Posted 4:30 PM by Doug

Around the Blogosphere: Will Clark and Win Shares

* Many Go; Few Understand uses Win Shares to examine Will Clark's qualifications for Cooperstown. He concludes that "a very strong case can be made that Will Clark is a bona fide Hall of Famer."

* Dave Studeman of the Hardball Times asks Why Not Will?

"Altogether, Clark amassed 331 Win Shares in his 15-year career, the 114th highest total in baseball history. (There are 258 players in the Hall.)

[snip]

Clark was almost certainly the best first baseman in the majors from 1988 to 1991, sort of post-Mattingly/Murray and pre-Thomas/Bagwell, and he wasn't too shabby in many of his other years. Personally, I would vote for Clark ahead of his college teammate, Rafael Palmeiro (regardless of the steroid controversy).

Still, Clark is a borderline call at this point. He didn't dominate at his position for a long enough time, and he didn't win an MVP award. First base is a deep position; If you vote for Clark, you should strongly consider McGriff too.

* Taking his cue from Studeman's article, Many Go; Few Understand uses Win Shares to compare Clark and McGriff.

"While an argument can be made for Clark's peak being HOF worthy, I don't think the same can be said for McGriff. McGriff certainly had a very respectable peak, but it wasn't something that awes. Clark's five year peak is impressive and complemented with everything else, I think it makes HOF worthy -- not an upper echelon inductee, but one worthy of Cooperstown."

***

Previous:

Keltner List: William Nuschler Clark, Jr.
What Would Krukow Do?
The Thrill Talks Copperstown
Will Clark vs. Mark McGwire

Others Blogging:

Beyond the Boxscore: Will the Thrill for Cooperstown

Posted 10:30 PM by Doug

Can Finley Bounce Back?

There was much celebrating in Giantsville as the portly Fonzie was traded. And the Giants got something of value in return for him. But does Steve Finley still have any value?

Steve Finley, 2006 ZiPS projection (as a member of the Angels):

.223 / .281 /.359


Gack! Run away! Women and children first!

The rebuttal to the ZiPS projection is that it is skewed by his 2005 season. Finley switched leagues after spending nearly all of his career in the NL. He's only two years removed from an outstanding year.

OPS+

2003: 113
2004: 110
2005: 73

The rebuttal to the rebuttal is that Finley is Done. I mean Done with a capital D. His nightmarish 2005 numbers are horrific enough, but he just looked like he was Done.

Being a SoCaler, I catch a fair number of Angels games. Watching Steve Finley hit last season was almost as painful as listening to Rex Hudler.

This ain't a 20-something player coming off a down year. Its not at all uncommon for an elderly OF to simply fall off a cliff and never recover.


All that said, I like the deal.

1) Sure, Finley may hit no better than Dante Powell (and I mean the 2005 version of Dante Powell), but, as discussed above, there is a fair chance he could be better than that.

More than anything I've grown tired of some of the bland, unimaginative acquisitions of recent years. No more Tuckers or Bomkos, please. Give me a high risk guy who might give me Neifi flashbacks but might pleasantly surprise me.

2) Fonzie is gone! Gone!

3) Trade value (a minor point) - If Finley is so much as ok next year, he'll have some value at the trade deadline (whether the Giants crash and burn and firesale him for a B-/C+ prospect, or if the Giants want to use their OF depth to address another need). Teams are always looking for OF help / left-handed pinch hitters at the July deadline. There's a good chance he won't be moved at all, but if the Giants want to move him, they can get something in return.

Overweight, weak hitting 3B, several years removed from his last good season? There's no demand for that at the trade deadline.

Something Else to Consider

I said I would link to this every time Sabean acquires an elderly player (I should just get a macro, considering the number of old guys Sabean acquires), so here goes:

"Give Brian Sabean a little credit. He has a feel for this phenomenon, and he's taken advantage of it. In a crazy way, this is the "Moneyball" philosophy. Approach the market in a different manner, and take advantage of values that others don't recognize. Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta valued OBP before others did; Brian Sabean values really old guys."

If Sabean thinks Finley isn't Done, then I'm willing to give Sabes the benefit of the doubt.

Posted 2:30 PM by Doug

Will Clark vs. Mark McGwire

Quick question ... who was a better player -- Will Clark or Mark McGwire?

The always thoughtful Tim Marchman of the New York Sun examines Will Clark's resume for Cooperstown and argues that Clark was a better player than McGwire.

"Scoff all you want. McGwire has huge, obvious advantages - he hit 300 more home runs than Clark, walked 400 more times in 1000 fewer plate appearances, set notable home run records, played a huge role on a great Oakland club in the late '80s, and so forth. Granting all that, Clark was the better of the two.

How so? Well, first there are those 1000 extra plate appearances. Clark was hardly the picture of health through his career, but he stayed on the field more than McGwire did, averaging 132 games per season to McGwire's 117. That gap of two seasons' worth of playing time helps his case a lot.

Clark has other advantages - he batted 40 points higher than McGwire over their careers, hit nearly 200 more doubles, and was a truly exceptional defender, whereas McGwire was among the worst ever seen."

Read the whole thing.

Career EqA:

McGwire .334
Clark .312

Career OPS+:

McGwire: 163
Clark: 138

Looking at these rate stats, I think its fair to say that McGwire was the superior hitter. But when considering the question "who was the better player?" we need to consider a) the difference in playing time b) other aspects of the game (baserunning, defense, not hitting into double plays, etc.)

Career WARP3:

McGwire: 101.8
Clark: 101.6

Career Win Shares:

McGwire: 342
Clark: 331

Looking at these stats, its tough to say that Clark was superior to McGwire, but I think its fair to say that Clark was just as good as McGwire.

Marchman continues:

"But," you say, "McGwire had big seasons. There are lots of guys who played more than McGwire but weren't as good." True enough, but Clark's best seasons were as good as McGwire's, if not better. In 1989, Clark hit .333 with 23 home runs and 74 walks. I'd argue he was at least as valuable that season as McGwire was in 1998, when he more famously hit .299 with 70 home runs and 162 walks.

Clark played in a league that scored 3.94 runs per game; McGwire in one that scored 4.60 per game. Clark - who grounded into almost no double plays, stole a few bases, and otherwise played a three-dimensional offensive game - created 131 runs, McGwire 179. In an offensive context like McGwire's that would have been 153, without even accounting for the fact that Clark played in Candlestick Park, a notoriously tough place for a left-handed hitter to swat a home run.

Consider that the difference between a Gold Glove first baseman at the top of his game, as Clark was in 1989, and an immobile slugger at the midpoint of his, as McGwire was in 1998, is about 25 runs over the course of a season, and the point about how good Clark was becomes clearer."

EqA:

McGwire 1998: .379
Clark 1989: .346

OPS+:

McGwire 1998: 217
Clark 1989: 175

Again, I would say that McGwire was the superior hitter. But who was the better player?

WARP3:

McGwire 1998: 11.5
Clark 1989: 12.4

Win Shares:

McGwire 1998: 41
Clark 1989: 44

I think its correct to say that Clark's best season "was just as good, if not better," than McGwire's best season.

More Marchman:

"Clark had a lot of big seasons. He was about as good, all around, in 1988 as he was the following year - clearly better, I think, than McGwire was in any year other than 1998. And his 1991 and 1992 campaigns were similarly better than McGwire's third- and fourth-best seasons."

Win Shares 4 Best Seasons:

WC MM

44 ... 41
37 ... 30
34 ... 30
28 ... 29

To be fair to McGwire, Big Mac has the advantage if you do a 10 year comparison. But Clark certainly has the edge in a 4 year comparison.

All in all, I don't agree with Marchman's assertion that Clark was a better player than McGwire. But I think its fair to say that Clark was probably just as good as McGwire.

McGwire is generally regarded as a future Hall of Famer (setting aside the performance enhancing argument), yet I don't think Will Clark, who has similarly impressive credentials, will get the strong Hall of Fame consideration that he deserves.

***

Previous:

Keltner List: William Nuschler Clark, Jr.
What Would Krukow Do?
The Thrill Talks Cooperstown

Others Blogging:

Beyond the Boxscore: Will the Thrill for Cooperstown

Posted 2:56 PM by Doug

Morris to the Giants Almost a Done Deal

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Giants are close to signing Matt Morris:

"Free-agent right-hander Matt Morris is closing in on a three-year deal with the Giants in the $25 million range, FOXSports.com has learned.

The deal, which would not be official until Morris, 31, passed a physical, might also include an option for a fourth year."

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick is also reporting that Morris is on the verge of signing with the Giants:

"Matt Morris officially parted ways with the Cardinals on Sunday. Later in the day, the free-agent pitcher went about the business of trying to finalize a multi-year contract with the Giants.

Morris and San Francisco are on the verge of agreeing to a three-year deal worth a guaranteed $27 million, a baseball source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Pending a physical exam, the deal is expected to be finalized early this week, the source said."

Posted 9:45 PM by Doug

Matt Morris Race Down to Giants and Reds

Ken Rosenthal, the most prolific baseball writer on the planet, has the scoop:

"Free-agent right-hander Matt Morris has narrowed his choice to two teams. One is the Giants, a team that has pursued him aggressively from the moment the bidding started. The other is believed to be the Reds, a late and surprising entry in the process.

