The San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean has said the team is not interested in free agents/rent-a-player. Sabean says they are looking for someone that they can control (meaning next year as well). This makes sense so they don’t give up players or prospects for someone that’s going to be gone next year.
“Anybody that fits that mold, “Sabean said, “we are going to be heavy in the scouting side of it and see if it makes sense to explore.”
Jeff Fletcher Senior MLB Writer for Fanhouse says given those parameters, the best fits for the Giants are probably outfielders like Corey Hart, David DeJesus and Josh Willingham. Fletcher also says Prince Fielder would fit as well, but the Giants would have to do some shuffling to fit him since he is a first baseman.
Below is each of the players stats. DeJesus to me is doubtful, because the Giants are still searching for that middle of the lineup bat to drive in runs. DeJesus would be a nice bat at the top of the lineup though.
Prince Fielder is currently hitting .260 with 17 homers, 35 RBI’s and will not be a free agent until 2012.
Corey Hart is currently hitting .278 with 18 homers, 60 RBI’s and will not be a free agent until 2012.
David DeJesus is currently hitting .331 with 5 homers, 35 RBI’s and will not be a free agent until 2012.
Josh Willingham is currently hitting .276 14 homers, 44 RBI’s and will not be a free agent until 2012.
Would you like to see any of these players in Orange & Black?
The recent San Francisco Giants rumor that is floating around in the thick San Francisco fog is the Giants are interested in the Kansas City Royals OF/DH Jose Guillen. It’s also been reported that the Giants will only be interested if the Royals pay most of his salary.
Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star told me (via email) If the Royals eat all (or nearly all) of the salary and are willing to take (next to) nothing in return. The offer will need to get sweeter for anything to happen.
Chris Haft the Giants Beat writer also told me (via email) He hasn’t heard anything concrete but it absolutely wouldn’t surprise him. He’d be a good rent-a-player.
Guillen is currently hitting .279 with 13 homers and 47 RBI’s. He would be a nice bat to add to the middle of the Giants lineup. There would have to be a lot more juggling with with defense and lineup to keep the hot hitters in the lineup. Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell have been in the outfield so Buster Posey could get some AB’s at first base.
If this trade does end up going down. We can see Bengie Molina losing a lot more playing time to the young phenom Posey, and then Burrell or Huff can move to first base to free up room for Guillen in the outfield.
I’m going to have a little fun with this blog post today. =) I attended the San Francisco Giants vs. Boston Red Sox game on Friday night with my girlfriend. We went with a group, so we sat in the upper deck and I was thinking we might have a better view of the A’s game than the Giants. We weren’t too excited to be sitting up there, cause we love being in the bleachers, however it wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated. We were surrounded by Red Sox fans which made it a unique experience and the view wasn’t bad at all. It was like having a birds-eye view of the game, and it was very cool to see the fog roll in. The only bad thing was we couldn’t see the scoreboard very well.
The Red Sox fans were very friendly and just loved talking baseball. It was just really cool to hear them talk with their Boston accents. We did however have one thing in common, we both didn’t like the New York Yankees. I met some Red Sox fans that moved to the Bay Area a while back, and there were others that flew here from Boston to follow their team and vacation in San Francisco. The energy out there was very electric! It felt like a playoff game and the Giants haven’t made the playoffs since 2003. The game was super exciting and had both Giants and Red Sox fans on the edge of their seats.
I have been to a ton of games, but this one will definitely stand out when I look back at games I have attended. The Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. I knew if I didn’t do something fast this game would get out of hand. My girlfriend and I knew we had to pull out the big guns if we were going to get luck back on our side. No lucky penny was going to work. We went straight to the Garlic Fries! Once we started munching on them we knew it would be a matter of time before the Giants would make it a game again. The Giants did come back and then took the lead on a Juan Uribe homer. I don’t think the Garlic Fries are really lucky at all, we just love them, so we had to have them right away.
It was a scary ending as the Red Sox loaded the bases, but closer Brian Wilson was able to prevail! I do have a video that I recorded at the game. I will upload it to the site in the next few days. It’s the Red Sox fans doing their chant (Lets Go Red Sox). The Giants took game one of the three game series. I had high hopes with Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum pitching games two and three, but the evil Red Sox showed their lineup was far superior.
