SF Giants Rumors – Byrnes A Giant?
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 by admin in SF Giants Rumors
Eric Byrnes went on KNBR this morning with Murph & Mac. He said he’s still got a lot of baseball left in him, but he’s not sure if he’s a good fit for the Giants. He said he’s 100% healthy. He loves playing at AT&T Park, so that’s not a problem for him. Byrnes is really close to a lot of guys on the Giants. He wants to play no matter where he goes. He’s okay with taking a 4th spot in the outfield and earn more playing time. He’s been contacted by a few team, but none of them are the Giants. He did say again that the Giants are the best fit for him geographically, because he only lives 20 mins away from AT&T Park.King of Cali thoughts: I have received emails from a lot of Giants fans that say we need to sign Byrnes. It’s another low-risk, high reward signing. Byrnes brings a lot to the team. He’s a guy that likes to have fun and keep the clubhouse lose. He would be able to hit lead-off and even has some pop in his bat. I would much rather have Byrnes in the lineup instead of Fred Lewis. KNBR keeps pushing for the Giants to sign Byrnes, so lets see if the Giants are on the same page as most of us Giants fans.
~King of Cali
Yea I heard him this morning as well, he is a regular on KNBR and has always said he would love to be a GIANT. I understand why some shy away from the idea of having an older Vet comming off of injuries. But lets be realistic here. He has done more in the Majors than has Nate, Torres, Velez and even Fred. And lets say he isn’t able to rebound from his injuries, your signing him at the league minimum which means no RISK and a potential HIGH reward and if he tanks you don’t lose anything.
I still don’t understand the hatred for Lewis. He had the 2nd highest OBP on the team last year. The 2nd! Lewis should be the 4th OF and not a run down old guy. Sure Byrnes has done more in his career than Nate and Torres and those other guys, but so has Matt Williams, but I don’t think he can contribute anymore either.
it is not hate to lewis.. it is a terrible defense,,
Dru I disagree I think Byrnes is coming off a injury but so is De Rosa and Freddy Sanchez and I believe they will produce this year .I also think if byrnes was 36 or older I might tend to agree with you but at 33 he has few good years left and as far as Lewis he hasn’t even been consistant enough with his bat or any power and his defense flat out sucks ,Byrnes defense is good and can play any outfield position and Fred Lewis can’t.
OBP > poor defense. This teams glaring need is offense. Fred Lewis provides that. I don’t understand what the problem is. Byrnes if he’s healthy is good, and would be a valued addition… if he’s right. But instead of searching elsewhere for “good” defenders who can play anywhere, we should be grooming players that are already here that actually can hit.
it’s a no brainer to sign Byrnes to a Minor League deal you won’t have to release anyone unless he makes the team and if he stinks you just cut him but knowing Byrnes and his hustle he could outperform Nate and become the RF eventually
Dru while I agree obp > fielding it’s also not good to have a guy cost you games because he let a ball get over his head which Lewis did a few times last year
I can see the logic in signing Byrnes and how it could be a good deal on paper……..but I personally don’t think its something they should do. We have two outfielders in Schierholtz and Velez (and possibly Lewis if he can ever pull his head out of his a$$ on defense) who i think can put up good numbers if they get full time play. I think its in the best interest of the team to let Nate play righ field full time and see what he can do. We already know his defense is awesome, and he has alot of potential at the plate. Maybe not HR potential, but i think he’s got some great gap power. Give Nate 500 ab’s and i bet he can hit .285 with 15 HR and 75-90 RBI. I don’t think those are numbers Byrne’s can put up anymore
the only reason Fred Lewis had a high OBP was because he wasn’t a starter in case people have forgotten in 08 the season in which he was a starter he struck out every other at bat literally he’d have 2 K’s per game I started calling him K-Fred. He struck out 84 times he wasn’t a starter this year and yet he still had more K’s than Molina and Sandoval. So that OBP was because he barely played otherwise he would’ve lead the team in K’s.
here we are,
f. Sanchez is injured. I say lets get byrnes to play left field and send derosa to second base… Whos with me? Ofcourse, we will give some playn time to uribe as well.
[...] Hardcore Poser wrote a very interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt:Eric Byrnes went on KNBR this morning with Murph & Mac. He said he’s still got a lot of baseball left in him, but he’s not sure if he’s a good fit. [...]