Morris, 31, could make his decision as early as Sunday, and is likely to receive a three-year deal worth in the $25 million range. He will not return to the Cardinals, whose offer was not competitive with those of the other bidders.

[snip]

Early Saturday, Axelrod called the Reds "a consideration," but added, "We're so far down the line that for a team to pop in that late, that near the end, there would be an extra hurdle for them to go over."

The Dallas Morning News also reports that Morris rejected the Rangers contract offer and is expected to sign with a National League team.

"(Morris' agent Barry) Axelrod told the Rangers, who made a three-year, $25 million offer to Morris, that he narrowed the field and eliminated the Rangers. Morris, who has spent his entire career with St. Louis, is expected to sign with a National League club."

The Giants or the Reds? We should know one way or the other within the next 24-48 hours.

Update 9:55 PM: From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"Morris, drafted in 1995 and the winner of 101 games for the Cardinals, said he hadn't decided with whom he would sign as a free agent. He said he had narrowed the field to two teams, one of which is believed to be the San Francisco Giants. Multiple sources said Saturday night that the Giants appeared the clear frontrunners. In San Francisco, Morris would be rejoining former St. Louis teammates Mike Matheny, Steve Kline, Mark Sweeney and Jeff Fassero.

Speaking from his home in Jupiter, Fla., all Morris would say for the record on his choice was: "Not the Cardinals. I eliminated them today."

Update 12/11 11:00 AM: Rosenthal has now updated his original story:

"Free-agent right-hander Matt Morris has narrowed his choice to two teams. One is the Giants, a team that has pursued him aggressively from the moment the bidding started. The identity of the other team is not known.

The Cardinals, Reds and Nationals have been informed that they are out, FOXSports.com has learned. Published reports indicate that the Mariners and Rangers also have been eliminated. The Dodgers, an early suitor, could be back in the mix."

Posted 11:25 PM by Doug

Daryle Ward Sucks

Just sayin'.

Of all of the Giants-related hot stove rumors floating around, nothing scares me more than these eight words:

"Daryle Ward is on their list of possibles..."

Yikes!

Ward: OPS+

2003: 10
2004: 101
2005: 88

No, that's not a typo. Ward produced an OPS+ of 10 (!) in 2003. I know it was only in limited playing time, but an OPS+ of 10 from a 1B? Hell, an OPS+ of 10 from any major leaguer? Sweet merciful crap, that is downright awful.

What makes Daryle Ward a particularly unnattractive possibility is that he represents one of the few options who is not an upgrade from JT Snow.

Let's compare Ward and Snow. One of the limitations of OPS is that it doesn't properly weight OBP. This is troublesome whenever one does a comparison involving a player like Snow whose OPS is On Base Percentage heavy. So instead of OPS, let's use Gross Production Average.

GPA - Ward

2003: .143
2004: .256
2005: .244

GPA - Snow

2003: .279
2004: .325
2005: .246

All this is before entering defense and intangibles into the equation. Not that either of them are particularly appealing 1B options, but if the choice comes down to keeping Snow or signing Daryle Ward, I'd rather sign Snow for another year.

Now, if there is a reasonable trade to be made for Adrian Gonzalez or Hee Seop Choi (or if there is a reasonable outside-the-box 1B option like Nomah or Russell Branyan), then forget I ever said a word about re-signing Snow.

Worrell Back in the Fold

Tim Worrell signed a two-year contract with the Giants for $4MM. I pretty much like the deal.

Each and every time Sabean signs an elderly player, I'm going to link to Dave Studeman's must-read article where Studes credits Sabean for finding value in older players:

"Give Brian Sabean a little credit. He has a feel for this phenomenon, and he's taken advantage of it. In a crazy way, this is the "Moneyball" philosophy. Approach the market in a different manner, and take advantage of values that others don't recognize. Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta valued OBP before others did; Brian Sabean values really old guys."

Worrell's age (and his personal issues from last season) raises some question marks, but given Sabean's success in finding value in older players, I'm willing to give Sabes the benefit of doubt on this one.

In the context of this year's free-agent spending bonanza, Worrell's contract seems like a very fair deal for the Giants. So far this winter, GMs have been throwing around cash as if they were cast members of Laguna Beach on a Rodeo Drive shopping spree. I really can't complain about the Giants spending $2MM a year for a slightly above average reliever.

The Worrell signing also allows the Giants to consider trading LaTroy Hawkins. While I don't believe the Giants will actually trade Hawkins, it makes for some fun hot stove speculation. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd guess that Hawkins will be traded on Tuesday for Steve Kline. And I totally didn't edit the original post to add the preceding sentence.

So ... discussing the 1B situation and the Worrell signing in the same post is a roundabout way for me to float a trade involving LaTroy Hawkins and Adrian Gonzalez. The difference in contracts between the two makes a straight up swap highly unlikely, so the Giants would have to sweeten the pot with prospects and cash and/or take back some salary from the Rangers.

Hawkins has suddenly become an attractive trading chip. There's no doubt that the talent is there, but it was previously believed that his '06 salary would make him unmovable. Seeing the type of contracts thrown around this off season (not just $ involved but contract length), if I were a GM, I would be tempted to overpay a guy like Hawkins for one year rather than guarantee three years to a similarly talented reliever on the market.

Whatever the case may be, count me as a passenger of the get-Adrian-Gonzalez bandwagon. Hell, overpay if you have to, Sabes. Just, please, please avoid Daryle Ward at all costs.

Update 12/6 8:50 PM: So...about trading Hawkins in a package for Adrian Gonzalez... Nevermind.

Posted 9:25 PM by Doug

The Search Begins

* From Rich Draper of sfgiants.com:

"It appears the Giants will look inward initially for a new assistant GM, with help from Bobby Evans, director of Minor League operations, and Dick Tidrow, vice president of player personnel, a likely candidate to replace Colletti.

"We'll do a proper search to identify internally; how we might approach is from within ... make sure it's the right fit," said Sabean, explaining scout Pat Dobson will take over discussing possible deals with teams. "It's a very difficult position to fill."

I think there are good odds that Tidrow will get the job. By the way, is Giants scout Pat Dobson The Pat Dobson? I'm guessing it isn't Pat Dobson of the San Jose Giants.

* Draper also notes that Giants bench coach Ron Wotus is no longer a candidate for the Dodgers managerial opening.

* Dodgers Assistant GM Kim Ng is apparently staying with the Dodgers, so scratch her off the list of potential Giants AGM candidates. From mlb.com, via Dodger Thoughts:

"Ng, who has three years remaining on her contract, attended the press conference and said she would remain with the organization.

"I've been here for four years and I want to be part of it," said Ng, who was hired by former GM Dan Evans. "There are a lot of good things happening here on the baseball side."

Update 9:50 PM: Google is my friend. Pat Dobson of the Giants is former MLB pitcher Pat Dobson.

Update 10:25 PM: Pat Dobson update! Dobson is an absolute quote machine! From a 1999 article by Bob Nightengale.:

"Yet, Dobson realizes, not even the finest coaches in baseball can bring out the talent in every player. Padres center fielder Ruben Rivera has as much raw talent as anyone in the game. But he is hitting .181. On this day, Rivera loses track of the count and doesn't realize that he has just taken ball four.

"No wonder he can't hit," Dobson says.

Does he still have a chance to be the superstar whom the Yankees once predicted he would be?

"Slim and (bleeping) none," Dobson says. "He can't hit. He has no clue on a breaking ball. And he can't hit a fastball. I mean, some guys can't hit a breaking ball, but can at least hit a fastball. This guy can't do either."

[snip]

"Well, if nothing else, I see where the Blue Jays finally gave up on Doug Bochtler. He was the worst (bleeping) pitcher I've ever seen in the big leagues." ... The next morning, Dobson will be stunned again. The Dodgers will have signed Bochtler to a major league contract."

[snip]

"Hey, it's great to see the Dodgers keeping that pitching-rich tradition alive," Dobson says loudly. "Mike Maddux and Doug Bochtler. Give me a break."

[snip]

"Dobson and Keith Champion, the Chicago Cubs' advance scout, start talking about double-play combinations around the league. Champion wonders aloud if the Dodgers' double-play combo of second baseman Eric Young and shortstop Mark Grudzielanek is the worst in the league.

"It's got to be," Dobson says. "You got one guy who can't turn a double play (Young) and the other (Grudzielanek) with no range. I don't understand the thinking here. You spend $105 million on a pitcher (Kevin Brown) who's a ground-ball pitcher and have an infield with iron hands. That makes a hell of a lot of sense."

Posted 10:40 PM by Doug

Colletti Departs, But Who Replaces Him?

The big news of the night is that former Giants Assistant GM Ned Colletti is the new GM in Dodgerville.

Colletti's departure serves as a large, immediate hole for the Giants to fill. Its no secret that Brian Sabean delegated nearly all of the Giants contract negotiating responsibilities to Colletti.

In the NY Daily News' fascinating, behind the scenes look at Edgardo Alfonzo's contract negotiations, Colletti is the Giants negotiator, while Sabean is only brought in to close the deal.

