David Decastro? Coby Fleener? Steven Hill? Alshon Jeffery? Michael Floyd? Who knows. When your team has the 30th selection there really is no way to be sure who they're going to select in the 1st round. WR has been a need, but they have added Manningham and Moss. RG is the biggest need left for the Niners but they're picking at a tough spot for that position.
So who are they going to take? Like I just said, I don't know, but I can give you 3 likely scenario's;
- The Niners in past years haven't been shy trading up and down in their draft. I would not find it unusual for them to trade up to the mid-teens if Decastro still happens to be on the board and try to snag him up to fill their RG need.
-They stay right where they are and trust their draft board and pick the best player available. Possibly hoping for TE Fleener to be still on the board, one of the WR's, or pulling a fast one like last year and surprising people by reaching for a player at the guard position that was expected to go in the second round.
- They trade out of the 1st round for more multiple picks in later rounds. The is my least likely scenario. This move is more for teams needing bodies, or rebuilding and the Niners aren't either. I could see them trading the 1st round pick for someone else's future 1st rounder though...
However it goes down apparently Trent Baalke already has a guy targeted, we just have to wait and see which guy that is. Be confident that the Niners have a plan, they are not going into this draft winging it. They probably have all these scenario's covered. We'll see Thursday.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Giants Do The Right Thing Securing Their Pitching
Matt Cain 6yrs/$127.5 million with a vesting option for 2018
Madison Bumgarner 5yrs/$35 million extension with a team option for 2017 and 2018 at $24 million more.
A call to Tim Lincecum's agent to let them know he's still in the Giants plans long term.
A call to Buster Poesy's agent to let them know he's still in the Giants plans long term (although, obviously, he is not a pitcher).
The future of the Giants.
Most Giants fans are not going to gripe about these moves, although I'm sure there are some negative Nancy's out there who would. To anyone who does doubt the moves you need to take a quick look around the National League West, and baseball for that matter, to recognize the importance of these moves.
- Arizona Diamondbacks should have the best rotation in the National league starting next year. You already know about their first 3 starters; Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, and Trevor Cahill but do you know about their 2 studs coming up later this summer? Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs. You put those 5 together and they literally have no weakness in their staff.
- Colorado traded away Ubaldo Jimenez last season and picked up Drew Pomeranz and Alex White. You match them up with Jhoulys Chacin and you have a pretty solid front 3.
-The Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw- He's a Giant killer and according to "baseball experts" they are the next west coast version of the Yankee's and ANY free-agent is ending up in L.A. if he hits the market from now on.
- The Padres... suck.
You take a look around baseball and see...
-Tampa Bay Devil Rays have James Shields, David Price, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore as their starting 5, they even left Wade Davis in the bull-pen, who would be the #2 or #3 guy in the rotation on over half the MLB teams right now.
-There is always the Yankee's and Red Sox and their pocket books.
-Detroit has Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Drew Smyly, with Jacob Turner on the rise.
-The Washington Nationals have Steven Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, and Jeff Zimmermann.
-And probably the most upside of any staff in baseball belongs to the Seattle Mariners, yes the Mariners. With King Felix Hernandez you might wonder what they have after him? Well Hector Noesi is an interesting project right now for them, but it's the ubber talented prospects Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, and Tajuan Walker that have everyone in baseball keeping an eye on the Pacific Northwest.
The theme around MLB since the Giants won the series in 2010 is; build a dominant staff because once you're in the Playoffs you never know how far it can take you. Teams like the Rays, Mariners, and Diamondbacks have a great chance to repeat what the Giants did in 2010 because of the great strength their rotations project to have over the next 5 years.
Which brings me back to my point, the Giants made a great, and important, move by extending their young pitching because if they didn't retain them then they would have next to no chance to compete with the other teams that have strong staffs.
Now they have to continue to bring up the everyday players like Joe Panik and Gary Brown to support the staff and draft MORE pitching for the future. It's a wait-and-see process but the Giants have made some superb decisions over the past few years and set a standard everyone is quickly catching on to.
