Kuzul

Yeeech.

Losing three of four in Atlanta was disappointing. 

But getting steamrolled by the hapless 40-85 Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game weekend series? That’s senseless. And pitiful.

Here’s senseless: Pablo Sandoval hurts his left shoulder twisting a stubborn soda bottle cap and is out of Friday’s lineup (just joshing; he hurt it swinging the bat Thursday in Atlanta).

Here’s pitiful: the Giants infield Friday consisted of Huff at 1B, Fontenot at 2B, Tejada at SS, DeRosa at 3B. I affectionately call that group the O-Gang, as in: nO offense, Old, and Oh-my-gosh-these-guys-look-awful.

Sorry for the sarcasm. How else are we going to get through this?

Atlanta did defeat Arizona Friday, so the Giants NL West deficit remains two-and-a-half games. It only feels like it’s seven.

So what comes next? Locusts in the clubhouse? Bed bugs in the players’ hotel rooms? No cold beer at the hotel bar for Aubrey Huff? Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, here are five things to watch for as the Giants continue this dreadful road trip. 

Begin Slideshow

With the New York Mets recent financial situation and the San Francisco Giants desperate need for offense and a real short stop, Jose Reyes has been one of the hottest names floating around MLB trade rumors. 

This is an intriguing idea for both teams. They have exactly what each other wants and needs. However, neither team will be bite the bait for a small price.

Reyes will be a free agent at the end of the season. The Mets are facing a $1 billion lawsuit due to their involvement with the Bernie Madeoff scandal. All that is for sure is that they will be reducing their payroll significantly in 2012.

If New York is not a postseason contender (in the highly competitive NL East) when the July 31 trade deadline rolls around, you can bet that there will be no more “Joseeeeeè, Jose, Jose-Joseeeeeeè, Josè, Josè” chants for Los Mets fans at Citi Field come August.

The defending World Champion San Francisco Giants have been plagued with issues in 2011 of similar magnitude but very different circumstances.

San Francisco won their championship in 2010 because of their dominant pitching staff and timely hitting. A band of misfits and castoffs was strategically strung together by mastermind general manager Brian Sabean. 

Sabean did everything in his power to keep his champions together, making only a few small moves during the offseason. However, fate destroyed his careful work when San Francisco was plagued by several majorly devastating injuries.

A team that has notoriously struggled offensively and barely strung across enough runs to secure wins for their staff has already lost almost all of it’s biggest producers at some point this season. 

Heart-breaking injuries to the comeback Pablo Sandoval, sensation Buster Posey, the consistent and reliable Freddy Sanchez and a few other utility players, have created a “giant” need for an offensive spark-plug. 

The Giants currently hold the sixth worst batting average in the majors and are last in runs scored.

Somehow they have managed to stay on top of the NL West within half a game of first place the entire season (proof that great pitching really does go a loooong way, my friends). Although the NL West is admittedly not the most competitive division to compete in, this has been no easy feat for the Giants, and they will need to make a move to stay there.

The Giants have a big hole at shortstop, especially with an aging Miguel Tejada picking up most of the playing time there and hitting just .226.

With second basemen Freddy Sanchez possibly out for the season and the middle infield positions being held down by high-potential but not so high-impact players who have been brought up to the majors in wake of recent injuries, the need for an offensive shortstop with speed and range just became a high priority for San Francisco.

If you looked up “Jose Reyes” in the dictionary, that is exactly what you would see. “An offensive shortstop with speed and range” and one having one of the best years of his career leading the league in runs and average with the second most stolen bases. 

If San Francisco wants to have a shot at repeating their title, or even remaining contenders for that matter, they will probably need someone of the likes of Jose Reyes to fill the void in 2011. 

What exactly would the Giants have to give up to make this happen?

New York needs good, young players, particularly pitchers. San Francisco has many very valuable young players and pitchers, but some may have too much future value to be traded. 

This could involve Giants top pitching prospects such as first-round draft pick Zack Wheeler, as well as young position players such as Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford, who both still have developing to do but have already shown potential at the big league level. 

Other players that will be targeted are members of the Giants top tier starting rotation.

