so beloved to so many.

And that, my friends, is why I love Mike Krukow.

Never change, Meat.

Ballpark Review - Chase Field

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:35:00 +0000

I witnessed a rare thing last Saturday. A Giants win. They've been few and far between these days, so I was thrilled to have seen it in person in Phoenix-- especially after witnessing their 456th loss in a row on Friday. It felt even better to win because I was surrounded by so many Giants fans. It felt like like a home game in many respects.

I haven't been to Arizona since I was a kid, so I was excited to check out Chase Field on a recent vacation there. We went to visit family, but I made sure to go only when the Giants were in town. Everything aligned perfectly for the June 20-22 series against the Diamondbacks.

Panorama with my phone. Notice all the orange?

I unfortunately didn't get to the yard early enough both days to do a full walkthrough of the park and check out the outfield or upper deck sections, which I like to do, but I had amazing seats for both games near the Giants dugout.

Firstly, on my way to the game, coming from the South off of I-17, I was completely shocked to see what a horrible area lies just to the South and West of Chase Field. We're talking hideous industrial/abandoned/razor wire slums that look like a desert-baked version of the hell surrounding the Oakland Coliseum or 1990s Downtown LA-- you know, before the hipsters moved in. I could not believe that an area so close to a ballpark that's been there since 1998 didn't revitalize one iota. There's no two ways about it, coming from that direction is just ugly.

That's pretty much where my complaints end though.

Once you locate somewhere to park-- either private lots along the way for $5-10 bucks (really!) or team-run parking structures, you're only a short walk to the park.


They give us nice graphics with the Golden Gate Bridge.

The first game, we parked in a 6 story team-run structure located directly across the street, and paid TEN DOLLARS! I can't even process how amazing that feels. In case you've lost touch, the Giants now charge $35 to park in their lots, and the walk is 2-3 times longer to the park, while the surrounding lots on the Embarcadero charge $20 for the privilege of you walking a mile past the really nice buildings and the inexplicable sewer smells.

The second night, Saturday, the garage we had previously parked in was reserved for parking pass holders only, so we drove across the street to the US Airways Center, home of the Suns, and parked there for $10. The garage was open because I believe their Arena Football team was playing that night.

From the arena structure, you're officially on the good side of town, and you walk past bars of boozers with misting machines and people selling Costco bottled water out of coolers for a dollar. It was a good scene.

One of the things I really liked was the area at the mouth of the ballpark. There's a restaurant/bar and they have bands that are playing live music right outside the entrance. It's foot traffic only, and with heavily attended games like we went to, it was actually a really cool atmosphere. Also, there were ZERO BUMS anywhere before the games and only a couple after. This was a very nice change from SF, where you have to walk past all the sad beggars with cats and dogs and missing limbs that you simultaneously feel horrible for and are sickened by at the same time. It's just not fun.

Walking into Chase Field is a very odd experience. The only other retractable roof stadium I've been to is Miller Park in Milwaukee. In Miller's case, the entrance into the ballpark feels similar, and you do feel indoors, but it's not quite as drastic a change.

Arizona is a place of contrasts. Outside, everything is dry and dead. Inside, everything is cool and nice. Somehow, cool clean water flows from your faucet indoors as the convection oven of an environment stirs up dust devils and dehydrates human beings outside.

That's the effect you get going into Chase Field-- out of the convection oven and into the-- shopping mall? Hockey arena? Oh right. Baseball stadium. It's a baseball stadium.

It's 105 outside, they scan your ticket, and you walk into 78 inside. It's awesome and weird at the same time.

Joe Panik's 1st ML AB!

Also awesome and weird are the wide concourses and corridors-- places where I could impersonate a California Condor or gesture wildly without fear of hitting another fan accidentally. This contrasts sharply with AT&T's extremely intimate concourses where we shuffle slowly amidst a sea of orange and black, trying not to run into anyone.

My girlfriend's favorite part though, was the lack of lines at the ladies rooms. I have to say, I too enjoyed not waiting 57 minutes for her to fight her way through lines extending 20 feet beyond the boundaries of the actual restroom.

Here's a novel idea! There are enough bathrooms and stalls and urinals for every man, woman, and child in the ballpark, and the lines are non-existent. Even when the lower bowl of the stadium was completely full of people, neither of us waited at all to pee at either game. I have to say, well done, Chase Field. I don't know how AT&T can improve on this, but they have to try. It's kinda ridiculous.

As far as the food, there are ample options everywhere. Maybe there aren't Cha-Cha Bowls or other interesting fare, but they have two foot corndogs and $30 massive Sonora Hot Dogs, and a frozen margarita guy with a tank on his back, and they also have garlic fries (which I'll get to in a moment).

Oh yeah and they have beer vendors in the stands.

I do NOT understand why California stadiums don't allow guys to sell beers to us in the seats. I try to be professional and not swear on this blog, but this is absolute HORSESHIT.

Do you have any idea how nice it is to flag down a beer man from the comfort of your seat? To order a rally beer during the game without sticking your ass in peoples' faces and inconveniencing everyone just to get a beverage?

Well I'm sick of this. CA needs to change its laws, and if it's not a law, then these stadiums need to get it together. We're going to drink beer at games regardless.

Improve our quality of life, bring back our mobile beer vendors!

Back to the food though....

I intentionally didn't order the garlic fries at Chase, because I didn't want them to be better than what I'm used to-- which sets the bar pretty low. Unfortunately, AT&T's garlic fries have gone downhill these days. The Gordon Biersch days from Candlestick ain't walking through that door. Now they're prepared way in advance and for $8.50, you get soggy, cold fries that have a cup of raw garlic dumped on top of them. Sad, actually.

What I did get at Chase that I loved, was Fatburger-- which was the best ballpark burger I've ever gotten. Not quite In-N-Out, but very good. I mentioned this on Twitter, and received a couple responses that Fatburger was really good, but Shake Shack at Citi Field was better. Good to know. I look forward to trying it someday.

Obviously, the roof was closed for both games, and it is definitely a different experience seeing a game indoors. It's actually tough to quantify for people used to normal outdoor baseball. It's weird, but so, so comfortable. No fog, no sun, just baseball. It's not right, I know, but I could get used to it I suppose.

I also could get used to sitting in great seats all the time, which brings me to my next thought.

View from my "upgraded" seats via the MLB Ballpark App.

I want to make you guys aware of the MLB at the Ballpark App, which allows you to upgrade your seats. For those of you who don't know about it, you wait until exactly 30 minutes before 1st pitch, you "check in", and then click "upgrade my seats". This allows you to pick a general area to upgrade to. In my case, we had purchased cheap nosebleeds, and upgraded to the 16th row behind the Giants dugout for $20 extra per ticket. So essentially, for $40 a ticket, I sat in those seats. One helluva deal. Not sure how it will work here in SF, but I'd imagine places with fewer sellouts would offer ample opportunities for amazing seats.