Madison Bumgarner 5yrs/$35 million extension with a team option for 2017 and 2018 at $24 million more.
A call to Tim Lincecum's agent to let them know he's still in the Giants plans long term.
A call to Buster Poesy's agent to let them know he's still in the Giants plans long term (although, obviously, he is not a pitcher).
The future of the Giants.
Most Giants fans are not going to gripe about these moves, although I'm sure there are some negative Nancy's out there who would. To anyone who does doubt the moves you need to take a quick look around the National League West, and baseball for that matter, to recognize the importance of these moves.
- Arizona Diamondbacks should have the best rotation in the National league starting next year. You already know about their first 3 starters; Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, and Trevor Cahill but do you know about their 2 studs coming up later this summer? Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs. You put those 5 together and they literally have no weakness in their staff.
- Colorado traded away Ubaldo Jimenez last season and picked up Drew Pomeranz and Alex White. You match them up with Jhoulys Chacin and you have a pretty solid front 3.
-The Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw- He's a Giant killer and according to "baseball experts" they are the next west coast version of the Yankee's and ANY free-agent is ending up in L.A. if he hits the market from now on.
- The Padres... suck.
You take a look around baseball and see...
-Tampa Bay Devil Rays have James Shields, David Price, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore as their starting 5, they even left Wade Davis in the bull-pen, who would be the #2 or #3 guy in the rotation on over half the MLB teams right now.
-There is always the Yankee's and Red Sox and their pocket books.
-Detroit has Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Drew Smyly, with Jacob Turner on the rise.
-The Washington Nationals have Steven Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, and Jeff Zimmermann.
-And probably the most upside of any staff in baseball belongs to the Seattle Mariners, yes the Mariners. With King Felix Hernandez you might wonder what they have after him? Well Hector Noesi is an interesting project right now for them, but it's the ubber talented prospects Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, and Tajuan Walker that have everyone in baseball keeping an eye on the Pacific Northwest.
The theme around MLB since the Giants won the series in 2010 is; build a dominant staff because once you're in the Playoffs you never know how far it can take you. Teams like the Rays, Mariners, and Diamondbacks have a great chance to repeat what the Giants did in 2010 because of the great strength their rotations project to have over the next 5 years.
Which brings me back to my point, the Giants made a great, and important, move by extending their young pitching because if they didn't retain them then they would have next to no chance to compete with the other teams that have strong staffs.
Now they have to continue to bring up the everyday players like Joe Panik and Gary Brown to support the staff and draft MORE pitching for the future. It's a wait-and-see process but the Giants have made some superb decisions over the past few years and set a standard everyone is quickly catching on to.
Size Doesn't Matter
Some people I know have started to ask if (or convince me) Tim Lincecum is done?
"His velocity is down."
"He lost too much weight."
"His mechanics aren't built for the long run."
I would agree, except that these were the same arguments last April (except the weight issue was then that he had gained too much).
Lincecum in April 2011;
The Atlanta game brought scrutiny with Lincecum. In 2010 it was the month of August that had everyone up in arms over Timmy;
"His velocity is down."
"He lost too much weight."
"His mechanics aren't built for the long run."
I would agree, except that these were the same arguments last April (except the weight issue was then that he had gained too much).