Colletti's exit couldn't have come at a worse time for the Giants, who are now in the middle of an important off season without their experienced contract negotiator who has establised relationships with agents. (In fact, Colletti was in conversations with Matt Morris' agent in the last few days, so that could leave a potential Matt Morris signing up in the air.)

Also, I'm not sure what to make of this, but its worth pointing out.

"There were all sorts of messes in San Francisco, and not all of them became public," said an agent who has had several clients play for the Giants. "Ned dealt with all of them."

Brainstorming Potential Replacements

As for who will fill Colletti's shoes as the new assistant GM, Dick Tidrow, the Giants VP of Player Personnel, is most likely the frontrunner (with Jack Hiatt being promoted to VP of Player Personnel). That would be the safe, steady, don't-change-horses-in-midstream kind of pick.

The above linked LA Times article mentions an appealing candidate:

"It is unclear whether Colletti plans to retain (Kim) Ng or vice president of player development Roy Smith, who have been running the Dodger front office since DePodesta was fired."

Kim Ng has made a name for herself by beating Mariano Rivera and Eric Gagne in arbitration. I honestly don't know much about her other than that, but that is an awfully impressive bullet point to have on your resume. She's also served as an assistant GM, so she would come with experience, and, presumably, some established relationships with agents.

So, who will/should be the Giants new Assistant GM? Tidrow? Ng? DePo ;) ? Someone else?

Update 11:20 PM: This is funny. Nice work, Rob.

Update 11:45 PM: Did I really do an entire post about Ned Colletti without mentioning the Neifarious multi-year contract? How quickly I've forgotten.

Posted 10:05 PM by Doug

The Starters

Heading into the winter's free-agent and trading extravaganza, Brian Sabean has identified starting pitching as the Giants number one priority. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some possibilities accompanied by commentary which I'll try to pass off as decent analysis:

* AJ Burnett

By law, I'm obligated to concede that he's too good and too expensive for the Giants to acquire and that Burnett is destined for the Yankees or Red Sox.

* Jason Johnson

Brian Sabean's acquisition checklist:

1) I've previously tried to acquire him? Check.
2) Scouts like him? Check.

If I had to make a guess as to which pitcher the Giants would try to acquire, I would guess Jason Johnson. Scouts love his size and stuff. If you trust Peter Gammons (I know, I know), the Giants tried to acquire him from the Orioles as part of a larger Sidney Ponson trade at the trading deadline in 2003.

ERA+

2005: 94
2004: 88
2003: 104

* Jason Jennings

So, several weeks ago I was out with some of my friends at a local bar. A friend of one my friends asked me if I knew their friend named Jen. I said no, I had not met their friend Jen. He then tells me that Jen reminds him of his action figures that he played with when he was a kid. He would remove the top half of one of his smaller action figures and attach it to the lower body of one of his larger action figures. He and his friends would laugh at the newly designed action figure who had a small upper body, but a large lower body.

A little while later, I see the infamous Jen. Sure enough, she is a woman who looks normal from the mid-section up, but from the waist down is basically Eric Gregg. Jason Jennings has a similar body type. By looking at only his mug shot, you'd think that he's probably a pretty big, but not obese guy. But, if you've seen him pitch, wow, the dude's got one enormous tank ass and tree trunks for legs.

Ok, I have nothing meaningful to contribute, other than I am astounded by the normal upper body/ginormous ass phenomenon. I mean, shouldn't one's weight be spead out at least somewhat proportionally?

* Daisuke Matsuzaka

Admittedly, I don't know much of anything about him and he may not even come to the MLB next season, but his name is usually absent from these types of discussions, so I thought I'd throw his name out there.

Given his price tag, the Giants probably have no chance of signing him, but if Matsuzaka enters into the equation, he could very well replace Burnett as top off season target of the Yankees/Red Sox. Could the Yankees and Red Sox be so obsessed with trying to sign him that they forgo the AJ Burnett / Matt Morris Sweepstakes? Who knows.

One more note on Matsuzaka: at age 18 he threw 250 pitches and 17 innings in a national high school tournament. Wow.

* Kyle Lohse

Lohse had some issues with the coaching staff in Minnesota and there is a chance he could be moved in the off season. Lohse is arbitration eligible.

Lohse could essentially replace Brett Tomko as the mediocre innings eater of the rotation.

ERA+

2005: 105
2004: 89
2003: 100

While it would be nice to dump Edgardo Alfonzo's contract onto the Twins in exchange for Kyle Lohse (and the Giants also sending prospects), that scenario is hopelessly unrealisitc. Twins owner Carl Pohlad would rather bathe in a pool of flesh-eating bacteria than add one penny to his team's payroll. Any trade with Minnesota would have to be salary-neutral or the Giants eating an enormous chunk of Fonzie's contract.

* Jamie Moyer

...Must...acquire...every...43 year-old...

If nothing else, Moyer is very durable (200+ IP in each of the last 5 years). His ERA+ was roughly league average last season.

ERA+

2005: 101
2004: 83
2003: 136

In terms of contract length, this would be a low-risk signing in that it would most likely be for only one year. In terms of performance, you do run the risk that age could finally catch up with Moyer and he could devolve into Woody v.2005.

* Matt Morris

"Hey, Matt. This is your buddy Mike Matheny of the San Francisco Giants. I hear you're a free agent. Boy, do I have the perfect destination for you..."

* Kip Wells

Hank Schulman of the Chronicle speculated that the Giants could target arbitration eligible players in the trade market:

"More likely, the Giants will try to deal for an arbitration-eligible pitcher who has become too expensive for another team. That list could include Pittsburgh's Kip Wells, Colorado's Jason Jennings, Minnesota's Kyle Lohse and Boston's Bronson Arroyo."

ERA+

2005: 84
2004: 91
2003: 129

Its also worth noting that Wells issued 99 walks (!) last season in 182 IP.

Eyre News

From the Chronicle article linked above:

"The Giants have offered Eyre a two-year contract with a third-year option. In a brief phone conversation Wednesday, Eyre said he has put his fate in the hands of his agent, Tommy Tanzer, which is terrible news for the Giants. Tanzer will not allow Eyre to sign before other teams can start rolling Brinks trucks loaded with cash to the pitcher's front door Friday.

Sabean said he will "hang in there" with Eyre as long as possible, "but at some point there is going to be a choke point."

So unless Eyre hires Mike Timlin or Master P to handle his contract negotiations, Eyre will be looking at a big payday.

The only good news is that Eyre has apparently been designated as a Type A free agent, so the Giants will receive draft pick compensation if he were to be signed by another team (I'm assuming he'll sign before the deadline).

Ray Ratto brings up a interesting point:

"He is worthy of a serious contract bump, even if it means paying as much as $4 million for two years and an option, which is deeper than the Giants want to go.

Why? Because Alou isn't going to change the way he manages. Because the Giants don't have someone who is good for seven innings a game, making Eyre more important to the Giants than to anyone else."

Several other teams will be bidding in the Scott Eyre sweepstakes, so it will take a big offer from the Giants to keep him.

I imagine the Giants will get around to guaranteeing the third year of their offer, but that still may not be enough to keep Eyre with the Giants.

Posted 9:10 PM by Doug

Congratulations to the World Champion Chicago White Sox

If the Red Sox and White Sox can win the World Series, then anyone can win the World Series. Maybe even the San Francisco Giants.

Posted 2:25 PM by Doug

Triple Play AJ?

Dear Mrs. Pierzynski,

It's midnight. Do you know where your husband is?


(via Deadspin and the gossip queens of On the DL)

***

Some other highlights ( if you want to call them that) from the On the DL site:

* An obviously plastered Kevin Youkillis, trying to remain vertical.

* I am shocked, shocked, shocked that Keith Foulke is recently divorced.

* This girl doesn't know how to spell Al Reyes' name. This is despite the fact that Reyes autographed her right boob.

Posted 11:55 AM by Doug

Ode to JT

Writing a tribute to JT Snow is kinda like giving a lifetime achievement award to Green Day. You have to sift through album after album of absolute crap, but once you hold your nose and look past their shortcomings, there are some real gems amongst the crap.

JT Snow has been criticized as being nothing more than an all-glove slap hitting first baseman. This is mostly true. But he's our all-glove slap hitting first baseman, damnit. And he's been our all-glove, slap hitting first baseman for nine years. Some of my favorite JT Snow moments from his tenure with the Giants:

1) Game 2 of the 2000 NLDS

To this day, I think the moment that JT's blast hit the fair pole was the single loudest moment in Mays Field history. Snow's improbable three run shot was one of the most dramatic moments in recent Giants history.

2) Game 4 of the 2002 NLCS

This game will forever be remembered as the Benito Santiago Homerun game, so its easy to forget that JT Snow hit a clutch two-out, two run double to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth.

In fact, Snow was pretty much on fire for much of the 2002 post season. His two-run double off Tom Glavine in the second inning of Game 1 of the NLDS set the tone for the rest of the post season. And Snow's line in the 2002 World Series: .407/.448/.556.

3) Every JT Snow clutch hit ever

JT Snow was the Clutch God before Mike Matheny was the Clutch God. Insert your favorite JT Clutch hit here. Hell, from this year alone you could chose Snow's homer in Phoenix or his go ahead single last Monday against the Pod People. But instead of choosing just one, I'm going to choose all of JT's clutch hits as my favorite.