The fans in Arizona are pretty passive. Probably half the people in the area are transplants, and it takes years and years to cultivate a fanbase. I don't necessarily blame them for being passive either, considering the crowd was between 30-60% Giants fans. I mean, what are they going to do? Try and shout us down? Be mean to us? It's futile. One of the craziest things I've ever seen.

You know when you're at a random ballpark and you see another Giants fan? You high five them, maybe ask them where they're from, whatever. Well every other person at Chase Field was a Giants fan, so it wasn't something you needed to do. Again, very comfortable place to watch a game.

On Friday, after they lost, we stuck around for the postgame fireworks show. They opened the roof, kicked the A/C onto full blast, and put on a pretty epic show by blasting them off the roof of the adjacent parking structure. And yes, the fireworks show was set to the Frozen soundtrack. Ah the irony.

I definitely enjoyed my time at Chase Field. I imagine the atmosphere to suck during a weekday game without anyone there, but we probably saw it at its best, with the Giants in town.

I did like a lot of the things about it-- it costs way less to go and sit in good seats, the concourses and bathrooms are easy to navigate, and you don't have to worry about people being rude or jerks. However, it just doesn't feel quite right. As comfortable as it is, baseball wasn't made to be played without sun or wind or fog. Nothing compares to the charm of and intimacy of AT&T Park, and comparing anything else to it just isn't fair.

A tale of two teams

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 20:43:00 +0000

What on earth is going on with the Giants? One minute, they're literally the best baseball team on the planet that can't lose. The next thing you know, they're basically the worst. It's time for medication-- for them and for us.

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's being jerked around. I can't stand you agree on one thing with someone, and the plan changes at the last minute. I want things planned out, so that nothing is left to chance. That's why I bring my auxiliary audio cord AND my USB cable with me on vacation in case my rental car doesn't have Bluetooth Audio or SXM.

Well, the Giants in this case had all the bells and whistles going, and my rental car was awesome. But something happened along the way, the screen went dark, and now I'm fashioning a noose out of my aux cord because of the lack of tunes.

Baseball is a harsh mistress sometimes.

There's really no way to explain how a team begins to collectively suck at the same time. It just happens I guess. It's the same thing that went on when we couldn't lose.

Unfortunately, now we're on a horrendous downslide.

The starting pitching has been horrendous, with an ERA hovering around 6.00. The hitting has been hit or miss, the power has disappeared. Their mojo has been lost.

You can blame it on Pagan's absence only to a certain degree-- because Pagan doesn't pitch. You can say we miss Belt, and we do, but Belt could hardly make a dent in these losing ways.

It all comes down to pitching, and until this rotation begins to not suck, we're in for an ugly second half of the season.

Giants do something cool, sign Cuban dude

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 18:24:00 +0000

Daniel Carbonell is his name, being a good athlete is his game.

The Giants indeed did something cool today by signing a Cuban defector of their own, someone who looks like a serious speedster-- the latest and greatest import from the embargoed island.

There isn't a lot of video on him out there, but from the little highlight video put together by his handlers in Mexico, where he established residency, it looks like this guy could be a player.

Check it out below (embedded) or click here to go to YouTube.

First of all, this guy has a seriously chisled frame, and he looks really fast. Secondly, he has a great first name. Thirdly, I didn't see a bat flip once during the whole video! Let's hope his idols are Cespedes and Abreu instead of Chapman and Puig.

I feel like I'm off my game, because I honestly hadn't heard of this guy. He obviously didn't come with the fanfare of other guys like Dickhead Puig, Chapman, Abreu, Cespedes, or even Jorge Soler of the Cubs. Carbonell seemed to be a bit under the radar. Perhaps that's because he's not a big slugger, perhaps it's because the scouting community isn't sold on him.

According to this article by John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune, the Mariners were in on him big time as well, and he provides some good info that fills in the blanks.

From McGrath:

"Waiting in the wings — or, more accurately, in Mexico, where he has established residence — is 23-year-old Daniel Carbonell, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound outfielder who apparently has everything in the toolbox but 30-homer power. Otherwise, he’s a high-contact switch hitter with exceptional speed, a superior glove and an arm few base runners figure to challenge.

...

But Carbonell is an impressive athlete, and judging from his interaction with bystanders — he was shown signing autographs for kids and hugging their great-grandmothers — he can always consider a future as the Pope if the baseball thing doesn’t pan out."

I also find it interesting that the only teams that showed public interest were Seattle, the Yankees, and Minnesota. Looks like the Giants kinda flew in under the radar and made a power move. Something that really impresses me.

There honestly isn't that much out there about him, so we're just going to have to wait for all the details to come out. What we do know is that Carbonell is on the Giants 40 man roster, and got a pretty team-friendly deal (see Hank Schulman tweets below).

There is this from Baseball America as wel l-- just to piss on our parade a little bit. God they're always so negative:

"According to several scouts, Carbonell looks good in a workout, where he can showcase his athleticism and blazing speed, but there are reservations about his hitting. One scout clocked him going from home to first from the right side in 4.0 seconds, which translates to 80 speed on the 20-80 scale. With an arm that scouts have thrown average to plus grades on, Carbonell has the tools to be a good defensive center fielder. He has 50-55 raw power, but scouts have been hesitant to warm up to his bat. Carbonell has been switch-hitting, with scouts saying he struggles to hit righthanded and that he may have to drop his lefty stroke altogether.

Carbonell does have tools to work with, and he will almost certainly start his career in the minors, with high Class A perhaps a fit given his present ability, though at 23 there may be a temptation to get him to Double-A. Some scouts think that if his bat comes around, he could develop into a fourth outfielder, possibly along the lines of Roger Bernadina, though Bernadina was more advanced at the same age."

This also means that his presence makes other positional prospects a little more expendable in the trade market-- especially outfielders. Not to say there's a ton of them in the Giants farm system, but you get what I'm saying.

Here are some other details from Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle via Twitter:

Obviously the jury is still out. He may pan out, he may not. Personally, I'm just excited that the Giants are being active on the international market-- especially on Cubans. They've missed out on all the guys I've mentioned before-- and if they could go back and do it again, I'm sure they'd be in.

Being proactive is a good thing, and I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/05/18/3200177/next-big-star-could-be-waiting.html#storylink=cpy

Giants clearly being targeted

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 00:09:00 +0000

Things are tense around baseball these days, no?

You've got Manny Machado being a dick against the A's multiple times, the Red Sox and Rays having an "unwritten rule" pissing contest, and now, twice in a few games, two different teams have intentionally drilled two of the Giants' best hitters.

Things are different than they used to be, that's for sure.

In the old days.. like 10 years ago... you used to be able to hit their guy after they hit yours. Then both sides would get a warning, and that would be that. Now a guy could be tossed immediately for an HBP without obvious intent (Bud Norris) or inexplicably allowed to stay in the game after an obvious beanball (David Price). You never know how umpires will deal with things these days.

What should've happened on Sunday after Wheeler hit Pence for no reason, is we hit one of their guys. On Monday, some no-name nutsac Washington reliever hits Morse for no reason. We should've hit Werth or LaRoche, or whomever. That's the way this should work.