Lincecum in April 2011;
| Apr 29 | @ WAS | L 0-3 | L | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.1 | 2.90 | ||
| Apr 23 | ATL | L 2-5 | L | 6.1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.1 | 2.70 | ||
| Apr 18 | @ COL | W 8-1 | W | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 1.67 | ||
| Apr 12 | LAD | W 5-4 | - | 5.1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.1 | 1.86 | ||
| Apr 6 | @ SDG | W 8-4 | W | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 0.64 |
The Atlanta game brought scrutiny with Lincecum. In 2010 it was the month of August that had everyone up in arms over Timmy;
| Aug 27 | ARI | L 0-6 | L | 6.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.2 | 3.80 | ||
| Aug 21 | @ STL | L 1-5 | L | 5.1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.2 | 3.72 | ||
| Aug 15 | SDG | L 2-8 | L | 3.2 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.1 | 3.62 | ||
| Aug 10 | CHC | L 6-8 | L | 4.0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 155.2 | 3.41 | ||
| Aug 5 | @ ATL | L 2-3 | L | 6.1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 151.2 | 3.15 |
By far his worst numbers in his career for a month until now (and we know how that ended, in a world series victory and dominant play-off performance by Timmy). So, is he done? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. Am I worried? Yes. Is it because of his numbers? No, not necessarily. It's more because of what I saw in the first inning of the Phillies game; His composure. Unlike most critics who believe Timmy's struggles are physical, I believe that they are mental, like most baseball players struggles are. When Dave Righetti was on the mound to talk to Timmy in the first inning you could see a very concerned, almost scared or bewildered, Tim Lincecum. He looked vulnerable. That is what worries me. The physical tools are there and they are coming along as they always do, but Timmy needs to get his mind right. He needs to buck up, light a fire, do something fierce. If he can't regain some type of edge then we may be in for a long season. |
Monday, April 9, 2012
August 9th, 2012; Barry Zito Day
If I were to tell you a Giants pitcher just threw a complete game shut-out for the first Giants win of the year, you would probably think it was opening day in Arizona and Lincecum was the guy I was talking about, or game two, with Bumgarner being the guy, or possibly even game three, with Cain being the guy (but let's be honest, there's no way the Giants don't win 1 of there first 3), the last thing you would think, the VERY last guy you would think to be pitching a complete game, let alone for the win, is Barry Zito for the Giants first win of the year.
Believe it Giants fans, it wasn't worth $120 million but it was a beautiful sight to see. Zito flat out battled today. Not only did Zito only give up 4 hits and no runs, he even had an amazing 11 pitch at-bat his 4th time up that resulted in a single.
Give some big "props" to rookie catcher Hector Sanchez who showed that he is very capable to play at this level. It's exciting to see that Posey will be able to move to a different position soon because of Sanchez and the other prospects the Giants have at the catcher position.
Today was an important day for the Giants, for the fans, and especially for Mr. #75. I don't care what you've thought of Zito in the past, today was his day and he was amazing, simply amazing. He may not have another game like this so enjoy it while you can. We can only hope that he can be somewhere in the same mold as he was today for the rest of the year, whether he is or not you must tip your cap and relish in the fact that the Giants have a their first win of the year.
Believe it Giants fans, it wasn't worth $120 million but it was a beautiful sight to see. Zito flat out battled today. Not only did Zito only give up 4 hits and no runs, he even had an amazing 11 pitch at-bat his 4th time up that resulted in a single.
Give some big "props" to rookie catcher Hector Sanchez who showed that he is very capable to play at this level. It's exciting to see that Posey will be able to move to a different position soon because of Sanchez and the other prospects the Giants have at the catcher position.
Today was an important day for the Giants, for the fans, and especially for Mr. #75. I don't care what you've thought of Zito in the past, today was his day and he was amazing, simply amazing. He may not have another game like this so enjoy it while you can. We can only hope that he can be somewhere in the same mold as he was today for the rest of the year, whether he is or not you must tip your cap and relish in the fact that the Giants have a their first win of the year.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Opening Day for Giants; Lincecum Day
It was Tim Lincecum's 4th straight Opening Day start for the S.F. Giants and he was very, well, "Lincecum opening day " like. There are headlines galore saying Lincecum had a "horrible outing" and "diminished velocity" which actually makes me a little more comfortable considering; THIS IS WHAT EVERYONE CLAIMS EVERY YEAR AFTER TIMMY'S FIRST START.
He only pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up 5 runs, and 2 first inning HR's. Not very good right?
Timmy also struck out 7, never threw his slider (because he's saving it, not because he can't), and struck out the side in the bottom of the 4th. Yeah, his career is obviously over.
ESPN, as always was to trust with their assesment;
Lincecum didn't throw a single slider in Friday's loss to the Diamondbacks, CSN Bay Area reports.