Giants GM Brian Sabean will not give up his ace Tim Lincecum or workhorse Matt Cain. He would be lucky to get rid of Barry Zito in a package to the Mets. However, this could be even more costly for the Giants, who still owe the struggling lefty over $40 million and would likely have to buy out the rest of his contract.

With the year comeback player Ryan Vogelsong is having, you can bet that the Giants are going to hold on to him as long as he keeps up the best numbers and performance of the entire pitching staff.

However, No. 3 starter Jonathon Sanchez, who has had several shaky starts this season although he can be lights out when he’s locked in, has been relatively inconsistent with 38 wins and 44 losses in six seasons with San Francisco.

It might be smart for the Giants to include Jonathon Sanchez in a package with prospects to bring Reyes to SF. 

It all depends. Do the Giants want to give up the potential future success of their franchise over the next decade to bring Jose to the team for the rest of 2011? 

Yes, with the year Reyes is having, his addition would all but guarantee postseason success.

However, if San Francisco makes a trade for Jose, it would likely be a short term “rental,” as when he goes on the free agent market after the World Series they would have to re-sign him. 

Reyes is only 28 years old, and if he keeps up his All-Star numbers through the second half he will demand,and likely be awarded a big time superstar contract of the likes of those of Troy Tulowitski and Carl Crawford. 

The Giants will not sign Reyes to a long term contract. If they do, it will cost them.

Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson’s contracts are all up in the next few years. This is a team that is built around pitching, and it won them a World Series. If the Giants want to repeat as champions anytime soon, they need to save their money to keep the pitching staff intact. 

Look for a team with a higher payroll to sign Reyes for 2012. The New York Yankees? That’s a whole other story. 

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Quick Note before we begin.  Here’s a rule for catchers straight out of the MLB Rulebook:

“The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.”

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what went wrong, and why the only person at fault is Buster Posey. It’s an easy thing to figure out if you actually watch the video. It was his own fault he got hurt on that play.  

Before you Giants fans freak out and tell me about how Scott Cousins needs to be fined or anything like that, take a look at the video. The sequence of events clearly shows that the injury was a result of Buster Posey making two, very distinct, very bad decisions, and leaving Scott Cousins with only one choice.

Those bad decisions:

1. Posey started in front of the plate. If you talk to any catcher, especially in the majors, they will tell you exactly what you’re supposed to do on a play where the ball is hit to right field with a runner coming home. You are supposed to start behind the plate, so you have a good view of the runner coming, and move forward as the ball comes in. Otherwise, you can’t see him coming at all if you’re looking into right field for the ball. 

Posey didn’t do that. As soon as the ball was hit, he made up his mind that he was going forward, and that he was going to sit on the line and wait for the throw. It goes against common sense as well as baseball playing basics. And don’t give me that crap that it was the speed of the play. That play took a while to develop, and if Posey is as good as everyone claims, he should have known better.

2. Posey didn’t catch the ball, but acted like he did. He didn’t catch the ball. No disputing that. It’s clear that he gave up catching the ball in lieu of taking the hit. Which, by itself, is pure idiocy. Let me explain. If the object is to catch the ball and tag the runner out, and the only way to do that is to take the hit, I get that. But when you don’t catch the ball, doesn’t that make the idea of taking the hit to get the runner out kind of, I don’t know, pointless? But he did it anyway.

After not catching the ball, Posey turned toward Cousins and lowered his shoulder for the hit. Posey wasn’t lying when he said he gave Cousins a lane to slide for the plate. He did. Until the last second, that is. Just before Cousins, who was running full speed toward the plate, gets about two feet away, Buster turns into him. He didn’t even have the ball, why did he turn? He’s good enough to know he didn’t catch the ball. He had no business sliding toward Cousins.

Cousins’ Only Choice

Take a good look at the video. You can clearly see that Cousins was heading toward the outside of the plate, away from Posey. He saw the ball come in, and knowing the caliber of catcher he was up against, assumed Posey would catch the ball. Given how the ball beat him to the plate with a great throw from right field, he had two choices.  