And FYI, I'm not tossing around hitting someone with a 90+ mph fastball lightly. The fact remains that they did it first, this isn't tiddlywinks or some sissy 12 year-olds' soccer league in Mill Valley. This is the big leagues.

If they want to take umbrage at being disciplined within the diamond and want to throw hands, let hands be thrown, and you sort it out later. Baseball is a man's game, and if you allow people to take an inch without consequence, they'll take a mile, and you'll still have bruised ribs.

Unfortunately, you never know how self-policing in baseball will go these days.

Now you've got veteran umpires parading around creating umpshows and young umpires trying to assert control by wildly tossing around warnings and ejecting everyone in sight for protecting teammates.

The Giants have never been much on brawling or retaliation, but they have also not been a team that instigates things. I honestly can't name any events off the top of my head when we've had a pitcher purposefully hit someone out of the blue. I also can't name too many egregious in-game celebrations, dickhead Puigesque bat flips, or violations of unwritten rules.

To me, the Giants play the game the right way, and have so for years. I'm biased yes, but we're the good guys.

In fact, we're very good. 20 games over .500 good.

And that my friends, is why there's a giant target on their backs.

They're winning too much, smiling too much, and having too much fun for Zack Wheeler and the loser Mets or Aaron Barrett and the Gnats to handle.

Wheeler I suppose I get. He was beaten by the team that traded him, and he didn't like it. Okay, well next time be better. Don't drill someone in the ribs. That's called being poor sport and an asshole. It's immature, and Hunter Pence and I won't forget it.

Judging by this story though, this wasn't the first, and won't be the last time Zack Wheeler is involved in some sort of brouhaha. He managed to stir up "ethnic tensions" in the minors by drilling his own teammate. Maybe I don't mind the Beltran/Wheeler swap so much after all.

As for the Nationals, I don't know what Barrett was doing, and neither does Morse. For a guy who openly recounted fond memories to the D.C. media yesterday about his time with the Nats, he sure as heck couldn't understand why he was hit. You could see him afterwards in the dugout talking to Posey, staring out at the field with his face scrunched up into confusion.

Well, I'll answer your question sir. They hit you because you're good.

What I do know, is that Barrett clearly acted on his own accord or on behalf of a teammate. There's zero chance manager Matt Williams would call for a beanball out of the blue. He's better than that, and we all know it.

With Madison Bumgarner the only guy on the roster (RIP Eli Whiteside) that openly shows some will and fire to confront the forces of evil, he will likely be the only one who will do anything about the open season that has been declared on Giants hitters.

Bumgarner fears no evil.

Bruce Bochy can talk about how he didn't like these HBPs and Krukow can promise retribution from the booth, but we all know nothing will happen, and the Giants will do nothing. They never really have.

What they will do though is keep winning, and likely take the high road-- something I would be unable to do. More power to them though.

Like Morse, just enjoy the ride

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 19:55:00 +0000

There's really something to be said for being able to totally relax and enjoy what's going on around you. It's the way you feel on vacation, the way you feel when you gaze out at something beautiful with nowhere to be; your phone only making an appearance to take a picture because there's no service anyway.

It's an odd feeling-- almost surreal when it happens. But it just feels right.

That's the way I'm feeling when watching the Giants these days-- like I don't have a friggin care in the world and nowhere to be.

That's how good they've been.

Hell, even ESPN has noticed. That's how good they've been.

It's been awhile since my last post, partly because there's been no controversy, barely any conflict or poor decisions being made. It almost seems... do I dare say... easy.

In that last post, I wrote that the Giants would be alright without Brandon Belt. Not only have they been alright, they've hit some sort of zone, that can only be enhanced by Belty's return in a couple weeks.

It's difficult to even imagine that they'll be regaining another bat with superb defense when the current lineup has been so successful.

So much of that success can be attributed to Mike Morse and everything he does. He's played an admirable first base and left field, has absolutely raked the ball, and you can just tell, has had a huge impact on the Giants' clubhouse. He's having fun playing baseball and I'm having fun watching him.

It's unfortunate that he's only on a one year deal, because whatever magic Mike has brought to the clubhouse (see what I did there?) and to the lineup, I don't want it to end. Pay the man immediately.

Currently Morse ranks in the top 20 in all of MLB in HR, RBI, Slugging %, and OPS-- something this team has needed for years and years. Curiously though, for you Saberjerks, Morse is only a 0.9 WAR.

See, this is why I have a problem with that stat. It's not an end all be all, and there's exceptions to the rule. I won't go off on a huge tangent, but to say that Mike Morse has only been worth one extra win to this team is beyond absurd. He's been a shot of adrenaline into this lineup and a shot of tequila in the clubhouse. Plus he did this on Stan Lee / Superheroes Night. Hulk status.

There of course have been others that have been amazing additions this season-- most notably the ageless Tim Hudson, who has pitched like a Cy Young candidate. However, there's one other guy that has essentially been an addition that I'd like to talk about.

Ryan Vogelsong.

Is he an addition? You betcha. Yah. *Fargo voice*

He may not be a new face around these parts, but Vogey's resurgence to an effective, chainsaw-angry member of the rotation has been huge, especially due to Cain's uneven season and Lincecum, well... being Lincecum.

Vogey currently sports a 3.39 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, with 7 of his 12 starts have been "quality".

His starts have been such a far cry from what we all expected from him, that's it's just gravy. I can't say for sure that he'll be able to keep this up all season, but his efforts have been absolutely huge so far. You could even argue he's been more helpful to the cause than Matt Cain, which is crazy. If Vogey keeps this up, even remotely close to what he's done thus far, the Giants' rotation will outperform expectations all season.

Outperforming expectations has been the name of the game so far, and it's just been plain fun to watch. Posey and Panda have hit rough patches this year at different times, but they've evened out. The Giants keep winning. Pence had a rough start. They win anyway. Belt goes down? No problem. Cain on the DL? Whatever. Buster and Pagan need days off? Oh well, they win without them. Blanco gets some starts? He's a catalyst all the sudden.

It's just insanity.

It's remarkable too how Bruce Bochy has been able to work guys in and out of the lineup lately without much consequence in the win column. It all just works out... and believe me, I've noticed.

Right after Lincecum gave up that first HR to Granderson:

That brings me back to my opening paragraph. You just need to sit back and enjoy the scenery. 21 games over .500 on June 8th is crazy, and it been thoroughly fun.

Part of my ability to just sit back and enjoy this is because we have those two big trophies from 2010 and 2012. Just as the second trophy validated the first, this great start is on its way to validating those other years.

When we won that 2nd World Series, it felt different than the first one. The first one was insane... even with a commanding series lead over Texas, it was gut-wrenching and nail-biting until that final out. With the second one, a feeling a confidence swept over me after we won the first two games. Because even if something bad happened and they blew it, we'd always have 2010. I was able to drink and joke with people against the Tigers without having to get a referral to a cardiologist. It was just plain more fun.