Lincecum's velocity decline has already been chronicled, but it's worthwhile to note that despite the lesser velocity and the diminished repertoire, the Diamondbacks that faced Lincecum on Friday still raved about his stuff. The results speak otherwise, though. It's still early, so the velocity still could kick upward and Lincecum could unveil the slider again, but his margin for error is a lot smaller if he has fewer tools to get opposing hitters out.
He only pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up 5 runs, and 2 first inning HR's. Not very good right?
Timmy also struck out 7, never threw his slider (because he's saving it, not because he can't), and struck out the side in the bottom of the 4th. Yeah, his career is obviously over.
ESPN, as always was to trust with their assesment;
Lincecum didn't throw a single slider in Friday's loss to the Diamondbacks, CSN Bay Area reports.
Spin:
Look, if you're a Giants fan, A Tim Lincecum fan, or even a Dodgers fan for that matter, do not buy into the hype. If Lincecum is still giving up 5 runs through less than 6 innings in a month then we'll revisit but for now this is pretty much par the coarse for Timmy.
We'll see...
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Belt, Pill, & Sanchez make opening day roster 2012
Congrats to the Giants front office for getting this one right! They choose to keep youngsters Brandon Belt (1B, LF), Brent Pill (Utility infield/outfield), and Hector Sanchez (C) on the 25 man roster to open the 2012 season. We have to commend the Giants brass for moving past the "we love veterans more than our mothers" attitude and taking a chance on the youth. It's been a long time, so enjoy it while you can Giants fans, God only knows how long their leashes will be.
Brandon Belt- Ironically he made the team last year as the starting first baseman, only to be demoted, then brought back, injured, then demoted, then brought back again (or something like that). He has been written about a lot this Spring because of a "hole in his swing." This notion that the hole is a proble or news worthy is absurd. Name one guy in the game who doesn't have any weakness at the plate, you'll need one hand and probably not all 5 fingers to count them. BTW- if he does have such a hole one of two things will happen; pitchers will try to attack the 'middle-in' hole, only to leave the ball out over the middle where Belt will mash the ball (because how many pitchers have that kind of consistent accuracy? Again, one-hand-not-all-fingers rule) OR they will pound the 'middle in' spot and Belt will see so many pitches there he'll naturally learn to hit it, like a major league hitter does. There's a reason why the game is hard to play.
Brent Pill- He's a "poor man's Dan Uggla." Lots of power, not big on BA, suspect defense, lots of power, in that order. I say that with hope, hope that he actually might get a shot at the same position Uggla plays, second base. I love that Joe Panik is on the way, but we may have a year or two before we actually see him. With Freddy Sanchez out, and not looking good, it would be great to sacrifice some defense there for decent power. Pill has a legit shot at 20-25 HR's and a .250 BA.
Hector Sanchez- "He's a younger version of Pablo Sandoval but more patient." I actually read that this Spring and if it's true then this team is in for a treat, as are us fans. With Sanchez being the only back-up to Posey, this means that we could actually see quite a bit of the youngster, and that we can take a collective deep breath that Posey's replacement's, behind the plate, have already begun to arrive. Sanchez should hit for avg. and show some pop, and be valuable as a switch hitter; the sky's the limit with him at the plate. Defense is where Sanchez will have to pay attention, thank God he has Bochy (former catcher) and Posey (greatest catcher ever) to learn from.
With these 3 guys up it makes you wonder what a 2014 opening day line-up may look like;
1. G. Brown CF
2. J. Panik 2B
3. P. Sandoval 3B
4. B. Posey LF
5. B. Belt 1B
6. H. Sanchez C
7. B. Pill RF
8. B. Crawford SS
9. Pitcher
Brandon Belt- Ironically he made the team last year as the starting first baseman, only to be demoted, then brought back, injured, then demoted, then brought back again (or something like that). He has been written about a lot this Spring because of a "hole in his swing." This notion that the hole is a proble or news worthy is absurd. Name one guy in the game who doesn't have any weakness at the plate, you'll need one hand and probably not all 5 fingers to count them. BTW- if he does have such a hole one of two things will happen; pitchers will try to attack the 'middle-in' hole, only to leave the ball out over the middle where Belt will mash the ball (because how many pitchers have that kind of consistent accuracy? Again, one-hand-not-all-fingers rule) OR they will pound the 'middle in' spot and Belt will see so many pitches there he'll naturally learn to hit it, like a major league hitter does. There's a reason why the game is hard to play.