And so it goes. Since there is a pretty good chance that JT Snow won't be back with SF next year, today may very well be the last day that JT Snow wears the Giants uniform. JT gets a tip of the cap and a standing ovation from this Giants fan.

Posted 9:29 AM by Doug

Whatever

September 28, 2005

Baseball Gods
Department of Miracles


Dear Baseball Gods:

Hi. It's Doug again. I have a question. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

*sigh*

Respectfully,

Doug

Posted 11:10 AM by Doug

Ya Gotta Believe

September 27, 2005

Baseball Gods
Department of Miracles


Dear Baseball Gods:

Hi. This is Doug, the SoCal Giants fan. I know you must get a lot of prayers at this time of the year, so I'll keep mine short and to the point: Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please.

Oh, and thanks for last night. The premature fireworks were a nice touch. You really outdid yourselves on that one.

Sincerely,

Doug

Posted 10:30 PM by Doug

Neel: Robb Nen's Last Pitch

Eric Neel of espn.com pens this must-read article on former Giants closer Robb Nen.

"Nen took the old, almost clichéd, idea about making sacrifices for the good of the club and brought it to life, stretching it to the nth degree. Some guys give up playing time. He gave up his shoulder.

And when he did it, he gave a word like "team" a real shape and weight, and transformed an abstract thing like "desire" into something palpable. He turned the game into a series of questions: What do you love? How much do you love it? What would you be willing to give up for it?

"You want to believe, if it were you, you'd do the same," says Kirk Reuter, who had the locker next to Nen's. "But I don't think any of us knows. All we know is that he did it, and we know we just respect him so much for it."

Bravo, Mr. Neel! Outstanding work.

Posted 3:10 PM by Doug

Smartassery Abounds

Dear Mr. Wetzel,

I thoroughly enjoyed your self-righteous rant on Barry Bonds and the "imbecile" Giants fans who cheer him.

As such, I am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to read the chapter or three from your book Runnin' Rebel where you will undoubtedly express moral outrage at the "naive bumpkins" in Sin City, Long Beach, and Fresno who cheered Jerry Tarkanian. Hopefully, you'll even refer to Tarkanian by a clever nickname like the oh-so original and uproariously funny "BALCO Barry." How about "Point Shaving Tark?" or "Hot Tubkanian" or "Loan Shark." I smell a Pulitzer!

If a player who is accused of cheating deserves to be booed by his hometown fans, then certainly a coach who was disciplined by the NCAA for repeatedly and unapolagetically breaking every NCAA rule under the sun is worthy of the scorn of his team's fans. And if the UNLV, Fresno State, and Long Beach fans refuse to comply with this moral directive, then they should be called out as "imbeciles." Right?

Again, I am looking forward to the release of your new book where you will undoubtedly put Tarkanian and his "imbecile" fans in their place.

In the meantime, please do the entire world a favor by filling your stomach with gasoline and swallowing a match.

Your pal,

A wine drinking, sushi eating, naive bumpkin Giants fan
Redondo Beach, CA

Posted 10:45 AM by Doug

Trivia Time

As always, please don't cheat and look up the answers.

1) Who was the last player other than JT Snow to start at 1B on Opening Day for the Giants?

2) Other than Jason Schmidt, who was the last Giants pitcher to finish in the Top 5 of the Cy Young Awards balloting?

Posted 4:55 PM by Doug

Homerun Jesus Lives

Barry Bonds made his triumphant return to the lineup last night. As I'm sure everyone reading this has seen by now, Bonds sent a screaming liner to the wall in left in his first AB. But mass confusion struck Mays Field as the ball disappeared into the stands. Most everyone thought it was a homerun, but it was (correctly) ruled a double after a fan interfered with the ball. This dramatic, yet confusing scene set the stage for one of the greatest Duane Kuiper calls ever (paraphrasing and making stuff up as needed):

Kuiper: SWING AND A LONG ONE!!! IT IS GONE!!! I DO NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!

Krukow: (untranscribable horse laugh)

* AND THE CROWD GOES WILD *




Kuiper: Oh. It's a double.

Yeah, it was a double. But it was still fucking cool.

Don't Stop the Noise!

Watching the Bondless Giants offense of the last few weeks has been a little bit like watching, dare I say it, the Warriors of the last few years. While its somewhat entertaining to monitor the development of a couple of exciting young players and to watch an occasional well played game, the games are largely unwatchable. And by the end of the game you're cursing yourself for wasting time watching the game in the first place, while also cursing the front office for assembling the dreck you just wasted your time watching.

I was at the Giants game on Sunday. While the game was technically a sell-out, there were a fair number of no-shows and those who were there weren't exactly auditioning for Sam's Army. The crowd wanted desperately wanted to make some noise but the Giants offense was too busy hacking at slop to give us a reason to cheer. It just didn't feel like a September game at Pac Bell.

But all that changed last night. Superman received a thunderous ovation from the crowd. The Giants partisans stood in unison and cheered for each Bondsian plate appearance. One of the great things about the crowd last night was that a lot of the energy from Bonds' ABs carried over into subsequent at bats. The place erupted when Durham drove in Bonds to score the first Giants run and then erupted again when Matheny gave the Giants the lead for good.

For just a moment, let's ignore the cold reality that Giants playoff chances are pretty much DOA (BP's monte carlo sim gives them a 1.7% chance at the playoffs and Moises may be done for the year.) Barry is back. And for one glorious night at least, a September night at Pac Bell felt like a September night at Pac Bell.

Posted 9:15 AM by Doug

Trivia Time

1) Who was the last player other than Barry Bonds to lead the Giants in HRs hit in a season?

2) Who was the last person to serve as a player/manager of the Giants.

Posted 7:42 PM by Doug

Welcome Back, Barry

The big news of the day is that Homerun Jesus will be activated from the Disabled List and return to the starting lineup on Monday.

What kind of reaction do you suppose he'll get from the crowd at Mays Field? I imagine that most season ticket holders are in the "I don't give a fuck about Balco" crowd. As such, Bonds will most likely get a rousing ovation when he strides to the plate for his first plate appearance.

So, do you cheer Barry? Fold your arms in indifference? Boo him? Give him a standing ovation?

Posted 12:01 AM by Doug

Blog for Relief

Several hundred bloggers have joined forces to offer assistance to those affected by Huricane Katrina as part of "Blog for Relief Day." I figured that I'd throw my hat into the ring and offer my little nickel and dime baseball blog as a tiny, tiny, tiny part of the effort. A list of participating blogs can be found here. Instapundit and The Truth Laid Bear are spearheading the effort.

* Charity Information

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is organizing the largest mobilization of resources in the organization's history. You can also contact the Red Cross by phone at 1-800-HELP-NOW. Contact your local American Red Cross chapter to donate blood.

* Your Employer

Many large employers offer matching funds for your donations. Contact your employer to see if they offer matching funds.

* Other Charities

Habitat For Humanity
Catholic Charities USA
Salvation Army

*IMPORTANT* If you would like to do some research on a particular charity, The Better Business Bureau's Give.org is an excellent resource, as is Charity Watch and Charity Navigator. FEMA offers a list of recommended charities. Beware of Scams!

* Other Resources:

Craigslist Resources
Craigslist Lost and Found
The Network for Good
FEMA
Now Public Missing Persons Board
Katrinacheckin.org
Katrina Help Wiki

* Bloggers:

Times Picayune
Eyes on Katrina
WWL TV
Clarion Ledger

* Satellite Images:

NOAA
Earth Observatory

* Miscellaneous:

Snopes.com: Katrina and the Waves
Benefit Concerts
Will Clark and his family evacuated NO and are safe
Katrina on Mind of Giants' Linden
Sports Coming to Aid of Hurricane Victims

Posted 9:10 AM by Doug

Trivia Time

As always, please don't cheat and look up the answers.

1) Who was the last non-Giant to win the NL MVP Award?

2) Name the only three Giants to hit 50 or more HRs in one season.

3) Who holds the Giants franchise record for most saves in a single season?

Posted 10:35 PM by Doug

The Road From Bristol: The Final Four

The Road From Bristol has narrowed the field of 64 loathsome ESPN personalities to the Final Four most annoying ESPN talking heads. Alas, my pick of Joe Theismann was eliminated a few rounds ago.

The tournament took a bizarre turn when Dan LeBatard (yes, the real Dan LeBatard) began openly campaigning to win the whole tournament. Weird.

Anyway, here is how the Final Four stacks up:

1) National Semi-Final: Stuart Scott vs. "Stat Boy" Tony Reali

I'll probably burn in some corner of Road From Bristol hell for saying this, but I find Reali to be rather innocuous. I guess that's probably because I'm too busy lobbing small appliances at the TV every time Jay Marriotti opens his mouth to pay any attention to what Stat Boy has to say.

Stuart Scott won the matchup in a blow out and has advanced to the National Championship.

2) National Semi-Final: Screamin' A. Smith vs. Skip Bayless

I'm proud to say that I've never watched even a second of Cold Pizza (I wish I could say the same about Around the Horn), but Bayless gets my vote anyway for being a vacuous, overbearing, pompous, dim-witted, self-aggrandizing mangina.