Now, back in an even year, those first two trophies are the Fort Knox full of gold bars that backs up this 2014 currency. I'm able to enjoy it more because I still feel like we're playing with house money. And that my friends, is priceless.

The Giants will be alright without Belty

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 12 May 2014 18:40:00 +0000

Allow me to begin today's post with some 80s musical poetry:

"I've been thinking 'bout the times

You walked out on me

There were moments I'd believe, you were there

Do I miss you, or am I lying to myself again

I do these things...(It's all because of you)

I keep holding on, but I'll try(try not to think of you)

Love don't leave me lonely

I'll be alright without you

There'll be someone else...I keep tellin' myself..."

One of my favorite Journey songs of all time is "I'll Be Alright Without You". The immortal/emotional Steve Perry spends the song trying to convince himself and us, the listener, that he indeed will be alright without the chick he's singing about. Then Neal Schon rips off one of the understatedly amazing instrumental guitar interludes of all time.

Not only that, but treat yourself to the live video of it below from 1986. It features Perry with a magnificently feathered mullet and Randy Jackson (yes from American Idol) wearing skin-tight leather pants, a high top fade, and rocking a pink polka-dot bass. Just so good. Actually, just don't read this article at all. Look at Journey videos on YouTube for the rest of the afternoon.

Alas I severely digress. But it was worth it.

Brandon Belt has been hot and cold so far in 2014, but he's also been a revelation. Despite his cold streak, he still has 9 HR and has knocked in 18. He's gotten a few big hits, but has also been pedestrian overall with runners on base and in scoring position.

Regardless, we're going to miss his bat and glove when faced with the less than easy task of replacing him. Damn that broken thumb! Goddamn Dodgers.

With Morse likely taking the lion's share of 1B duties, and Buster likely taking the rest of the time, we're essentially replacing Belty with a combination of Tyler Colvin (former Cub and Rockie of course), Gregor Blanco, and Hector Sanchez.

While Hector Sanchez has really been something solid lately, Colvin is a complete unknown and Blanco has been Blank-o thus far in '14. It really is a shame this bench didn't get improved over the winter.-- although I suppose Blanco being on the bench is a decent 4th OF in terms of defense and speed.

Combined, Colvin and Blanco have accomplished the rare feat of hitting below .100 together-- Colvin being 0-2 in Sunday's game in LA and Blanco being 4-40 for a .100 average.

Soooooo, we're probably talking about a weak link in the lineup unless one of those guys finds a way to contribute in a meaningful way or Pence and Pablo start hitting for some power sometime soon.

With Pablo, the 3 hits to help vanquish the Doyers was a promising sign that his horrendous start might begin to morph into something average-- at bare minimum.

Hector Sanchez at catcher with Buster at 1B and Morse at home in Left is clearly the Giants' most productive option to go with here though, and I'm hoping that Bochy will be pretty much left with no choice but to do this. Clearly, you want Buster behind the plate-- he's our catcher, and he's best there-- but you've gotta get your most productive bats in the lineup if you want to win.

As for Sanchy, he's been mostly good, however, he's been both amazing or terrible based on the situation. He's also helped us win multiple games with clutch hits. Yeah, isn't it crazy? Hacktor has been helping us!

Check out the weird splits though:

So Hacktor at home against a righty? Sit him down. On the road against a lefty? YES YES YES A MILLION TIMES YES GET HIM IN THE LINEUP. Hell, the guy hits .111 with no one on base and .357 with guys on. That's pretty hardcore clutch action.

Time for Boch to start taking advantage of this knowledge and planning his lineup accordingly-- essentially versus a left handed starter, let's get Hack in there behind the dish, get Buster at 1B and Mighty Morse in LF. Versus RHPs, let's get Morse at 1B and Blanco or Colvin out by the Chevron cars.

Back to being alright without Belt... I think this team has enough to stay in first or around first without him, but it's going to take some guys righting their ships and the same badass pitching.

Giants pulling it together despite a bad Panda

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Wed, 07 May 2014 20:59:00 +0000

Sometimes things click, and sometimes they don't. For these Giants, the offense has once again come back to life, and the bullpen has been excellent. Despite the loss in Pittsburgh on the the play at the plate (today I hate replay), we're looking at a first place team 8 games over .500.

How are they doing this? Well, it's really Giants baseball at its finest give or take.

At AT&T Park thus far, these Giants have managed to earn a 10-5 record, but lest we forget that it could easily be a 5-10 mark. Along the shores of the Cove, they're only managed a middling .251 average, with a 7th worst mark of only 40 extra base hits.

How then have they managed such a solid record? Winning one run games with great pitching.

Even when our starters have been less than stellar, these guys are managing to put up just one more run than the opposition-- the averages tell exactly that. The offense is putting up 3.9 runs a game. The pitching has allowed a league low 44 runs at home, and yes, that equals 2.9 r/pg.

One run games at home you say? Well I never!

On the road though, despite what it seems, these guys have an even worse team average (.236), but surprisingly score almost one more run per game (4.8 r/pg), and their opponents score about 4 runs a game.

That's actually about right when you think about how AT&T Park affects the numbers.

What's just odd about these guys is that they've had hitting that to the eyeball appears to be vastly improved-- and yet the averages are middling, the RISP is only .246, and the power production at home is weak.

This is just one of those cases when averages aren't telling the entire story and a case when the sum of this team's parts add up to something better than you'd expect.

Essentially this lineup has a dead spot or two (excluding pitchers) every time it rolls out there. It's the creaky spot in the floor and the ungreased hinge that wakes up your parents at 3am when you try to sneak back into the house drunk in high school.

Those dead spots are essentially Pablo Sandoval and any non-regular that plays that day.

How bad are these non-regulars? They are terrible. More on that later.

I'm not going to give too much crap to Brandon Hicks, whose been a nice surprise with the longball, but he's still hitting just .208-- very Mark Reynolds-ish. But as long as we're looking at him, let's note that he hits .150 at home, .270 on the road, and has a .313 average with RISP. Curious, but still a decent replacement for Old Man Scutaro and his bad back.

Sandoval meanwhile...

Seriously dude, what the hell? I've seen you in bad streaks before, but this... this is something else entirely. Everything seemed to align nicely for you to have a massive contract year. But alas, you've changed too much. Your smaller waistline hasn't helped you at the plate, and now your mental problems stemming from pressure have gotten the better of you.

I refuse to believe that this contract situation has not affected him, because even he is normally incapable of such consistent ineptitude. It's as plain as day though, he quite simply has sucked, and isn't doing any of the things he normally does.

Thankfully, while trying to figure out his 2014 patterns, Eno Sarris over at Fangraphs had already figured it all out.

His conclusions? Panda is no longer swinging at the first pitch.

Huh?

Seems crazy that the guy who we drill into the ground year after year for swinging at the first pitch could have possibly slowed his roll to his own detriment. But maybe his most maddening habit was helping him after all.