One…go for the head-first slide and pretty much be guaranteed an out. Or two, try to break up the play. Buster Posey made the choice for him. Posey turned into the base path and acted like he had the ball, cutting off Cousins from the plate. Cousins lowered his body to chest level, totally avoiding any head-to-head or shoulder-to-head contact. It was about as clean a hit as you can get between runner and catcher.

The Fallout

I find it funny that no one, with the exception of Giants fans and employees, is demonizing the actual hit. Oh sure, there’s a lot of people out there talking about how the rules need to be changed, or how catchers need to be protected, but that’s the gist of it. 

Anyone who sees the video can see the hit was clean. That’s not really up for debate. What has become the debate, is whether or not we need to change the rules to protect catchers. In my mind, that’s a little bit of an overreaction.  

If this hit happens to Buck, the Marlins catcher, we don’t have this debate. If Buster Posey isn’t the cleanup hitter on the reigning world champions, it’s just another play. But because it happened to a young and promising player like Posey, we should enact rule changes? After 142 years of baseball, we need to change the rules to better protect catchers? I don’t think so.  

Even if we were going to change the rules, what would we change them to?

Let’s say we changed the rule and made it so you are not allowed to hit the catcher. If that were the rule, what would Cousins have had to do? Leap over Posey? He couldn’t have reached the plate without going through him since Buster took it upon himself to step directly in the base path, even though he didn’t even have the ball.

Who would be at fault then? It would have to be Posey. He was in the base path and Cousins didn’t have anywhere to go.

And since Buster Posey himself has said that it was a legal play, why is he complaining? What does he want Cousins to do? Stop making legal plays? He’s being a baby. So is Giants GM Brian Sabean. Injuries happen, guys. Just because they happen to players we love to watch play doesn’t mean we need drastic rule changes.

Major League Baseball survived without Buster Posey for 140 years. It can stand another one.  

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The 2011 baseball season is upon us, and that can only mean one thing for eager fans: a fresh start.  With hopes of celebratory bliss, you announce confidently, “this is our year,” as you retrieve the enormous foam finger lodged behind your bed. The once prized possession is now dusted with crumb remnants and dead ants. 

While one’s prophecies for the upcoming season may be nothing more than fantasy, players must approach each year with the goal to maintain past success, improve on past failures, or return from an injury, thus proving they still are one of the elite.  No player is more eager to prove he can return to greatness than Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan.    

Nathan made great progress this spring and has reestablished himself as Minnesota’s closer to open the season. This tale, however, is not about Nathan’s return to the mound.  This is a tortuous reminder to all San Francisco Giants fans who still cringe when his name is spoken. A four-time All-Star, Nathan is nothing less than a savior to Minnesota  faithful, but to Giants aficionados, like the ex-girlfriend you let slip through your fingers when you stupidly answered yes to “do these jeans make me look fat,” he is merely the one who got away.  

This June, the Twins will visit San Francisco for the first time since the 2003 trade that sent Nathan to Minnesota. Like a nerd coming back for his twenty-year reunion driving a Porsche, and sporting a hot blonde on his arm, the elite closer will return with a chest full of accolades acquired since.

In November of 2003, Giants General Manager Brian Sabean, traded Nathan, along with Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano,  for catcher A.J. Piersynksi.  At the time, everything appeared safe.  Piersynksi was a player about to hit his prime at a hard-to- fill position, and only Nathan had any major league experience at that point. The result?  You’d be hard pressed to find one person who would argue against it being the worst trade in San Francisco’s history.

Sabean has made a career of upsetting fans at the time of a deal yet, somehow, many work out in the end.  So what happened with this one?  Was the departure of these now American League all-stars a result of miscalculation, poor scouting, and an itchy trigger finger, or just an anomaly, resulting in a case of inauspicious hindsight? 

How has Sabean really fared in his assessment of young pitching talent? At this point everyone knows the names Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner, but that staff didn’t get assembled without some bumps in the road; Nate Bumps to be exact.

Below are some of Sabean’s trades involving young pitchers. Some left fans day dreaming of memories past, while others left fellow GMs holding a bag of Sabean Fool’s Gold.  

THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY 

4. Jeremy Accardo to Toronto for Vinnie Chulk & Shea Hillenbrand (July 2006)

Sure, Accardo hasn’t amounted to a whole lot since; however, the year after he was traded he racked up 30 saves and a 2.14 ERA for Toronto while loathed Giant closer Armando Benetiz saved just nine games, blew a handful of others and was traded mid-season.  

3. David Aardsma & Jerome Williams to Chicago Cubs for LaTroy Hawkins (May 2005)

Aardsma, one of many first round picks Sabean has dealt during his tenure, bounced around for a few seasons before finally settling in as the closer for Seattle in 2009.  That year he saved 38 games then followed it up with 31 in 2010.  When healthy, he is slated for closing duties again this season, proving to be a valued commodity in the Mariner’s bullpen.  Would the Giants have wanted to wait four years for a guy who would’ve just pissed off the team seamstress by using up all her “A” letters?  The prognosis is no, but good bullpen help is always hard to find, especially one with closing ability – just ask Armando Benetiz haters. 

2. Keith Foulke, Bobby Howry & others for Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin & Roberto Hernandez (July 1997)

All three players obtained somewhat helped bring a National League West title to San Francisco in 1997, but Sabean left the dog door open and Keith Foulke quietly escaped into the night to go on to save 191 career games, as well as bring a World Series title to Boston in 2004.  See aforementioned prognosis for Aardsma, minus the nagging seamstress.

1. Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano & Boof Bonser for A.J. Piersynksi (November 2003)

Looking to upgrade the catcher position after the departure of Benito Santiago, Sabean made what is regarded the worst trade of his tenure, giving up Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser, for problematic A.J. Piersynksi. Bonser, rated the 29th best prospect in 2002 was actually the prized piece of the deal, but he isn’t the one fans have lost sleep over. He has been no better than a 5th starter for any team since the deal. Liriano took the A.L. by storm when he broke into the majors a year later, and after being derailed by an arm injury he has once again established himself as one of the best lefties in the game atop the Twins rotation.   Nathan has gone on to make four all-star appearances, and has been one of the game’s best closers over the past six seasons.   

Piersysnki was released the following season.

 
SABEAN FOOLS GOLD

5.  Jason Grilli & Nate Bump to Florida for Livan Hernandez (July 1999) 

Rarely in any sport do you see consecutive year first round picks traded in the same deal, but when the Giants dealt for inning-eater Livan Hernandez at the trade deadline in 1999 this rarity became a reality.  Grilli, the fourth overall pick in 1997 seemed poised for a brilliant major league career, but Sabean sent the Seton Hall alum to Miami along with 1998 first rounder Nate Bump.

Grilli was a top 50 prospect at the time, and Bump had shown promise in the minors, posting a sub 1.75 ERA in each of his first two seasons. Dealing two 1st round prospects for a pitcher who was 5-9 at the time would make even the most unknowledgeable fan question sanity, but amazingly Sabean came out smelling like a rose.   

Hernandez went on to win 45 games for the Giants while Grilli became nothing more than a journeyman reliever. Nate Bump pitched in just three partial seasons for Florida with the last being in 2005. 

4. Jesse Foppert (and Yorvit Torrealba) to Seattle for Randy Winn (July 2005)

Foppert, the fifth rated prospect by Baseball America in 2003 was San Francisco’s Lincecum, before there was Lincecum. He had a promising 2003 and was a fixture in the starting rotation for a team that won the National League Western Division, but promise quickly turned to pain killers as multiple injuries to his throwing elbow sent his career into a tailspin.

Before the completion of his comeback Sabean sent the once can’t-miss prospect to Seattle for consistent, but not flashy, Randy Winn.  Despite the injuries, the Bay Area product was a fan favorite, and many were sad to see him go. In the end it was the right move. Winn went on to start in right field for SF for the next four and a half seasons, and was seventh in the N.L. in hitting in 2008.  Foppert never pitched in the Majors again.  

3. Kurt Ainsworth (and Damian Moss) to Baltimore for Sidney Ponson (July 2003) 

Another first round pick (1999), Ainsworth followed the orange and black brick road right out of San Francisco, like his fellow first rounders of the past.  Like Foppert, Ainsworth cracked the rotation in 2003, posting a winning record and sub-4 ERA in 11 starts, but was traded before the deadline for often lazy and rarely effective Sidney Ponson.