The best part of the tourney is the absolutely hilarious stuff that readers have posted in the comments. I present, the genius that is "Cult of Basebaal":

"Oooooh, this is a tough one. No, I really mean that, and you all know what I really think about Skippy. But SaS is the other side of the same coin; heads or tails ... either way we lose.

It's just unfair. And, more importantly, totally beyond my meagre powers of deduction. So, I must surrender myself to the wisdom of the elders, to the mental prowess of the giants of Philosophy, men of towering logic and glorious reason.

As Aristotle posed (NO! Not the Belgian, the OTHER one!): Imagine you are walking along a part and suddenly you come across an oxen-cart crash SO horrible, the carts are on fire. Two men lay smouldering alongside the burning chaos. In mere moments, both will burst into flame unless you act. But what to do? There is no water nearby and no time to fetch any. Your canteen is empty. All that remains is the meagre supply of piss in your bladder, barely enough to save one man.

Who will be saved by golden stream of life?
Who will be consumed in fiery agony?

Piss or Death?
Piss or Death??
Piss or Death???

Hmmm ... let's see here ....

Screamin' A Smith?
or
The Prune of Evil?

Screamin' A has that little dance, the moron shuffle, a sequence with less soul and style than a drunk frat boy falling down a flight of stairs with a squirrel in his pants …
but,
Skippy's got the glower of pure evil, like the lower half of his jaw is about to unhinge and a alien appendage would reach out plunge some huge needle-tube into you, draining from you all last vestiges of human fluids, replaced by whatever unnatural fluid "hydrates" the desiccated mask that Skippy passes for a human face …
but,
Screamin' A got David Aldridge fired and is slowly spreading over the evening time slots, like some horrid viral outbreak …
but,
Skippy's a guest host for Jim Rome's radio show. Which is sorta like Pol Pot asking Stalin to hang out and run things for while when he needs to take a little breather …
but,
Screamin A never met an intelligent argument he wasn't stupid enough to mis-understand …and forget the effects of the Navy's LFA towed sonar, it's clear that our marine life is suffering because of the amounts of all frequency Screamin' A that are spilling into the ocean …
but then,
Skippy's never met an intelligent argument he couldn't reject (or argue the opposite) on the grounds of pure spite and contrarian malice ...

Ah, FUCK YOU, Aristotle, you're no FUCKING help! The truth is, I'd PISS MYSELF and let 'em BOTH burn. Hell, I'd grab graham crackers and marshmallows from my backpack and make smores.

But since I gotta choose, I gotta dance with the ghoul that brung me, Skeletor Bayless.

BY THE POWER OF BRIS-TOL!!!"

Posted 9:10 AM by Doug

Trivia Monday

As always, please don't cheat and look up the answers.

1) Name the six San Francisco Giants players who have lead the National League in home runs.

2) Who hit more career home runs at Candlestick Park than any other player?

Posted 11:50 PM by Doug

Larry Krueger was Wrong

Felipe's brain hasn't turned into cream of wheat. It's much worse than that. Felipe's brain has turned into Jimy Williams.

I generally like Felipe Alou, but every once in a while Felipe gets on my nerves. Friday night's game was one of those games. There were so many things that were just wrong, wrong, wrong...

* Why was Armando Benitez warming up if Felipe had no intention of actually using him? And why is Armando Benitez on the active roster in the first place if the Giants insist on babying him? Heaven forbid, he should have to pitch the day after he threw a whopping 10 pitches in Cincinatti. If the Giants have deemed that Mando can't handle the workload / pressure / humidity / whatever, then Benitez shouldn't have been activated yet.

* Felipe Alou: "The closer's arm, you could see all of those pitches he threw and he didn't throw one quality pitch. They got a lot of hittable pitches."

And yet, Walker was allowed to face 5 batters. Do you not see a problem with this, Felipe?

* I was going to ask the question "Why is Jason Christiansen in the game when the game is on the line?" But a better question is -- why is Jason Christiansen still on the active roster in the first place? Can we just get it over with and DFA X-tiansen already? The front office had no problems jettisoning Herges, Brower, and Woody when they didn't perform up to par, yet Christiansen and his 5 ERA lives to suck another day.

The Giants aren't going to the playoffs this year. JC isn't going to be a member of the next good Giants team. Meanwhile, Jack Taschner has pitched pretty damn well at Fresno this year. Why not bring Taschner up for more than a cup of coffee to see what he can do at the major league level?

* On a related subject, is there any particular reason why JT Snow needs to keep starting at 1B? One of the few benefits of being out of the race in mid-August is that the Giants can use this time to evaluate some of their younger players (like Lance Niekro) to get a better idea of what the kids are capable of contributing in '06 and beyond. Should the Giants get a platoon partner for Niekro for '06? I'm inclined to say yes, but I'd feel more comfortable in my decision if the Giants allowed Niekro to accumulate a larger sample size than 220 ABs this year.

* The one good thing I will say about Felipe and Sabes is that they are giving The Lindenator® a chance to play everyday at the big league level. Linden may very well be benched if he goes on an 0-for-9 stretch, but for now its nice to see him get a much-deserved chance to play everyday in The Show.

Posted 10:40 PM by Doug

The Truth is Out There...

Barry Bonds is injured and unable to play.

Conspiracy theorists have had a hard time accepting the previous sentence as fact and have advanced all sorts of moonbat conspiracy theories to explain the real reasons why Bonds isn't playing. Rather than simply ignoring the conspiracy theorists, I thought it would be more enjoyable to laugh at them and publicly ridicule them. Here are my favorites:

Wacko Conspiracy Theory #1: Bonds is on the DL to avoid drug testing

Marcos Breton accuses without actually accusing:

"Maybe, as they say on talk radio, Bonds really is fearing drug tests and is using his knee as an excuse."

First of all, when you preface your theory with the phrase "maybe, as they say on talk radio," 99 times out of a hundred the theory is crackpot bullshit. This is no exception. Nevermind that players on the DL are subject to drug tests and that Bonds has already been tested this year. But, hey, Skippy from Pleasanton said so on KNBR. It MUST be true.

Wacko Conspiracy Theory #2: Jordan Bonds is serving a super-duper double secret suspension for gambling failing a drug test.

There is nothing wrong with your computer. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are now controlling the transmission. We control the horizontal and the vertical. We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand one single image to crystal clarity and beyond. We can shape your vision to anything our imagination can conceive. For the next hour we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the deepest inner mind to the outer limits.

Wacko Conspiracy Theory #3: Bonds will retire before breaking Hank Aaron's record because Nikolai Bonds was seen wearing a Barry Sanders jersey in Scottsdale.

Hey, doesn't everyone use their children's wardrobe to telegraph their career plans?

Wacko Conspiracy Theory #4: Bonds intentionally injured his own knee

From fellow Giants blogger Biased Giants Fanatic:

"My conspiracy theory right now is that Bonds purposefully injured his knee in spring in order to take the pressure and attention off of him. Just bang your knee against a table, hurt it a bit, tear something doing it. Little did he know that there would be complications in the recovery that threatened loss of limb. It would also explain any degradation in performance after he returned to baseball - the injury is a convenient excuse for his stats to decline greatly."

Wait, so a superstar chasing the most celebrated record in American sports history purposefully injured himself because, wait, why again? Sorry, I can't wrap my head around the notion that an elite athlete would willfully cause serious injury to himself for any reason, let alone for reasons as odd as these. To take attention away from himself? So, did he purposefully injure himself before or after his nationally televised press conference? And if he wanted to get away from attention couldn't he just hang out with Andy Kauffman for a while?

And what about the other knee? Did he intentionally injure that one too?

Wacko Conspiracy Theory #5: Bonds is healthy enough to play (at least pinch hit) this year

Wait, it gets better. The reason that Bonds isn't playing this year is that he's not a team player; all he cares about is setting the all-time Homerun record. So says Mike Celizic (Hat tip to Fire Joe Morgan):

"There no longer can be any doubt. For Bonds, it’s about the record.

If it were about the team and a shot at the playoffs this year, he’d volunteer for pinch-hitting duty. He’s not doing that."

Celizic has his tinfoil hat wrapped so tightly around his head that it cut off blood flow to his brain. If Bonds was healthy enough to play, and all he cared about was the record, then wouldn't he play right now? Do homeruns hit in 2005 not count or something?

Oh yeah, and according to the Baseball Prospectus Monte Carlo sim, the Giants have a 2.97% chance of making the playoffs (its been betwen 1 and 3% for the last couple of weeks). I'm sure a handful of pinch hit appearances by Bonds would propel the Giants into the playoffs. Sheesh.

Posted 8:37 PM by Doug

Alex Sanchez is Back!

Nooooooo!!!!!!!

Alex Sanchez cleared waivers and has reported to Fresno. At least he's not on the 40-man roster.

Posted 9:00 AM by Doug

Trivia Monday

As always, please don't cheat and look up the answers.

1) Kirk Rueter made 277 starts as a member of the Giants. How many complete games did he pitch as a Giant?

2) Of the 8 regular position players on the 1993 Giants, who is the only player to have never won a Gold Glove in his career?

Posted 12:40 PM by Doug

Alex Sanchez is Gone!

Horray!

Posted 8:30 AM by Doug

Happy Trivia Monday

As always, please don't cheat and look up the answers.