From Sarris at Fangraphs:

So he’s swinging less and reaching less, but unfortunately, he’s also swinging at pitches inside the zone less, too. But it turns out, *when* he’s swinging is much more important than *which pitches* he’s swinging at. Look at his swing percentage on the first pitch over the course of his career:

Credit: Eno Sarris from Fangraphs.com

That's good work, Eno.

This is more than an anomaly. This is a guy trying to overhaul his entire approach at the plate and failing miserably.

You're seeing him force himself into taking pitches and starting off more often with an 0-1 count. Throw in a couple lousy swings, and you have yourself a .168 average with a 22% strikeout rate-- a full 7 points higher than his mark last season. He's not swinging, then swinging, missing, or making outs too consistently for this to keep itself up. Instead of that $100 mil his slimewad agent is looking for, he's going to end up on the free market with an unsightly qualifying offer looming over his head and a career worst year to his name.

Other dead spots? How about the entire bench? Arias, Perez, Blanco, Adrianza? Horrendous. Not sure, but if they keep this up, we're probably talking historically bad.

With the lone exception of Hector Sanchez, who's shown signs of life recently and has done a nice job behind the plate, we're talking about one of the worst-hitting benches in baseball.

Luckily they're all slick with the glove, because this is bad news. Arias, Perez, Blanco, and Perez are a combined 17-123 for a nauseating .138 average, 3 extra base hits, and 0 HR (as of 5/6).

No one expected any of these guys to put on a ~~Pink Floyd~~ Dustin Pedroia laser show, but Jesus, this is bad.

Lord knows Bochy tries to get these guys in there to kickstart them and give their main guys a breather, but at some point, I'd rather have a tired regular than a sub .200 hitting bench guy making routine plays then routinely grounding out. At some point, we're going to have to think about pulling up a hot bat from Fresno like Nick Noonan and rolling the dice.

As for pitching, it has been all about Tim Hudson and The Bullpen (which should be a band name immediately). Huddy has been worth every penny and then some, and the bullpen has been huge. While Bumgarner has been hit or miss (mostly hit in his last few starts), and Cain, Timmy, and Vogey are all a coin flip these days, Hudson has allowed more than 2 runs only once, and has been an absolute pillar of strength every fifth day. He's one of those guys that I just wish we'd had on our team earlier in his career-- not that it even matters, because he's pitching like a Cy Young candidate.

The only guys in the bullpen with an ERA over 1.88 are Gutierrez (3.60), (Huff, DL, 3.86) and Petit, who got lit up as an ill-prepared spot starter for Cain. His ERA before that start was 2.61 as a mostly bullpen oriented swingman.

Casilla has been a monst, and Jean Machi has been unbelievable. And in case you didn't know, Machi and his 5 wins (I know, I know) are leading Major League Baseball.

BITCHES!

I honestly like the way things are going with this team. There's always room for complaint and improvement, but with the run production they've managed, plus a stalwart bullpen, I think this team will be in 1st place a good chunk of this year or bare minimum knocking on the door.

Lincecum decent -- Blue Bastards cry after midnight

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:43:00 +0000

As we honored the great Jackie Robinson across the country yesterday, we thought of all the things he went through. Racist taunts, horrible cold shoulders, and everything else. He truly went through so much to help integrate the game we all love and we should all be grateful for that. I for one am also grateful he never had to suffer through a Josh Beckett start.

THROW THE DAMN BALL ALREADY. GOD!

And raise your hand if at the beginning of this season you even remembered Josh Beckett being on the Dodgers? 3 of you? Yeah that sounds about right. And he's making $15.7MM this year. Lol.

It began that way, with the Dodgers' only other treasure in the history of their gross franchise, Vin Scully, and our own Jon Miller announcing various things together, followed by a couple of has-beens trying to turn back the clock to 2007.

And you know what? Our has-been did pretty well. Despite giving up (ANOTHER) home run-- and it being to the hated Booribe-- Timmy was solid. He really seems to have this walk thing under control, but still finds himself struggling a bit and pitching inefficiently. 93 pitches through 5 innings is not what you want to see, but at the same time, cutting down on the walks and longballs to a minimum are a massive step in the right direction.

With Timmy, that's what it comes down to; limiting free passes and the big hit. Unfortunately, it'll take a few more starts like yesterday's to put a dent in his rough stats to start the season. Only Bartolo Colon, Wandy Rodriguez, and Homer Bailey have given up more HRs (6) than Timmy (5). At least he has some company though as Sabathia, Shelby Miller, Dillon Gee, Brandon McCarthy, Jered Weaver, and John Lackey have all given up 5 jacks apiece thus far.

As Bob Wiley would say, "Baby steps," as we all represent Dr. Leo Marvin, getting red in the face.

Don't tell me you've never seen "What About Bob?"

Put it in your Netflix queue, you bastards.

Just trust me.

More troubling though is the rapid cooling that has befallen the Giants offense. A once mighty two week juggernaut on the road, their bats have fallen asleep at the wheel-- save for a few timely at bats randomly strung together.

It is still early obviously, but it is pretty frustrating for everyone involved when they look like the '27 Yankees one week, but then get home and look like the 2009 Giants. Sometimes, weird stuff happens.

However, I'm less worried about this group, save for the stupid Panda, than groups of the past. As I said in my initial season post, this team has too many good hitters in their primes or entering their primes not to be successful offensively.

There will be nights where you go 0-5 with the bases loaded and end up winning the game. It's a funny game.

What's not funny is Puig wearing Jackie Robinson's #42 and refusing to run out a deep fly ball out to RF in a tie game, deciding to pout like a jerkoff and walk straight to the dugout.

As Krukow said, "That's BUSH!"

Puig, the gift that keeps on giving. Every day he gives us another day to hate his guts.

How Agent Gustavo Vazquez screwed Salvador Perez and why Giants brass tabled Sandoval talks

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 19:55:00 +0000

Close your eyes and imagine this for a moment. It's 2008 and Katy Perry's magical song about kissing girls is brand new. An intriguing 21 year old 3B/C named Pablo Sandoval has come out of nowhere to hit .345 in only 41 games. No one quite knows how good he can be, or that one day he'll be an All-Star or a World Series MVP. No one knows about the Panda-monium.

Perez may be smiling now, but he won't be
later when he realizes how much money
he'll be missing out on in the future.

Now, I want you to substitute Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez for your vision of Sandoval. You can't picture Perez? Well, that's a shame, because he's one of the best young talents in the game that you probably haven't seen play-- unless you watched him catch Mariano Rivera in the All-Star Game last year at Citi Field in New York.

Then, Salvador Perez was a 22 year-old All-Star; a guy who was once signed by a rickety old Royals scouting program in Venezuela for a measly $65k. Probably similar to what Sandoval got from the Giants.

Like Panda, Perez was called up for the first time as a 21 year old, and promptly hit over .300, showing excellent defense and instincts. Recalled the following year in June of 2012, "Salvy" as he's known, hit over .300 again with 11 HR and a .993 fielding percentage in only 76 games.