For those of you that have seen the website FireSabean.com. I thought I would try to give Giants fans a little more insight on the man behind the site. He’s 23 year old Eric Shackelford who was born in southern California and parents are actually Dodger fans. Eric lived down south for his first 3 years. He became a Junior Giants member and the rest is history! Eric decided to start a site online cause there is a lot of Giants fans online with opinions so it makes talking Giants a lot more fun.
Eric says “I just don’t get our front office, and that’s why I’m here. To represent an entire nation of fans who are tired of this management and I hope others choose to engage with me or continue preaching the truth!”.
King: The first question I must ask you about is your parents being Dodger fans. You must have a really bad relationship with them right?
Eric: I burned down our house when I was four years old. Hah, but seriously, I remember going through a closet one day and seeing a stuffed bear with Dodgers gear on. I took it out front and ripped it’s head off and threw it away. They are good people, just a little misdirected when it comes to sports (I was born in Ventura so I guess they felt obligated to like the pathetic Dodgers).
King: What is your favorite Giants memory?
Eric: Oh man, that’s a tough one. I’ll have to say the 1997 Giants vs. Dodgers. Giants were a game back with 9 to play. The game was so intense and back-and-forth, then Rod Beck takes the mound in the 10th inning with the bases loaded and no one out. He gets a strike out then a home-to-first double play. Then the 12th inning… Brian Johnson’s walk off. I remember running up and down the stairs screaming as loud as I could. Giants won the West that year. Good times..
King: Who’s your two favorite past & present Giants players and why?
Eric: Currently I am a huge fan of Brian Wilson. He is the carbon copy of what a closer should be. Cocky, Mohawk, tattoos, hilarious and a flame-thrower. He will be on par with Rod Beck when it’s all said and done. The attitude of this guy is amazing. I’ve always liked closers, from Beck to Rob Nen to Joe Nathan now Weez. Pretty good following.
Past – The obvious answers would be Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal etc. I am 23 years old and I grew up watching Barry Bonds. Go past the steroid drama because that was the era (as seen in the inflation of stats), you can’t take away the mystique and raw talent that man had. He transcended the team and made McCovey Cove what it is. I can’t say enough about him, I remember going to the Stick (Candlestick Park) and being in awe of every single at-bat. He is the home run champion and I was able to witness it — That’s pretty cool.
King: Do you think Barry Bonds will be voted into the Hall of Fame, or do you think he will be on the blacklist?
Eric: I don’t see it happening right now, but in about 10 years there may be a chance. Think about it, if you don’t let Bonds in you can’t let guys like Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire in either. They did the same thing and I don’t know exactly how those voters will feel in 10 years, but right now there is no chance. Pete Rose was never forgiven, and if you leave names like this off the ballot then I think baseball would have committed a huge mistake. I guarantee you at least 75% of players did it for quite some time, it’s sad, but it was part of the game. That’s just my opinion, though.
King: What was your initial reaction when you heard Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean were coming back in 2010?
Eric: I rolled my eyes. I knew it was going to happen so I wasn’t too surprised. Where Sabes is Bochy will soon follow — the two are attached at the hip. On any other team if a GM doesn’t produce a World Series title in 10 years max they are gone, yet Sabean keeps hanging around which is pretty disgusting. I think Magowan and Baer are stuck on the fact that he took the team to the Series in ‘02 (with Bonds) and that he has the ability to take them there again. They have goggles on, they have to.
King: Since you think Sabean isn’t doing a great job as the GM. If you had his job. Who would you pursue at the trading deadline, and who would you part with to make that trade happen?
Eric: Prince Fielder. This would be the smartest. Or even Adrian Gonzalez. Then Posey can catch and Huff can play the outfield. There’s a lot of talk about a bunch of different guys but I’m still stuck in Prince. Obviously, they want someone like Cain — which we cannot do. Honestly, I have no idea where we can go for Prince, maybe a Jonathan Sanchez/Madison Bumgarner. Stick with me. Prince is an everyday player, pitchers affect 1 out of 5 games a week. Wouldn’t you be willing to part with a top prospect and a good pitcher for a power hitter who’s 26 years old?
King: If and when Sabean is no longer the Giants GM. Will you keep your FireSabean.com site, start a new site or stop blogging all together?