1) There are 8 players on the Giants 40-man roster who have appeared on a voter's MVP ballot at least once in their career. How many of them can you name?

2) Barry Bonds has played in a regular season game in 37 different ballparks in his career. He has homered in 34 of them. Name the three in which he has not homered.

Posted 11:30 PM by Doug

Late to the Party

Peter Gammons August 3, 2002:

"Tampa Bay isn't going to have Randy Winn in 2004, but turned down the Giants' offer of Triple-A right-hander Jerome Williams and a second prospect..."

We should've seen this coming. Randy Winn is a player the Giants have had their eye on for quite some time. Winn was on the trading block. Winn is the Sabean prototype -- he can play more than one position, he's on the wrong side of 30, and he fits the surround-Bonds-with-average / a-little-above-average-proven veterans strategy. After getting over the initial shock of the trade, the only thing I could think about was how I didn't see this predictable move coming from a mile away.

Winn is under contract for 2005 and 2006 ('06 is an option, and I'm guessing that Winn will be signed to an extension, but Winn will most likely be with the Giants in '06 one way or another), so let's break this down year-by-year:

For 2005:

Heading into the trade deadline, my biggest fear was that the Giants would sacrifice young talent to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Well, by giving up Yorvit Torrealba and Jesse Foppert, Sabean not only rearranged the deck chairs, he took a piss on the deck chairs and then lit them on fire.

Randy Winn is a marginal upgrade over Jason Ellison, but certainly isn't enough to make any sort of meaningful difference for the remainder of the year.

For 2006:

Heading into the trade deadline, my biggest hope was that the Giants would trade for someone who help the team beyond 2005. I was hoping for a youngish starter who could step into the rotation for at least 2006.

Well, you can't always get what you want, so I'll have to settle for an upgrade in CF. The updgrade comes at a cost and could inhibit the Giants from making much needed upgrades elsewhere, but Randy Winn is absolutely an upgrade in CF over Jason Ellison. That the Giants gave up two young, inexpensive players who could potentially be of use in '06 to make said upgrade is frustrating to say the least.

But, what really bugs me about the trade is the incredible lack of creativity displayed by the Giants front office and the apparent stubborness of the Giants to stick with the same roster construction blueprint that got them into the 2005 disaster in the first place. The Winn acquisition signals a continuation of the Giants recent strategy of using the free agent market and the trade market to fill the roster with thirtysomething, mostly average/slightly above average veterans to compliment Homerun Jesus and Jason Schmidt. This strategy is contingent upon Bonds and Schmidt performing at superstar levels, and, needless to say, the strategy has backfired horribly this season with Bonds on the DL and Schmidt not performing at his 03-04 level of production.

This recent strategy wasn't always the strategy employed by the Giants. Sabean traded for Augustus Gloop during Gloop's age 24 season; Sabes fleeced the Pirates by acquiring 28 year-old Jason Schmidt for a song. Sabes acquired Jeff Kent when he was 29, he acquired an elite closer in Robb Nen when Nen was 28. These were all players who made an immediate impact and were important contributors for at least a few more years.

Yes, it might be too much to ask of your GM to acquire good and very good players and keep them for (more or less) the prime of their careers, but Sabes did just that several times prior to 2003. What happened to the pre-2003 version of Brian Sabean? Can we have him back? Please?

Every Monday...

...will be Trivia Monday at Westwood Blues. Rather than engaging in electronic self-immolation over the disaster that is the 2005 Giants, we can wow each other with our vast knowledge of Giants history. I'll post a Giants trivia question every Monday morning from here on out.

Posted 11:20 PM by Doug

Stupid GM Tricks

Every year around the trade deadline some pundit somewhere floats a trade proposal that is so ridiculously out there that it makes you wonder (a) how the pundit has a job as a pundit in the first place and (b) why said pundit's employer doesn't subject its employees to mandatory drug testing.

Witness this gem from former Mets General Manager and current ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips (via Fire Joe Morgan and Baseball Primer) :

"The last trade proposal I have is for the Mets. ... AS Mets fans choke on their coffee and say, ''Oh no! Not Phillips making Mets trades again! No!'' ... Bear with me, try to follow ....

Victor Zambrano to the Giants for Alphonzo. Cliff Floyd to the Cubs for Corey Patterson and Glendon Rush. Then, the Mets spin Patterson to the Devil Rays for Danys Baez. The Mets THEN take Mike Cameron, Edgardo Alfonzo, Danys Baez and Glendon Rush and trade them to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez."

I'll give you a second to digest this mess ..... Ok, time is up. What. The. Fuck?

As for Victor Zambrano straight up for Fonzie, where do I sign up?

Posted 10:58 PM by Doug

The World According to Sabean

The last couple of Brian Sabean shows on KNBR have offered a couple of hints as to personnel decisions in the Giants future.

* The Giants are apparently not interested in trading for a rental

Well, I certainly hope this is true.

* Without naming names, Sabes hinted that some of the Giants' free agents-to-be have indicated to the front office that they'd like to return to the Giants next season.

I should've mentioned this in my previous post, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to signing Scott Eyre to a contract extension.

If the Giants don't trade Eyre by the deadline, but then can't work out an extension in the off season, they can offer him arbitration and receive (gasp!) draft pick compensation should Eyre sign elsewhere.

Alas, the Quentin-for-Baez trade hasn't materialized, so my hope of fleecing a buyer out of top-level talent for Scott Eyre appears to be a pipe dream. In the meantime, trying to re-sign Eyre (with draft pick compensation as a backup) isn't a bad idea.

Trade Deadline Predictions

Predicting Sabes' next move is usually an exercise in futility, but I'll give it a shot nonetheless. This isn't necessarily what I want to happen, just what I think will happen:

* Schmidt: Not traded

* Eyre: Not traded and eventually re-signed

* Cain: Not traded

* Tomko: Traded for a C-level prospect

* Tucker, Cruz, Rueter, Snow: Not traded by the non-waiver deadline, although I think one or two of them (Tucker, maybe Snow) could be moved before the end of August.

* Giants acquire: starting pitcher who is under the Giants control for at least 2006. I'll just say Shawn Chacon or Kip Wells as a shot in the dark.

What are your predictions?

Posted 11:10 PM by Doug

Trade Market Dynamics

An interesting tidbit from Joel Sherman:

"Several executives say the trade market is being hurt this July by the Mets' trade last July of Kazmir to Tampa for Zambrano. One AL official cited five GMs - Cincinnati's Dan O'Brien, Pittsburgh's Dave Littlefield, Tampa's Chuck Lamar, Kansas City's Allard Baird and Seattle's Bill Bavasi - who do not have job security and "each is looking to do the Kazmir trade, all of them are looking to make reputations and get healthy off of one deal, and that is slowing the market."

For example, Lamar, who did make the Kazmir deal last year, has been looking for similar returns on Aubrey Huff and Danys Baez. The AL official said, "The crazy thing is I heard that Arizona might trade Carlos Quentin, who is a real good prospect, for Baez and that would actually worsen the trade market because then everyone else would be looking to get their Carlos Quentin."

For arguements sake, let's just say that Baez for Quentin is the first salvo fired in the trade deadline bonanza. What then could the Giants get for Scott Eyre?

Baez: 40.1 IP, 2.45 ERA, .633 OPSA, 11.3 VORP
Eyre: 40 IP, 2.48 ERA, .557 OPSA, 12.7 VORP

The comparison between Eyre and Baez is a little tricky because a) Eyre is a free agent at the end of the season, while Baez has a $4MM team option for '06. b) Baez is probably worth more on the trade market simply because he is a closer. c) Until this year, Eyre has always had a large platoon split, so potential trading partners may see him as just a LOOGY, albeit a very good one. d) Eyre's salary for '05: $1.5MM, Baez' salary for '05: $3.5MM. All that said, if Baez is all of a sudden worth an A-level prospect, the Giants should certainly be able to get a very nice return for Scott Eyre. Probably not a Carlos Quentin, but a nice return nonetheless.

Last year at the trade deadline, Brian Sabean complained publicly that he was unable to pull the trigger on a big trade because the sellers were asking for so much in return. Among other things, the increased parity in MLB meant that there were more teams than normal that were buyers, leaving the few sellers on the market to demand a king's ransom. With what appears to be another seller's market this year, Sabean should return the favor and demand a lot of talent in return for his tradable commodities.

In the meantime, let's just hope that the Quentin for Baez trade becomes a reality.

Posted 9:42 PM by Doug

Braves Beat: The Road From Bristol

Mac Thomason of Braves Beat is asking his readers to select the most loathsome ESPN talking head:

"Our task is simple: to determine, via a time-tested method (the 64-team elimination tournament as seen in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, which ESPN used to show in its pre-sucking days) which ESPN broadcasting personality is the most totally loathsome and most deserves to suffer permanent paralysis of the vocal cords.

The rules are simple:

* Vote for the person you like the least in the comments to the appropriate entry..."

Here are my picks for today's matchups:

* Mike Lupica vs. Jeff Brantley

Brantley by default since I don't enough about Lupica to have an opinion of him one way or the other. Isn't Lupica's show, the Sports Reporters, on at like 7:30 AM on Sundays? That would explain why I don't think I've never seen that show in its entirety. Of course, that won't stop me from picking Bill Conlin as one of my most loathsome ESPN personalities.