Ponson won only three games the rest of year for SF, and cost the Giants in additional food catering services due to his insatiable appetite, but once again Sabean made the right call.  Ainsworth would pitch only two innings in the Majors after the trade, and is rumored to be working in the giraffe exhibit at a Baltimore zoo.  (Don’t get me wrong, giraffes are amazing creatures – I’m just saying.)

2. Tim Alderson to Pittsburgh for Freddie Sanchez (July 2009)

In what was regarded as a bit of a haphazard deal at the time, Sabean dealt the No. 2 prospect in the organization for a powerless and injury plagued second baseman.  At the time of the trade, Freddie Sanchez couldn’t even play due to injury.  Who trades the 45th ranked Major League prospect and his miniscule ERA for a beaten up player who can’t even suit up?   Could he have traded for someone better at the time? Yes. Could he have given up a lesser prospect to get Sanchez? Yes.  Did the trade work out?

Alderson posted a whopping 6.03 ERA in 25 minor league starts in 2010 and was demoted to Single-A before season’s end.  Sanchez went on to help San Francisco bring home its first World Championship, contributing with three doubles to set a World Series record in Game 1, and will take the field on opening day 2011.  Enough said.

1. Ryan Vogelsong (and Armando Rios) to Pittsburgh for Jason Schmidt (July 30th, 2001) 

Ok, so Ryan Vogelsong can hardly be considered a prospect, but then again neither was Jason Schmidt at the time.  Schmidt immediately blossomed in the organization, establishing himself as one of the top pitchers in the National League and led the team to post-season births in 2002 and 2003. Vogelsong amassed 10 wins over six seasons with the Pirates. He is now back with the organization this spring vying for a spot on San Francisco’s opening day roster. 

Honorable Mention:

Not trading Tim Lincecum for Alex Rios (after 2007 season)

San Francisco was desperate for a bat, and Lincecum was an emerging superstar.  The deal was more than just a rumor, but luckily dissipated like a phantom in the night once cries were heard from Giant faithful. 

All in all, Sabean has done a decent job at assessing pitching talent, confidently trading away first round pick after first round pick, only to see them flounder in their new homes. He has created one of the best starting pitching staffs and despite it taking 17 years, he hasn’t given up a whole lot (other than a guy 30th on the all-time saves list, one of the best left-handed starters in the American League and a guy who was on the mound when the Red Sox brought home a Championship after 86 years). 

When Nathan comes trotting out of the bullpen later this season during his team’s stop in San Franciso, Giant fans can dream about what could have been, but ultimately be happy about what has been. 

Sabean has been forgiven. 

Go Giants. 

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Sweet Lou is coming to the City by the Bay.  Yep, that barrel-chested man famous for profanity-laced on-field tirades has been hired as a special consultant to San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean.

On the surface, this appears like another Sabean genius move.  Pick up a smart baseball mind, particularly one with an offensive lens on the game, to complement what has become a pitching-heavy club. 

On the other hand, Lou’s been in the dugout for the last 40 years, which means showing up at game time in street clothes will be an unfamiliar role for him.

Piniella’s arrival in San Francisco begs the obvious question: How might Lou help (or hurt) the Giants’ chance to repeat as World Champs?

First, five reasons why Piniella will be a boon for the Giants’ chances to repeat in 2011.

1. He knows the game as well as anyone, and his experience as a position player will come in handy as the Giants struggle to find the right lineup with the chemistry needed to win games down the stretch and in the playoffs like the 2010 team.

2. He’s won in the postseason (including twice as a player with the Yankees and once as a manager, guiding the 1990 Reds to a World Series title over the favored Oakland A’s), so he’s got some good pattern recognition when it comes to what needs to come together on the field and in the clubhouse for a team to win it all.

3. He can be a great sounding board to Bruce Bochy and someone the current Giants skipper can trust as a guy who’s not there to take his job if the team starts scuffling around the All-Star break.

4. He can be a great sounding board to Brian Sabean, particularly in the context of deciding which of the Giants farmhands down in Fresno might be able to have the kind of impact Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner had on the team last season.