Take this quote from Royals Scout Art Stewart:

“He’s one of the best young catchers I’ve seen. You gotta go back to Pudge (Ivan Rodriguez) and guys like that. He’s got the ability to be an All-Star for many years. As long as he stays healthy.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/11/4230813/perez-has-been-quite-a-catch-for.html#storylink=cpy

Most teams would stand pat, and enjoy the fact that they had this young talent under team control through pre-arbitration and arbitration years-- usually 6, sometimes 7 years. The Royals, sick of losing games and losing their players to richer teams, decided to be aggressive and lock him up.

Indeed it is unusual for a team to offer a multi-year deal to a player still so deep under team control. There are examples of this, but the likes of Ryan Braun and Evan Longoria are just not good comparisons. Those two were blue-chippers who've been told they're great from age 10 and have behaved accordingly. They commanded big deals in comparison (but not compared to their production on the open market), and preferred to stay in their small market havens a couple years into free agency while being able to sign an open-market deal before they turn 30.

Perez's deal is different. It's completely irresponsible.

While researching this, I came upon McCovey Chronicles' fearless leader Grant Brisbee's take on the contract via SB Nation's "Baseball Nation".

It fascinated him, he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was just plain interesting. A young, rather unproven guy still under control for years signing a seemingly creative contract that was almost a no-risk deal for KC. On the other hand, it was some guaranteed money for Perez if he couldn't hack it. A win-win it seemed.

Now it's just a win for the Royals; the type of thing Royals GM Dayton Moore thinks of when he has a bad day to cheer him up. Kansas City made out like bandits, they knew it, and Pablo Sandoval's agent Gustavo Vazquez is to blame.

Until very recently, as I detailed here, Vazquez was a member of Morgan Advisory Group (MAG), and held the title of Senior Baseball Director. He was charismatic, and was an excellent recruiter. MAG's stable of players was primarily Latin American, and mostly Venezuelan (including of course Sandoval and Perez). The players felt comfortable dealing with "one of their own", and became good friends with their representation.

Gustavo Vazquez

That's where Gustavo Vazquez's skills as an agent end.

For all his skills wooing potential clients, Vazquez lacked the shrewdness and knowledge necessary to structure contracts, and there is no better example than the Salvador Perez deal.

According to a source (and yes, a legitimate source that I'm not making up, because I take this seriously), Vazquez took liberties with the Perez-KC negotiations that culminated in Perez signing "one of the most irresponsible, team-friendly contracts in the last 20 years".

The reason it was so fascinating at the time is because it didn't make sense. What player would sign away most of his promising career for $23MM at most??

The answer? A player who became too buddy-buddy with his agent, who in turn did not follow directions from his agency.

Let me ask you this. Would Scott Boras tell Salvy Perez to sign that deal? Absolutely not. Scott Boras would laugh in the Dayton Moore's face and book a tee time on his iPhone immediately. That's how ludicrous this deal was.

According to the source, Vazquez was told not to include any free agency years or any club options in the Perez deal-- a standard thing. Of course Vazquez made sure the contract included all of that stuff and more. Name one young player that gave up free agency years in a contract extension that isn't making significant money. Think Posey, Longoria, Braun.

It simply doesn't happen-- and that's why this deal was so egregiously irresponsible.

From Cot's Contracts:

Salvador Perez c
5 years/$7M (2012-16), plus 2017-19 options

5 years/$7M (2012-16), plus 2017-19 club options

signed extension with Kansas City 2/27/12
12:$0.75M, 13:$1M, 14:$1.5M, 15:$1.75M, 16:$2M, 17:$3.75M club option,18:$5M club option, 19:$6M club option
award bonuses, including $50,000 for All-Star selection
2017-19 salaries may increase by additional $5M overall based on performance and awards in 2012-16 (earns bonuses by reaching 4 points, with 1 point each for All-Star selection, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, top 15 in MVP vote)

1 year (2011)

contract purchased by Kansas City 8/10/11

signed by Kansas City 2006 as an amateur free agent from Venezuela

Honestly, when I first saw this, knowing how valuable Perez is, I did a triple take. Huh? 5 years, $7MM? That's barely a raise over what he'd make already-- the minimum. Then, you look at all his arbitration years ('15-'17), completely swallowed up-- years where knowing what we know now, he'd certainly eclipse those totals. On top of it, the Royals either get an out in the form of THREE club options, or can retain Perez through his 29th birthday at the rate of a backup catcher. The incentive system is childlike, absurd, and who knows if any of that will vest. I mean... a point system? My 5th grade teacher had a point system for when we got out of line. 3 points and we got sent out of the classroom.

Again, why would Perez sign this deal?

You're talking about a poor kid from Venezuela who had his mom pitch him corn kernels while he hit them with a broomstick. He was a 22 year old from from South America in the middle of Kansas City, Missouri. Most Americans at that age are naive fools as well. I don't blame him necessarily. I also don't blame the Royals. There's a reason there are agents and lawyers and a Players Union-- to protect players from being taken advantage of.

It was pure negligence on Vazquez's part-- a guy who simply signed whatever KC put in front of him and effectively signed away his client's best years for peanuts. If Perez were to become just a third of the player Buster Posey is, he'd be making $48MM over that 8 year period-- very similar to the initial 6 year deal signed by Longoria.

This contract was also an embarrassment to Morgan Advisory Group, who trusted their supposed "Senior Baseball Director" to follow directions that came from the top-- presumably, but not confirmed, Ryan Morgan himself.

And if you look at the timeline of the Perez contract, more interesting facts come to light.

The deal was made official on 2/27//12. On the surface, you'd think this is irrelevant. However, a closer look at what this date corresponded with is telling.

MAG represents a good deal of NFL players and rookies trying to get drafted. It is now the biggest part of their business after Gustavo Vazquez and Michel Velasquez stole their entire MLB Portfolio in a rogue move that I talked about yesterday.

And where do agents and players go before the NFL Draft? The NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

The Combine was held in Indy from 2/22/12 until 2/28/12, and presumably, most of MAG was either there or focusing on that while Vazquez was mortgaging away his client's future in Kansas City or at Spring Training in Arizona.

What does this have to do with the Giants?

Vazquez and his henchman Velasquez are now "representing" the maddeningly lovable Pablo Sandoval, who is set to hit the open market after this season. Brian Sabean is "at the end of his rope" and contract talks have been tabled. As I said yesterday, you cannot blame Sabean or Bobby Evans for suspending talks. You're dealing with two geniuses that are getting sued by their former employer for $5MM after stealing equipment, money, and MAG's entire MLB client list in a stupid scheme. It's like talking to a brick wall.

You're talking about a couple of guys operating on, essentially, stolen capital that is almost certainly beginning to run out. These guys ~~want~~ need to make a huge splash with their biggest client with their new agency. If for example, Pablo were to make the wise decision and go back to Morgan or even choose Scott Boras, who he was seen speaking to in LA, Vazquez's house of cards would collapse immediately.