Brent Pill- He's a "poor man's Dan Uggla." Lots of power, not big on BA, suspect defense, lots of power, in that order. I say that with hope, hope that he actually might get a shot at the same position Uggla plays, second base. I love that Joe Panik is on the way, but we may have a year or two before we actually see him. With Freddy Sanchez out, and not looking good, it would be great to sacrifice some defense there for decent power. Pill has a legit shot at 20-25 HR's and a .250 BA.
Hector Sanchez- "He's a younger version of Pablo Sandoval but more patient." I actually read that this Spring and if it's true then this team is in for a treat, as are us fans. With Sanchez being the only back-up to Posey, this means that we could actually see quite a bit of the youngster, and that we can take a collective deep breath that Posey's replacement's, behind the plate, have already begun to arrive. Sanchez should hit for avg. and show some pop, and be valuable as a switch hitter; the sky's the limit with him at the plate. Defense is where Sanchez will have to pay attention, thank God he has Bochy (former catcher) and Posey (greatest catcher ever) to learn from.
With these 3 guys up it makes you wonder what a 2014 opening day line-up may look like;
1. G. Brown CF
2. J. Panik 2B
3. P. Sandoval 3B
4. B. Posey LF
5. B. Belt 1B
6. H. Sanchez C
7. B. Pill RF
8. B. Crawford SS
9. Pitcher
Monday, April 2, 2012
No more Dodger's talk?
This is interesting; You don't see or hear the "D" word dropped very much from Olney these days when reffering to Matt Cain and Cole Hammels, just sayin'...
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No talks since early March between PHI and Hamels. It'd be tough for PHI now to offer less than 5/$112.5 million, in light of Cain's deal.
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Baseball Tonight coming on in two minutes... with Tim K., Bert and I... lots of news and notes.
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Third biggest winner today: Cole Hamels. Just become far and away No. 1 possible free agent in fall. Tremendous negotiating leverage.
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The AAV on Cain's deal includes an average annual value of $22.5 million; only Roger Clemens's 1-year, $28m deal with NYY more for RHer.
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Cain's deal has full no-trade protect, and could be worth as much as $141m over seven years.
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Before Cain, the biggest deal for any right-hander, with $ to the player, was Kevin Brown's 7/$105 million. That has been eclipsed.
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So total guaranteed is $107.5m, a shade under $22m AAV. Team/player have to be happy with that.
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Giants reportedly have paid Matt Cain a top-of-the-market deal to keep him. Which is exactly what they needed to do.
Awesome! Big Daddy Cain!!!
I said it would get done. It got done.
I said it would be 5yrs/$115. It's about 5yrs/$112.
I said Buster Olney was wrong about Cain becoming a Dodger. Cain's not going to be a Dodger. (Okay, so Olney never said that but he can't elude to it now either).
This is a great day for Giants fans! Monumental!!
Now one of the greatest to ever wear the name "San Francisco" across his chest will be with the team throughout his prime. All Giants fans should be silly happy!! And don't forget that Cain just struck the richest deal for a right hander ever! Can I get a round of applause for Cain and his family?
That's a lot of steak.
I said it would be 5yrs/$115. It's about 5yrs/$112.
I said Buster Olney was wrong about Cain becoming a Dodger. Cain's not going to be a Dodger. (Okay, so Olney never said that but he can't elude to it now either).
This is a great day for Giants fans! Monumental!!
Now one of the greatest to ever wear the name "San Francisco" across his chest will be with the team throughout his prime. All Giants fans should be silly happy!! And don't forget that Cain just struck the richest deal for a right hander ever! Can I get a round of applause for Cain and his family?
That's a lot of steak.
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