5. He will add another personality to an already personality-rich organization, whether it’s as a post-game guest with the KNBR Radio crew or on CSNBayArea’s TV coverage.  Lou will be a great ambassador for Giants baseball and someone who can help deflect some of the heat that would be directed at Bochy or the players if things hit a rough spot during the year.

Now, despite all of the positive points above, there at least five good reasons why Piniella’s presence could hurt the Giants’ chances of winning in 2011.

1. He’s never been a guy who minces words, so it’s not clear he’ll understand when he’s supposed to be toeing the “company line.”  Imagine the first time he gets quoted questioning one of Bochy’s game decisions or one of Sabean’s player personnel decisions.

2. He’s a former Rookie of the Year and All-Star, so what happens when he’s roaming around the field before games? What if he decides to help Buster Posey tinker with his swing during a slump?  That won’t exactly go over well with Giants coaches.

3. He may show up one day a bit confused and put on a uniform, walk in to the dugout and start filling out the line up card and then waltz out to home plate to go over the ground rules with the umpiring crew.  I’m guessing that one would create a bit of an issue for the Giants.

4. See No. 2 above, but imagine this time he mentally shifts back to his days managing the Reds when he probably thought he was the genius behind the Nasty Boys’ pitching success, and he decides to start giving Tim Lincecum a few pointers on his mechanics. I can just see Dave Righetti and Lincecum’s dad Chris gang-tackling Lou out by the bullpen mound.

5. By all appearances recently, Lou looks like a healthy eater.  San Francisco is not an easy town on healthy eaters…in fact, it’s down right unfair.  There’s some real risk here that Lou gets distracted running around town from great restaurant to great restaurant, and he doesn’t stay focused on the job at hand: advising Sabean.  I can see it now, Lou showing up late to a meeting with Sabean and Bochy and explaining, “But guys, I’ve never even heard of pumpkin creme brulee, I just had to try it!”

Giants fans, enjoy your season of Lou!

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This week on the McCovey Chronicles, a debate roared whether Gary Monseigneur Brown would be spectacular in the majors.

While his draft position may not be Posey-like, he can become Rondell White and span 14 major league seasons.

Think of Brandon Belt: He was a fifth round pick, but came in second in the minors in batting in 2010.

Belt’s final numbers for 2010 include an incredible .352 BA, 136 G, 492 ABS, 99 R, 173 H, 43 2B, 10 3B, 23 HR, 112 RBIs, 305 TB, 93 BB, 99 SO, 22 SB, 8 CS, .455 OBP, .620 SLG, and 1.075 OPS.

Belt will come off the unemployment rolls if he can step up to the majors next year.

The answer to the question is up to you.

Who is Gary Brown is most similar to?

Scouting Report for Gary Brown Provided by MILB.com:

Hitting ability: Brown consistently gets the barrel on the ball. It’s not pretty, his feet are moving but the bat is always in the right place, particularly against fastballs.

Power: He doesn’t look like he should, but he’s got some surprising pop.

Running speed: He’s got plus, plus speed.

Base running: He wreaks havoc on the basepaths, though he’s still raw and needs to learn the nuances of baserunning.

Arm strength: His arm is not quite average and isn’t really a part of his game.

Fielding: When he first started playing center, he did not look good out there. But he’s improved quickly in his routes and reading the ball off the bat.

Range: With his speed, he’s got more than enough range for center.

Physical Description: Brown is an athletic, though not overly big, speedster. He’s got a Reggie Willits body type.

Medical Update: Healthy.

Strengths: Plus, plus speed. Better hitting skills than expected.

Weaknesses: He’s still raw in many facets of the game.

Summary: There may not have been another hitter in the 2010 Draft class who got off to a hotter start than Brown.

Speed is his best tool and he can wreak havoc on the basepaths. He’s got more strength and power than it would seem, and while his approach is unorthodox, he’s got good overall hitting skills.

Relatively new to the outfield, he’s come a long way in terms of his defensive skills in center. Pure speed guys who can hit don’t grow on trees, and if Brown keeps hitting the way he started out the year, he’s going to hear his name called sooner rather than later on Draft Day.