* Jim Gray vs. Trev Alberts

He's a self-important, insufferable tool. The previous sentence applies to both Alberts and Gray, but I'll go with Alberts for being so unmercifully overbearing.

* John Kruk vs. Mitch Albom

Kruk. After all these years, I'm still absolutely terrified by the mullet that Kruk sported in the early 90s.

* Stuart Scott vs. Scott Van Pelt

Mac Thomason on Stuart Scott:

"The exact moment of ESPN's precipitous decline in quality can be traced to the exact moment he was given a regular job on the 11 PM ET SportsCenter."

Well, as far as I'm concerned the decline in quality programming at ESPN began when the Global Wrestling Federation folded in 1994. Remember when GWF wrestling was on ESPN all the time? That was so badass. Nevertheless, Stuart Scott's ascension to main SportsCenter host is clearly a key event on the ESPN shark jumping timeline.

So, is there any chance at all that Stuart Scott doesn't "win" this whole thing?

Mainly to be contrarian and not jump aboard the inevitable Stuart Scott pile-on, I'm going with Joe Theismann as my pick for the single most hatable ESPN personality.

Theismann is so bad in so many different ways its as if he formed his on-air persona by choosing attributes from a menu of shitty sportscasters. Take the know-it-all smugness of Joe Morgan, add the sense of humor of Joe Buck, the ego of Chris Berman, and the slap-your-forehead stupidity of Tim McCarver. Lastly, mix these ingredients together with one enormous pile of shit and you get Joe Theismann.

Who is your pick for most loathsome ESPN personality?

Update 7/14 3:10 PM: Some of the accompanying comments on that site are hilarious. From "cult of baseball":

"i'd rather cut off my balls with the shards from a broken pepsi bottle and wear the bloody rambutans as sunglasses than ever witness the horror that is woody paige again in my life."

Wow. Incidentally, that pretty much sums up how I feel about Jay Marriotti.

Posted 10:41 PM by Doug

The Schmidt Conundrums

With the non-waiver trade deadline fast approaching, let's take a look at the Giant whose name frequently pops up in trade rumors: Jason Schmidt.

* Trade Jason Schmidt: Trade Schmidt for a couple young players and then use the $10 MM that was was allocated for Schmidt's salary to sign free agents.

* Keep Jason Schmidt: His trade value is at its lowest point. Bonds will be back next year, so the Giants should make one final push in 2006. Besides, if Schmidt is healthy and pitches to his abilities, his $10 MM salary for next season is very reasonable.

Trade him or keep him? I haven't fully made up my mind, but I'm leaning strongly toward keeping him. Here are some unorganized thoughts on Jason Schmidt:

* Schmidt has been a bit better this season than his ERA would indicate. His quick and dirty DIPS ERA is 4.35. His strikeout rate, while down from 2003 and 2004, is still very good (8.49/9IP). So its not like he's just completely fallen off a cliff and lost all effectiveness.

* A quick glance at the pitchers on the winter free agent market leaves me with two thoughts: 1) the overall depth of the free agent class is poor and 2) the quality of the free agent class is poor. With so few starters on the market, teams will have to pay big bucks just to get themselves a middle of the rotation starter. I do not want to see the Giants in a position where they have to give a Jaret Wright contract to someone like Jeff Suppan just to fill out their rotation.

Certainly there are some free agents who would be very attractive (AJ Burnett, Jason Johnson, Matt Morris, Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Millwood) if the price was right. But, again, I don't know if the price will be right.

* What do the Giants want in return for Schmidt? From the espn.com rumor mill:

"According to USA Today, the Giants will listen to offers for ace Jason Schmidt, but only if they get a king's ransom in return -- at least two major-league-ready starters, plus a top-level prospect. Several teams, however, have backed off Schmidt after recently scouting him."

Herein lies a conundrum -- a team that is looking to upgrade its starting rotation probably doesn't have the pitching depth to part with two quality starters to send to the Giants.

Herein lies another conundrum -- the package the Giants are reportedly seeking is commensurate with Schmidt being one of the top pitchers in the league. Meanwhile, potential trading partners who have scouted Schmidt do not believe he is currently one of the top pitchers in the league.

I think Sabean is playing his cards right thusfar. Be open to trading Schmidt if you can get a ton of talent in return. If no one bites, keep Schmidt for next season.

Prediction: Barring some unforeseen foolishness from an agressive GM *cough* KennyWilliams *cough* Jason Schmidt will not be traded.

"Acquisition Mode"

From the Chron:

"General manager Brian Sabean said he remains in an "acquisition mode," focusing his search on a starting pitcher who could be acquired without costing the Giants a premium player on the current roster."

If "acquisition mode" means trading for a starter who will be under the Giants control for at least 2006 (preferably longer) then I don't have any problems with said acquisition. With only Noah Lowry (and probably Schmidt) penciled into the rotation for next season, the Giants have some holes to fill. It really doesn't matter when they get the starters for 2006, just as long as they get them.

However, if "acquisisition mode" means trading young talent for a player(s) who will be a free agent at the end of this season in a short-sighted, last ditch effort at a lost cause, then I will officially pronounce Giants management to be completely batshit crazy.

Posted 4:18 PM by Doug

Big Weekend

Lots of events going on this weekend.

Friday:

* The Second Annual UCSB Alumni Game at SBC Park. There will be a pregame tailgate in Lot C. More info can be found here. To buy your discounted tickets, go here.

* The "Giants Wives Online Auction" occurs on sfgiants.com from Friday to Sunday. Now, before you drain your checking account to place a bid on Brett Tomko's wife, I should warn you that contrary to the name of the auction, the Giants players will NOT be auctioning off their wives. Rather, the wives will be auctioning off Giants related items for charity.

***

Saturday:

* Rehab the Crab presents Crustacean Commotion 2005! Because San Franciscans need to protest something, damnit.

Crabblerousers unite! Meetup at The Park Bar and Grill at noon.

* In a pregame, on-field ceremony, the Giants will honor former SF reliever Robb Nen. Robb Nen pitched through enormous amounts of pain in 2002 in an effort to bring home that elusive World Series Championship to The City. For that reason, he will always have my respect. Hats off to Robb Nen!

Posted 9:45 PM by Doug

The Thrill Talks Cooperstown

Mike Strom of the New Orleans Times-Picayune catches up with Will Clark. The Thrill shares his thoughts on retirement, family, and his Hall of Fame chances.

"Clark is pragmatic about whether his numbers are good enough to lead to a bust in Cooperstown.

"I'm eligible this year coming up," said Clark, a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, the New Orleans Hall of Fame and the Texas Ranger and Mississippi State Halls of Fame. "If it comes along, that would be a fabulous honor. But I'm also very much a realist and I'm probably a little short (in numbers). They don't even give you a look until you have 300 homers.

"So if it comes along, great. If not, then that's very understandable. I didn't get into this sport to be in the Hall of Fame. My drive was to win. I wanted to win and I was going to do whatever it took with the bat and with the glove in order to win that baseball game. When I walked away from the game, that's the one thing that I wanted people to remember me as, a winner."

Read the whole thing.

***

Previous:

Keltner List: William Nuschler Clark, Jr.
What Would Krukow Do?

Posted 9:54 AM by Doug

"He was Trouble From the Day He Got Here"

If you guessed that the above quote refers to Alex Sanchez, you'd be right. However, the quote wasn't made by a member of the Giants braintrust (at least not yet; they'll be saying that after they release Sanchez in a couple of months), but rather by a member of Devil Rays organization*, Sanchez' previous employer.

And wow, what a memorable first impression Sanchez made on his new team in his first start as a Giant. In the eighth inning, he dropped a can of corn in right field. The very next play, he interfered with Jason Ellison, who called Sanchez off on a routine fly to right-center, causing Ellison to drop the ball. After the game Sanchez had this to say for himself:

"I'm not going to put up excuses. Everyone saw me call the ball. He's coming from center field. I'm trying to make the play, and he drops it."

Classy. Yes, Sanchez did call for the ball. However, Ellison also called the ball. The centerfielder always takes charge in those types of situations. It's the CF's play.

And have I mentioned that Sanchez comes to the team with baggage? Well, not only does he come with baggage, he comes with enough baggage to fill the cargo pit of a Boeing 737. He's been released twice this year, he's been suspended for steroid use(!), he's burned bridges with his most recent employer, he complains publicly about lack of playing time, and not only is he a poor defender, he apparently has little interest in improving.

I give up. Why in the bloody fuck did the Giants claim Sanchez off waivers in the first place? Here's what Sabean has to say for himself:

"[Ellison] is not physically strong enough to play every day. You see him in the clubhouse. He's not a physical kid. If you think he's going to play every day, I don't think anybody believes that. He's on a high right now and I'm very aware of what he's hit, but it's still a long season and we haven't even hit the heat of our schedule yet, especially on the road."