These guys would likely sell their own mothers to improve their situations, and that's how they view Sandoval-- as their meal ticket.

Unless their 5 years, $90MM is met, they basically have nothing to say. No matter that comparing an injury prone 3B who has only achieved an OPS over .800 twice in 5 full seasons to a 5 tool OF that never misses a game is absurd. They want Pence money, and they want it now.

The comparison baseline doesn't even make sense.

If they want to compare him to someone and reach for the stars, why don't you start with David Wright or Evan Longoria, and work your way down to the closest comparison, Ryan Zimmerman of the Nats.

Zimmerman is almost assuredly overpaid, and has now developed an arthritic throwing shoulder in the first year of a 6yr./$100MM deal. It's a cautionary tale indeed. Now they're hoping to move Zimm over to 1st or teach him how to throw sidearm.

So yes, the deal these clowns seek is valid when compared to Zimmerman's deal in some ways, but that is assuming that Pablo is Zimmerman's equal. He simply hasn't been. Zimmerman is a career .286 hitter with 180 career HR. Pablo has a slightly higher career average, but just doesn't have the track record.

The Nats made a mistake with that contract, and now it's the baseline for Sandoval. Isn't it great how this works?

As I've said, it's not the money factor that bugs me about this situation, or even Sandoval's on-field play. It's about two unprofessional shadesters unwilling to negotiate with an organization that is unquestionably the most loyal in baseball.

The Giants have locked up (for better or worse) every single player that has either helped them win, or is loved by fans. Aubrey Huff, Scutaro, Bumgarner, Posey, Lincecum, Vogelsong, Cain, Pence, etc., etc. They even gave Barry Zito more dignity and chances at redemption than Pope Francis would have.

They want to keep Sandoval in San Francisco, but if you're dealing with a couple of dopes that won't negotiate or be reasonable, then you face the near certainty that the player you're trying to re-sign will end up hitting the open market and a bidding war will ensue.

To be honest, that's how I see this shaking out. It has never been Vazquez's goal to get a deal done with the Giants. His goal is to have his client fought over and overpaid, and that's what we're looking at.

Whether or not you think any of this is relevant, I don't know, but it is an interesting story that directly affects the Giants, and I cannot for the life of me understand why this facet of the Sandoval negotiations has not been blown up yet. If these guys feel the heat on them, they may be more likely to cut bait with their hardball stance and sign whatever the Giants put in front of them, just like they did to Salvador Perez.

Sandoval contract talks cut off partly due to shady agents

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 17:48:00 +0000

Like you guys, I'm a bit giddy over the Giants' hot start. They're crushing the ball everywhere, and it's nice to know that it's Brandon Belt's world and that we're just living in it.

Other than some early concerns about our rotation, I'm most concerned by the Pablo Sandoval contract situation, and hope that this doesn't turn into a sour-tasting circus.

Gustavo Vazquez while still with Morgan Advisory Group.

Their website is down for construction as they lick their

wounds and pick up the pieces.

As you know, he is in a contract year. He certainly knows it because he lost a bunch of weight, and has (mis?) placed his trust in his team of agents-- who themselves are about as shady as the absurd 5 year, $90MM contract demands they're making.

Sandoval is demanding Hunter Pence's contract as a STARTING point. Having the gall and huevos to even start there is reason for alarm-- and we're not even talking about Panda's on-field play and weight issues. Secondly, Pablo has chosen a couple of real winners to represent him, and they're out for a payday just as much as The Panda is.

Sandoval is represented by Gustavo Vazquez and Michel Velasquez, who are not exactly the type of people you work with "in good faith". Most agents are by nature, serpentine sleaze merchants and fly-by-night shadesters, but most manage to keep their back alley dealings out of the papers.

These two are not such agents.

From ESPN's Jerry Crasnick:

Gustavo Vasquez and partner Michel Velasquez are defendants in a civil action suit filed in South Florida District Court by Morgan Advisory Group of California. The suit seeks more than $5 million in damages for breach of contract and fiduciary duty and fraud, among several other allegations.

The suit alleges that Vasquez illegally conspired to use his new company against the Morgan group by "diverting away clients, misappropriating funds, and interfering with and harming the present and future business relationships between MAG and its former and current clients."

The suit also seeks damages for baseball equipment, computers and other items that the defendants failed to return.

"This lawsuit is not about retribution or payback," said Darren Heitner, the lawyer for the plaintiff. "It's about seeking just relief for damages that were caused to Morgan Advisory Group. Ryan Morgan believed in these guys and pumped money into their fraudulent scheme, and the result is that he's been left without a baseball division."

Vasquez left Morgan Advisory Group last year to form SPS Sports Group and took Sandoval, Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez, Pittsburgh pitcher Jeanmar Gomez, Atlanta reliever Luis Avilan and numerous other players with him to his new agency.

So, essentially, these two guys decided to go out for themselves, and began an elaborate clandestine exit strategy that involved poaching every baseball client Morgan represented, equipment, contacts, and property. Most of all, the suit alleges that these two dynamite individuals were fraudulently siphoning money to themselves in order to get their "business" up and running.

That's called embezzlement, larceny, and being total jerks.

This is what the Giants are dealing with: an immature, inconsistent player represented by scumbags. No wonder Brian Sabean said he's "at the end of his rope". Can anyone blame him? He has to talk to these guys. They're about as reasonable as a mentally ill junkie ranting and raving on a corner in the Tenderloin.

It's not even Panda's play, or talent, or anything else baseball related that's aggravating about the situation. It's more about his poor choices over the length of his still young career. Sticking with these sleazards to negotiate the first big contract of his career is going to end badly; whether it is because these guys trick him into signing away too much of his money, or him ending up on some lousy team and eating his way out of the league. They are blatantly using Sandoval to make their first big splash with their new agency, and he's their meal ticket to fancy cars and Cuban cigars.

Of course it could turn out okay, but the combination of Sandoval and these guys just seems less than ideal.

According to the Houston Chronicle, MLB puts no commission limits on player agents, and on average, MLB agents make between 4-10% of a player's contract:

An agent’s commission varies, based on the sport he represents. Generally, a sports agent earns between 4 and 10 percent of an athlete’s playing contract, though some leagues place limits on what percentage an agent can charge in commission. For example, the National Football League states that an agent can't receive more than 3 percent of player salaries. The National Basketball Association places the limit at 3 percent too. Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League don't have any limits on agent commissions, however.

Whaddayou wanna bet that the Vaz/Velas Dream Team take the full 10% commission (or more) on this $90MM Sandoval is supposedly worth. Yeah. Pretty solid bet. Then they're going to take that $9MM, buy giant houses in Miami Beach and swindle other impressionable Latin American talents into giving up too big a chunk of their salaries.

Michel "Michael" Velasquez (left).

Not to say any of this behavior is new. These guys are certainly far from the first to operate like this-- Albert Pujols's agent Dan Lozano comes to mind, the man dubbed "The King of Sleaze Mountain" in a revealing Deadspin article.