Eric: I have thought about that before. The site has picked up pace recently and I’ve received pretty good feedback. If people are still following the blog when Sabean is fired then I’ll probably buy a new domain (not sure yet of what) and just have people who type in firesabean.com get redirected to the new blog. I love writing and want to do that for the rest of my life (not blogging, but just writing in general) so this is a lot of fun. Hopefully people like it too.
King: Is there anything you want to let Giants fans know about you that they might not know?
Eric: I may come off pessimistic a lot of the time, but that’s where I get the humor. I have been a lifelong Giants fan and those who know me know how much I love watching this team. It’s kind of a catch 22 with Sabean at the helm, if we do well this year that’s awesome but then Sabean will surely get another extension. Would I take a World Series win even if it means Sabean will get a lifelong contract? Hell yeah, that’s what our goal as a fan is: To witness the ultimate triumph — and whether it comes with him as the GM or Jon Doe, it doesn’t matter. We’re all in this together and one World Series in 14 years of torture? Maybe I’ll purchase IveAlwaysLovedSabean.com next.
King: Thank you very much Eric for taking the time to do this Q&A with SF Giants Rumors. Keep up the great work with your site. It’s always fun to read your posts. It’s nice to see that we both have the same passion for the San Francisco Giants!
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Aubrey Huff would love to re-sign with the San Francisco Giants. Huff said he and Pat Burrell are really enjoying it here.
“I would love to be back here,” Huff said when asked about 2011.
The way Huff is hitting right now. I’m sure the Giants would love to bring him back. Possibly even Burrell if he continues to produce. Huff leads the team in AVG at .311. There is a few guys with a higher AVG like Edgar Renteria and Freddy Sanchez, but they have half the AB’s that Huff has had. He also leads the team in homers with 12, runs with 41 and is 2nd in RBI’s with 37.
Side Notes
It’s finally official that they are shutting down Mark DeRosa for the season. He will be having surgery early next week. The Giants are just hoping they can get a healthy DeRosa for next year. I was really hoping DeRosa would be a big part of the lineup this year, but the baseball gods had other plans.
I have recently been asked to do an interview with Regie from plantTHESPEAR.com. They cover all things FSU (Florida State University). For those of you that don’t know. Buster Posey went to FSU which is the reason Regie wanted to interview me. They like to follow all of their FSU alumni to see how they are doing. Here is a link to check out the interview “Buster Posey Exceeding Expectations”.
This weekend didn’t turn out the way I was hoping, but I’m glad the San Francisco Giants were at least able to salvage the last game against the Toronto Blue Jays. I will take that instead of going 0-for-Canada! Ex-Giant Fred Lewis got a chance to play against his former team. He went 2-for-11 and scored 2 runs in the 3 games. Not exactly redemption, but he can brag since his team won 2-out-of-3. Was I the only one waiting for him to drop a fly ball? Don’t get me wrong I’m not a F-Lewis hater. I thought he had a lot of potential but he just couldn’t get it together in a Giants uniform. I think a change of scenery is what he needed.
I’m sure most Giants fans have heard about Lewis updating his Facebook and snapping at Giants fans. I’m not going to get into details about it. If you haven’t seen it. Check it out at Pro Rumors. Kevin Frandsen even felt the need to chime in.
Side Notes
Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com says bullpen is the number one priority for the Giants. “The bullpen is a one-man show, and Brian Wilson needs help.” says Urban. Urban also believes the Giants don’t need another big hitter. He says it’s a vastly improved offense over the past few months.I personally don’t see the Giants pulling off that big trade during this years trading deadline. Madison Bumgarner is our blue chip in Triple-A Fresno. Brian Sabean has said he’s not willing to part ways with him. Sabean will make a move to help this team. Just don’t expect that blockbuster trade to happen this year.
UPDATE
Jon Paul Morosi of Foxsports.com says the Giants are interested in Royals OF David DeJesus. Morosi says it doesn’t appear that the clubs are engaged in serious talks.