2010 Winter Ball League Numbers for Gary Brown: .152 BA, Projected SBs 32.

If you would like to ask me any questions email me at rayb.ucla@gmail.com alumni address

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After a weekend filled with free agent acquisitions and a big trade, the winner at the end of the day is the World Series champion Giants. Even though the Giants lost World Series MVP Juan Uribe, they were able to steal Miguel Tejada away from their division rival Padres.

Tejada is a little old and I wish we had the Tejada of 10 years ago, but he’s still an effective shortstop that has a reliable bat. If it wasn’t good enough to steal your rival’s shortstops and leave them with a gap in the middle, things got even easier for the Giants as the weekend progressed.

The big-name trade was finalized this morning as the Padres dealt superstar Adrian Gonzalez for Casey Kelly, Raymond Fuentes, Anthony Rizzo and a player to be named later. While the Padres did get some young talent for Gonzalez, it was not nearly enough.

Kelly may be a good young right-handed starting pitcher, but in many baseball circles he is more regarded as as a second or third starter in a rotation.

Fuentes has high potential, but is still extremely raw. Rizzo is a young first baseman who is doing well in the minors, but there is no guarantee on how well he will perform when he is called upon.

While the Padres did receive some pieces, they have taken some steps back and no longer seem like a strong competitor for the NL West title.

The other big move this past weekend was Jayson Werth leaving Philadelphia to join the Nationals. While the Phillies are still uber-talented, they lost a big bat and defensive presence in Werth.

Werth was one of the only hitters on the Phillies’ roster that had success against Giants pitching in the NLCS. And his big seven-year, $126 million contract makes it almost impossible for the Phillies to replace him with Crawford.

Crawford has been expected to demand a bigger contract than Werth, and he may be now out of the Phillies’ price range.

Continue Reading…

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With the signing of Miguel Tejada to a one-year deal (salary and bonus equaling $7M) the first question that comes to mind is: Why? 

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for signing Tejada, but why let Juan Uribe leave after winning a World Series with your team for the same exact amount of money?

Whether or not one will have a better year than the other is debatable and it seems like the biggest sticking point, for the second year in a row with Uribe, is the amount of years.

Tejada now has a one-year deal and Uribe has a three-year deal, although for the one common year between the two contracts (2011), they are making the same exact money.  So why let a company man walk over two years?

Furthermore, Tejada is 36 years old right now and 37 when this contract will be up.  Uribe is 31 right now and will be two years younger than Tejada is now when his contract expires.

So again, for similar quality players, the question remains. Why let Uribe walk for Tejada?

With rumors of Jason Bartlett’s availability, that is still an option worth looking at and that’s what I thought Giants GM Brian Sabean was up to. 

Listening to Juan Uribe talk about the courting process of the LA Dodgers, however, makes one realize it was more the proactive approach the Dodgers took that got the deal done with Uribe, who, for the second straight year, was left out to market over length of contract by the San Francisco Giants.

The rival Dodgers showed interest in Uribe from day one and made him feel “very proud,” and “very emotional,” he said when describing the courtship of the Dodgers.  Stephen Covey would be proud of the proactive approach the Dodgers are taking in this offseason and it is yielding results.

The Dodgers reportedly tried to lure away Aubrey Huff in the same manner and Huff accepted the Giants matching offer.  This strategy went the opposite way with Uribe, who is all smiles in his new uniform.

So now what’s done is done and the Giants made the right reactionary move in signing Tejada. 

Still, with Tejada’s age and limited range, are they signing Tejada to play shortstop or third base?  Putting a shortstop at third base worked in the playoffs beautifully. With Tejada’s lack of range at short, he still possesses veteran hands and would be a brick wall at the hot corner. 

This brings us back to Jason Bartlett, who at 31 years old is in the prime of his career at shortstop and is available for trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, who are looking to deal with a team with a deep bullpen.

Bringing in Bartlett is now an option again and he will also bring much-needed speed and defense to a notorious pitchers’ park, not to mention a WAG that will surely make one of the lists on BleacherReport.com. 