It makes me begin to think that Scott Boras isn't so bad after all. At least we know what we're dealing with when it comes to him.

I do really apologize for pissing all over our hot start parade, but there's a fire smoldering underneath the surface, and I'm just trying to put it out a little bit before it starts burning out of control. I also want you all to prepare yourselves for the possibility that this is the last year you see Panda in a Giants uniform. In the end, it's all about the money and good business. But in Sandoval's agents' case-- just about the money. Good business be damned.

Giants could be seriously good, but also mortal

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 04:10:00 +0000

I waited a week to jump in here and write something intentionally, as to not overreact about such a small sample size. Seeing as though week one ended on a pretty lousy note in LA, I feel as though we've all been doused with a little bit of reality after a pretty sizzling start.

We're not going to win 110 games. Belt isn't going to break Bonds's HR record, and Pagan won't hit .450 the rest of the way. But what we do know, is that this 2014 incarnation of our beloved Giants could be-- and I emphasize could be, as good or better than the 2012 Champions.

For once, the lineup appears to be well... really good. There's a pretty nice mix of power and contact throughout the lineup, and honestly, I think the days of finishing in the bottom 5 in runs scored and HRs is over. Prior to the season, we all looked at the lineup on paper and thought, "Wow. If this goes right, and that guy stays healthy, and this guy continues getting better, we could score a lot of runs."

Well, things are beginning to fall into place, now aren't they? Every single one of our power hitters has hit a HR, and effing Brandon Belt has 4. FOUR HOME RUNS! Like... seriously?

Seriously. I saw them.

The Belt development is the single most important event to happen to this lineup since I don't know when... probably since we added Pence via trade.

Forget what he's on pace for, but instead just sit back and acknowledge that Belty has finally figured it out, and is a legitimate power hitting corner infielder. Many of us knew it was a matter of time, others thought he would never pan out and were on the Brett Pill Crazy Train to nowhere.

With what we've seen so far. Belt is not only a lock for 25 dingers and an .800+ OPS with good defense, but we're talking potential all-star selection.

I know it's only 7 games, but this metamorphosis began last year with the grip change, and you all saw how he improved. This didn't just come out of nowhere.

Someone who did kinda come out of nowhere was Brandon Hicks, or Brandon #3, or B3 for short. Is that going to catch on? No? Okay, I tried though.

A former 3rd round pick of Atlanta, Hicks was a long shot to make the team at all. Now he's making some serious noise at the plate. The guy is doubling, hitting home runs... all out of nowhere. Of course, he'll probably cool off, but just the fact that there's a guy on our team capable of replacing Scutaro that has pop? Just what the doctor ordered... as long as Bochy doesn't take too many ABs away from B3 in favor of Adrianza so that he cools off.

Another guy the doctor ordered is Mike Morse. Man, it sure is nice to have him on this team. I know he's a bit injury prone and he will strike out a good deal. But the guy can hit. He's contributed in a number of different ways at the dish, including a crazy bomb in LA that went like 450 feet. Also, he hasn't hurt us defensively yet, and the 7th inning Gregor Blanco substitution thing seems to work just fine.

All in all, I could not be happier with this lineup right now, save for Scutaro basically hanging in career limbo with this bad back of his. I asked Twitter and Facebook recently that if all they got out of Marco's $20MM contract was this picture and the 2012 World Series, was it worth it? There was a resounding yes, and a couple smart asses that said he was re-signed after that. Yeah geniuses. Thanks for that.

Now the pitching, I'm not so sold on. Of all the idiotic things John Kruk rambled on about on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, the one thing that I hate to agree with but do is, "I don't know if the Giants have the pitching to get done this year."

Sucks, but from what we've seen so far, it might be true. As I see it, there are two guys-- Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson-- that are going to be rock solid performers every 5th day. There's Matt Cain, who will be somewhere between decent and good, and then there's the Wild Cards, Lincecum and Vogelsong.

Granted, Vogelsong did very well in his first start, and I think that's a seriously encouraging sign. Let's keep our fingers crossed on him. However, we need to face the possibility that he may begin to suck and will be run out of town in a more delicate fashion than Todd Wellemeyer once was. We owe Vogey that much.

Lincecum is probably going to have another season of 4.50-4.75 ERA ball with maddening starts of equal parts brilliance and gopher balls. That's been the trend the last two seasons, and I just don't see it changing unfortunately. His propensity to give up the long ball and get bogged down in big innings will be his undoing half the time, and that's what we'll likely get. A beloved .500 pitcher-- like your smartphone a year and a half into your two year Verizon agreement. Completely maddening.

Cain to me is the most concerning. He's beginning 2014 much the way he began 2013-- by giving up HRs in bunches and bunches. Just like last year, it's concerning as hell, but there's evidence to suggest that he can avoid these things somehow. It's as if he's cruising along, and things are fine, then boom-- gone. Two batters later? Gone again. I just don't understand.

It should be of course noted that last season Cainer did improve toward the second half of the year, and cut down on the long ball. If not, I'm afraid, he'll be more in the Lincecum category than the Bumgarner one, and that's not going to win us that 3rd even year World Series in a row.

And John Kruk will be right.

We can't have that.

So everyone, take the first week for what it was-- a week, but just know that this team has the potential to be seriously good, and that it's probably going to come down to pitching-- just like every other year.

And I hate the Dodgers.

Welcome back Baseball, we've missed you

noreply@blogger.com (DP) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 21:20:00 +0000

Well folks, another year of baseball is upon us, and I for one, couldn't be more excited. Time for more seeing eye ground balls, walk off celebrations, and plenty of torture. Ah, it sounds delightful.

As you know, I don't write this blog to make predictions or to over-analyze stats. I wait for something to fire me up, and then I tell you how I feel. Well right now, I'm just fired up to have baseball back.

It'll be an up and down season-- I can already tell. That's not me being negative, it's just sort of a reality. A lot of things have to go right for this season to be a success-- things that didn't really go right last year.

What happens if Lincecum carries a 5+ ERA all year, Scutaro only manages to play 75 games, and Vogelsong is DFA'd in May? What if Mike Morse is a creaky old hinge that forgot to WD-40 himself and misses various patches of time with strained calves and hamstrings and wrists?

I could see all these things happening like clockwork, and it concerns me.

But, you wanna know what doesn't concern me? Brandon Belt. Pablo Sandoval. Matt Cain. Madison Bumgarner. Brandon Crawford. Tim Hudson. Buster Posey.

Certainly to win another World Series (even year... :), everything must click at the right time-- but first you've got to get there. There are too many what ifs to guarantee playoffs right now, but I truly believe we have enough guys heading into their primes right now, and that this could be one of the most fun to watch Giants teams in years. If Morse and Scutaro contribute the way we know they can (and it's all about health), this team could really generate some runs and it will surprise people.

For now, let's let the season unfold, and just be grateful that baseball is back! I'll find something to rant about soon!

Dodgers Suck,

TDH