Steve Phillips of Fanhouse tells us who he thinks the buyers, sellers and teams holding are at this years trading deadline. He has the San Francisco Giants listed as buyers, and I would have to agree with him. The Giants are half a game out of the NL West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
The starting pitching has been there all year for the Giants. It’s been their inability to score runs that has cost them games. This team does seem to have more of a thump in their lineup lately. Freddy Sanchez has returned from his injury and the call up of Buster Posey has really helped ignite the offense. They have Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff both playing some outstanding ball right now. The addition of Pat Burrell also has them producing more runs per game. He brought that right-handed power that the team needed. Plus he seems to have found his stroke. You know what the saying is… “Home Sweet Home”
With that said the Giants can still always upgrade their offense. When you’re not putting out an everyday lineup like the New York Yankees. Then there is always room for and upgraded offense. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has said in an article that teams may have interest in David DeJesus and Jose Guillen. Bob told me via email that he hasn’t heard any rumors linking the Giants and any Royals players at this time.
The Giants beat writer Chris Haft told me via email that he thinks the Giants may need another reliever more than they need a hitter. The Giants do have the flexibility to move players around to acquire a bat, but the question is who are they willing to part with?
Going into the offseason the San Francisco Giants knew they had to upgrade their offense. Which means everyone knew Brian Sabean would have his work cut out. We know that he has tried in the past to bring in a big bat, but some players refuse to come San Francisco. Sabean offered power hitting Carlos Lee a six year $112 million contract in 2006. Lee declined the offer and signed with the Houston Astros (11-24-06) for a six year $100 million deal. I’m sure that short porch in left field (Crawford Boxes) at Minute Maid Park had him excited to play in Houston.
It’s known that the Giants will have to overpay to land free agents in San Francisco. Sabean did however happen to pull off a couple of steal deals. He brought in Juan Uribe a year ago, and he’s done nothing but produce for the Giants. They even brought him back again this year for a 1 year deal worth $3.25 million. His been a very valuable piece to this team. He’s moved all around the infield, and has been doing yard-work (raking) all season! Uribe has a .289 AVG with 10 homers, 41 RBI’s and 31 runs scored.
Another player that Sabean has brought in this year is the left-handed swinging Aubrey Huff. The Giants were the only team to offer Huff a contract. Which is probably the reason he jumped on the offer ($3 million 1-year). Barry Bonds made it look easy to hit homers at AT&T Park, but all the left handed hitters know that’s not the case at all. Huff has been known to hit monster homers when he hits them, so I’m sure that right field wall didn’t really scare him too much. Eight of his ten homers this year have been hit at home.
Huff is currently hitting .300 AVG with 10 homers, 34 RBI’s and 34 runs scored. Huff and Uribe are a big reason the Giants are playing so well right now. We knew their pitching would keep them in games, and it was up to their offense to score enough runs. Guys like Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez are getting on base while Uribe and Huff continue to drive them in.
Uribe and Huff are hitting a combined .294 (AVG) for the season with 20 homers, 75 RBI’s and 65 runs scored. That’s some pretty nice production from the middle of the lineup.
The San Francisco Giants were able to get revenge on the Oakland Athletics. It’s nice to see the Giants playing good baseball and scoring more runs. The Giants are 13-6 since the A’s swept them in Oakland. Maybe that’s what they needed to give them a little wake up call, or was it adding two more bats to their lineup?
Things have changed for the Giants since they got swept in Oakland. Buster Posey (Giants number 1 prospect) has been called up, and taken on Major League pitching like he’s playing with kids in a backyard wiffle ball game. He’s played in 15 games for the Giants and is hitting .368 with 1 homer, 7 RBI’s and 7 runs scored. Posey is the Giants future backstop, but he’s been playing first base. He’s only started one game behind the plate so far this year. There is still plenty of time left in the season for him to get his feet wet.
Another reason the Giants have been having more success at the plate. Is the slumping Aaron Rowand has been losing some AB’s to the newly acquired Pat Burrell. Burrell was released earlier this year by the Tampa Bay Rays to make room for Hank Blalock. Burrell was only hitting .202 with 2 homers in 24 games before the Rays decided to part ways. The Bay Area native (Bellarmine College Preparatory High School in San Jose) is a man on a mission right now. He’s trying to prove to everyone that he still has some gas left in the tank.
Burrell has played in 9 games for the Giants so far, and is off to a pretty hot start. He’s hitting .375 with 1 homer, 4 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. He brings to the team that right handed power that they so desperately needed. He’s a nice piece to add to the mix, but I think the Giants still may need one more hitter before they really take off!