Is Bartlett even necessary, though, if Panda works out and returns to his form of two years ago and Mark DeRosa comes back and plays healthy this year?  If Bartlett plays short, Tejada plays third, then where do you put these other guys?

One can imagine a defensive alignment in this case looking like this.

C—Buster Posey

1B—Pablo Sandoval

2B—Freddy Sanchez

SS—Michael Bartlett

3B—Miguel Tejada

LF—Mark DeRosa

CF—Andres Torres

RF—Aubrey Huff

Then what happens if the Giants re-sign Cody Ross?  Most likely Mark DeRosa goes to the bench as a utility player and Cody goes to left field. 

What if Pat Burrell re-signs?  He becomes our pinch hitter.

But, of course, if Sandoval spends the year in Triple-A, then there is room for everybody.

Based on the reality of the situation, signing Miguel Tejada was a swift, decisive and correct move for the World Champions that didn’t cost them anything in a trade.

Trading for Bartlett using their bullpen depth would give the Giants long term security at shortstop, which is now needed, considering the moves made by the Dodgers getting Uribe and the Colorado Rockies signing Troy Tulowitski to a 10-year extension.

These two moves answer a lot of questions and give the Giants the same kind of veteran depth that they enjoyed in their championship run.

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As the Giants remain in the hangover stages of a World Series championship campaign, the questions are beginning to swirl in the Bay Area over who will replace the World Series’ most valuable player, shortstop Edgar Renteria, in the upcoming 2011 season.

With Juan Uribe as a high candidate for moving teams, one thing is for certain. The Giants are going with the young guns: There is always room for improvement.

Will the Giants try to reel in Derek Jeter, or will they make a trade for another big name infielder?

Only time will tell.

Let’s look at some players around the league that the Giants have their eyes on.

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It is still unbelievable. Leading up to the parade on Wednesday I was not entirely sure I was not dreaming.

Did the San Francisco Giants, my San Francisco Giants, really win the World Series? Did they just exorcise all the demons from playoffs past?

They did and did it in dominating fashion.

No more are the Giants in the same conversation with the Indians and Cubs. No more are the Giants a team that can never seal the deal. All the blunders and torture that have occurred throughout the storied history of the San Francisco Giants have been alleviated.

The 2002 World Series? Forgiven. Winning 103 games in 1993 only to be left out of the playoffs? Never happened.

The 1989 Series? Forgotten.

This team has brought more unequivocal joy to the San Francisco Bay Area; the only word for it has to be ecstasy. In no way is this article to rub dirt in any Texas wounds. It is to express the unbridled joy felt by a fanbase that has waited 52 years for this.

No more are people asking for Bruce Bochy’s enormous head. No more are Brian Sabean’s moves crazy and stupid. They are geniuses and we did not even realize. Baseball people who know what they are doing?

Never.

We now know how the Red Sox fans felt. We now know what long-suffering White Sox fans went through.

The past 10 World Series have taken the proverbial monkey off the backs of many baseball cities. The Diamondbacks, Angels, Marlins, Red Sox twice, White Sox, Cardinals, Phillies, Yankees and Giants have all been champion in the past decade.

Let’s take a deeper look at this.

The Angels and Diamondbacks had never won a championship. The White Sox and Red Sox waited for more than 80 years for another.

The Phillies had not won a championship since 1980. Cardinals? Not since 1982.

San Francisco had never won a baseball championship. The Giants franchise had not won since 1954.

And they won it the way every baseball person knows is the formula: pitching and defense. They embraced the “team” mentality. Every player pulling for each other, doing what is best for the team.

Think about how long it had been for Aubrey Huff and Freddy Sanchez. They both had never been in the playoffs. Neither had played for a winning team before joining the Giants.

It meant so much to Huff that he dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over in Game 5. Huff had not laid down a sacrifice bunt ever in his 10-year Major League career but he did it in the World Series.

The Giants players checked their egos at the door and did what they had to do.

Aaron Rowand could have made a big deal about his playing time. He didn’t. Barry Zito could have complained about being left off the playoff roster but didn’t.

Every person played their part and now they celebrate together as world champions.

The Giants are World Series Champions. Maybe now it can set in.

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