Whatever. If I were to make a prioritized list of things that I would do fix the Giants franchise, "acquiring an OF/pinch runner to give Jason Ellison some days off and to give the team some speed" probably wouldn't make the top 50. Even if one does believe that resting Jason Ellison should be a priority for the rest of the year, the Giants already have Michael Tucker and Marquis Grissom (whenever he gets back) to fill that role. And while I haven't actually seen Todd Linden play CF and I'm not sure how much experience he has as a CF, I can state with a great deal of confidence that Linden is a better defensive CF than Alex Sanchez. As for adding speed to the team -- while Sanchez may be fast, his career stolen base % isn't anything to get excited about.

It's official. Alex Sanchez is the new Neifi.

* I heard this second-hand, but the person who told me this has no reason to make it up.

Posted 1:20 PM by Doug

What Would Krukow Do?

I used the "Ask Kruk and Kuip" feature on fsnbayarea.com to ask the guys if they would vote for Will Clark for the Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, I don't always get the FSNBA feed on Extra Innings, so please let me know if Kruk and Kuip answer my question on the air.

***

Previous:

Keltner List: William Nuschler Clark, Jr.

Posted 10:45 PM by Doug

Crasnick: Strength and Determination

Jerry Crasnick of espn.com pens an outstanding article on cancer survivor and former UCSB middle infielder Chris Malec. As you may recall, Malec hit a grand slam against the Long Beachless State 49ers The Beach Dirtbags in his first game back from his cancer treatment.

"[UCSB Manager Bob] Brontsema didn't expect his shortstop to resume playing baseball until late May, but Malec beat the timetable by two weeks. In the first inning of his first start he hit a grand slam to lead the Gauchos to victory over a powerful Long Beach State team. The moment was equal parts Disneyesque and Kirk Gibsonesque.

"As I was going around third base, I knew this was one of those special moments in life where you just have to take time and smile, and thank God you have the opportunity to go through it,'' Malec said.

Bill Mahoney, Santa Barbara's sports information director, called Malec's home run perhaps the most emotional moment he has witnessed on an athletic field in 21 years at the school. "I was doing radio at the time,'' Mahoney said, "and I could hardly speak.''

Read the whole thing.

Malec has signed a contract with the New York Yankees and he expects to begin his pro career in early July.

Posted 9:42 AM by Doug

No Crustaceans, No Peace!

The latest goings on from our friends at Rehab the Crab, a grassroots movement dedicated to fighting the systematic and historic oppression of the Crazy Crab:

"Join the Crustacean Liberation Coalition and Rehab the Crab for a rally in front of Pac Bell Park to demand the return of basball's greatest and worst mascot ever!

WHEN: Saturday, July 9th, 2005 ~ Noon
WHERE: Pac Bell Park
WHY: Free the Crab!

The 'deets:

* Meet up in "The Park Bar & Grill" (747 3rd Street), located a half block from Willie Mays plaza, at Noon.

* Crab hats and "protest" signs will be provided - or bring your own sign!

* Join the Crustacean Commotion lap around the park raising awareness of the injustice!

* If you're not going into the game - retire to The Park Bar & Grill for a PBR and watch the Giants game... if you can tolerate it."

Posted 10:12 AM by Doug

Roster Moves

The Giants roster shake up continues as Fonzie and Grissom hit the DL, while AAA outfielders Todd Linden and Adam Shabala were called up to the big club.

After a successful 2002 campaign, Todd Linden didn't make quite the progress that his fans were hoping for in his next two seasons.

Here's what I said about Linden this past January:

"I'm one of the biggest Todd Linden fans that you'll find, but even I can't characterize Linden's 2004 as anything other than a disapointment. Doing me (sic) best to stay positive, I'll note that Linden's power numbers improved late in the season.

I should be just about ready to give up on Linden, but I can't let rational thinking get in the way of fanboydom. I'll give him another month before I start printing up some snazzy Nate Schierholtz fan club membership cards."

Long live irrational thinking and fanboydom! Linden has been tearing it up at Fresno this year, hitting .326/.446/.692, while leading the PCL with 19 HRs. After seeing a long line of once promising Giants outfield prospects post big numbers in the minors, only to flame out in the majors, Giants fans are hopeful that Linden doesn't follow a similar fate.

A non-exhaustive list of Giants related stuff that I'd really, really like to see sometime before I die:

1) A World Series Championship (obviously)

2) Homerun Jesus setting the all-time Homerun record

3) A Giants corner outfield prospect developing into a legitmate middle of the order, .300 EqA major league hitter

The Giants inability to develop productive corner outfielders can't just be a matter of some combination of bad luck, bad scouting, and poor drafting. There just has to be a more complicated explanation. Like maybe something involving aliens and stuff. Enter the San Francisco Giants Corner Outfield Prospect Borg.

The mental image of The San Francisco Giants Corner Outfield Prospect Borg surrounding a terrified Mark Leonard in a Scottsdale hotel room in 1991, exclaiming, "We are The San Francisco Giants Corner Outfield Prospect Borg! Your replacement level hitting and defensive skills will be added to our own collection of replacement level hitting and defensive skills. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" while sapping Leonard's skills is just too cool for it not to be true.

The San Francisco Giants Corner Outfield Prospect Borg hasn't evolved much in the last 20 years because The Borg keep assimilating corner outfielders with the same AAAA skillset.

Here's hoping that Todd Linden goes on to have a successful career with the Giants, while avoiding assimilation at the hands of the San Francisco Corner Outfield Prospect Borg.

Around the Blogosphere

Trapped in LA is a new Giants blog whose author is a fellow Giants fan residing in LA. Hat tip to Orange and Black Baseball for the link.

Also, I had previously linked to San Fran Sports Man, but neglected to plug his blog. I normally don't link to sites that aren't exclusively Giants blogs, but the SFSM is just so damn entertaining that I had no choice but to link to him. He covers all of the cool Bay Area teams (as well as the third place Earthquakes) along with pop culture and reality TV, so make sure to check him out if you haven't already.

Posted 1:07 PM by Doug

Let's Not Talk About the Giants

If we ignore our problems, maybe they'll go away.

Traaa laaa laaa laaa laaa...I'm not listening, I can't hear you...traaaa laaa laaa laaa. What losing streak? What are you talking about?

Talking about the 2005 team is just too depressing and frustrating right now. So instead, let's wow each other with our collective knowledge of Giants trivia. It's trivia time! As always, don't cheat and look up the answers. Winners will receive 5 points.

1) Who was the Giants lone All-Star in the 1985 (100 loss) season?

2) Only 6 San Francisco Giants pitchers have won a World Series game. How many of them can you name?

3) The Giants franchise needs 14 more wins to reach 10,000 wins in franchise history. How many other franchises can you name that have over 10,000 wins?

Posted 11:25 AM by Doug

Ranking Sabean

David Gassko of the The Hardball Times penned a great article in which he attempts to quantify the performance of each MLB general manager.

"My first step was to think out what the key things are that a GM has to do, and which ones are quantifiable. I came up with three categories that I can measure and that I think are extremely important. They are: building a roster tailored to the team’s home ballpark, getting good bang for your buck, and making smart in-season decisions, whether that involves making a trade or sticking by a struggling player."

Gassko goes into further detail in explaining his methodology for each category. Read the whole thing.

So how did Giants GM Brian Sabean stack up in 2004?

1) "Building a team tailored to its home ballpark" -- 22nd
2) "Bang for your buck" -- 19th
3) "Midseason actions" -- 5th

4) Overall -- 15th

Sabean's "Midseason actions" ranking seems a little bit out of whack. I don't see a cause and effect relationship between Sabean's "midseason actions" and the Giants stellar performance in August and September. The only trade Sabean made at the July trading deadline backfired. Although, I suppose Giants management should get credit for 1) Bringing up Noah Lowry 2) Releasing Neifi 3) Sending Tomko to a sports psychologist and sticking with him after a mediocre first half and 4) Building a pretty good team in the first place.

Gassko's ranking system could probably be classified as more of a "fun toy" than some sort of definitive method of evaluating GM performance. As is the case with all metrics, his rankings should be blended with subjective analysis to create a broader picture. Nevertheless, it was an outstanding article and in the absence of a generally accepted method of quantifying GM performance, it's a good start.

The overall rankings pass my personal smell test in that the 5 GMs who I consider to be the best in the business (John Schuerholtz, Billy Beane, Terry Ryan, Walt Jocketty, and Theo Epstein) all ranked in the top half of the standings (although any GM ranking system in which John Schuerholtz is not ranked in the top 5 raises some skepticism).

As for Sabean, I think it's probably fair to rank him in the middle of the pack in terms of performance in 2004. Were you to ask me in 2000-2003 where Sabes would rank, I would've argued that Sabean was in the top 10, maybe even top 5. But a series of poor trades and a few questionable free agent signings has seen Sabes' stock fall. Let's face it, Sabean has been in a slump for the last couple of years.

* * *

For the record, even if the Giants 2005 season were to go down in flames, I do not want to see Sabean fired at the end of the season.

1) Sabean's track record is outstanding. During Sabes' tenure, the Giants have finished no lower than second in the NL West, while making four playoff appearances. This is despite the fact that they have never had the highest payroll in the division during that time period.

2) The two leading candidates to replace Sabes would probably be Assistant GM Ned Colletti and Personnel Director Dick Tidrow. On principle, I do not want the chief negotiator of the Neifi Perez contract to be the GM of my team. As for Tidrow, his record to date as the architect of the Giants farm system speaks for itself.

In Sabes we kinda trust.