Bruce Bochy told the media that the fifth spot in the rotation is more of an open competition now that the Giants have signed Todd Wellemeyer. Bochy also mentioned Kevin Pucetas and Joe Martinez as peripheral candidates.
Bochy also wanted to clear up some comments he made earlier this month. Buster Posey will take some grounders at first base, so the organization can have some options. This will also give him occasional rests from catching to stay fresh while keeping his bat in the lineup every day.
“He’s a catcher,” Bochy said. “We’re not trying to convert him.”
Uniform Number Change
Kevin Frandsen gave back his No.19 to pitching coach Dave Righetti and received No.9 instead. Frandsen said it’s time for a fresh start. Hence, the new number. He’s trying to win a utility job, but he still does have one more minor league option left.
Baggarly said in his article with the San Jose Mercury News that Aaron Rowand has lost 10 pounds. Rowand says he feels stronger and quicker. He’s been cycling since October, long before Bochy called to tell him that he would be the teams leadoff hitter. He averaged four days a week on the cycle and roughly figures he ticked off 2,200 miles.
King of Cali thoughts: I must say I’m really impressed. It’s one thing for players to say they are going to get in better shape during the offseason, and it’s another to do it. Rowand just looked to big and bulky last season. Like he couldn’t move good swinging the bat. I just hope he doesn’t try to hit homers and just makes good contact with the ball. If he does that. Then I’m sure we will see him on base a lot more. Maybe the leadoff spot is the best spot for him, cause he knows he has to get on base. Not try to drive in runs.
I think the open competition for the fifth spot in the rotation is a good thing. Let your pitching speak for itself on the field. I say whoever has the best stuff going into the start of the season. Should be the guy in the fifth spot of the rotation. With that said, I don’t see any of these guys beating out Madison Bumgarner. He’s going to show everyone that age doesn’t matter. When you’re ready… you’re ready!
Jon Heyman of SI.com gives his eight teams that he says have been losers this offseason, at least for the months of November through February. The Giants are listed as the #4 team, so I guess that’s better than the worst team which happens to be the New York Mets.
Heyman says the Giants brought in a collection of hitters – Mark DeRosa, Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe and Bengie Molina, but ignored the two true middle of the order threats that were available (Jason Bay and Matt Holliday) and badly needed.
King of Cali thoughts: I don’t think the Giants really are losers this offseason. No we didn’t get that one big bat that we have said we needed for the last two years. We did however upgrade our offense. No, it’s not the Yankees lineup. This team does have the potential to score more runs this year. We still are missing our ideal leadoff hitter, and we have no team speed. We do however have some decent hitters.
2010 Projected Lineup
1. Aaron Rowand CF
2. Freddy Sanchez 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval 3B
4. Aubrey Huff 1B
5. Mark DeRosa LF
6. Bengie Molina C
7. Nate Schierholtz RF
8. Edgar Renteria SS
9. Tim Lincecum P
Now we all know this lineup is subject to change. If Sanchez isn’t ready for opening day. The Giants will likely start Juan Uribe and 2nd base. Which means the lineup would need some shuffling.
This was the 2009 Starting Lineup.
1. Randy Winn RF
2. Edgar Renteria SS
3. Fred Lewis LF
4. Bengie Molina C
5. Pablo Sandoval 3B
6. Travis Ishikawa 1B
7. Aaron Rowand CF
8. Emmanuel Burriss 2B
9. Tim Lincecum P
Now by the looks of that. I would say we are definitely starting off this season with a better starting lineup than last year. Would you say the Giants are losers this offseason?
Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com chat’s with fans. Urban says if he had to pick which Giants acquisition this offseason that he thinks would have a greater impact. He would have to go with Mark DeRosa. He doesn’t see Byung-Hyun Kim making the team.
When asked about Bam Bam Meulens. Urban said he likes the hire a lot. Meulens is said to have a more gentle touch, and he’s gotten along well with players everywhere he’s been. Lansford couldn’t change Bengie Molina, Edgar Renteria and Aaron Rowand’s free-swinging ways.
If Fred Lewis has a good spring. Urban thinks the Giants should keep him. He says he’s the only Velez backer in the Bay Area, it seems, and he’d like to see more of Bowker. Torres is okay in spot duty, but he’ll get exposed with extended run. This is why he wouldn’t be so quick to give up on Fred Lewis.
When asked about Emmanuel Burriss. Urban said he’ll be at camp, trying to ear a job filling in until Freddy Sanchez is ready, but you have to assume that’s Uribe’s gig to lose. At best, Burriss is a backup middle infielder this year.
Urban’s prediction on a breakout 2010 season. He says Velez, Schierholtz and Romo.
He also wouldn’t be shocked at all to see someone like Kevin Pucetas win the No. 5 spot in the rotation out of camp.
King of Cali thoughts: I love to read stuff like this, so I figured I would post some of Mychael Urban’s answers to fans questions. With Fan Fest right around the corner. I’m starting to get really excited for this season to start. The great thing about this time of the year is every team still feels like they have a shot at making the playoffs. =) Who else is feeling pumped?
The Razor & Mr. T (Ralph & Tom) did a phone interview with Aubrey Huff. Huff said he’s excited to come play in the NL West. He’s been in the AL East pretty much his whole career. Huff knew he was coming off a bad year, and was just hoping teams would look past that and look at his career numbers.
He’s played with or against only two players (Aaron Rowand & Mark DeRosa) on the Giants, so he’s going to have a hard time getting to know all his new teammates.
Huff said he was told that he would be playing first base and a little outfield. He will be in the cleanup spot in the lineup. He said he’s not a homers guy. Most of his homers have been line drives, so he thinks this park is good for him. He’s a doubles guy, so it’s a perfect park.
Huff said he loves the cool weather, so that won’t be a problem for him playing in San Francisco.
King of Cali thoughts: I must admit… I’m pretty excited now to see Huff play. I think this signing is going to be like the Uribe signing last year. We are getting him for dirt cheap. I think my Garlic Fries and beer cost more then what we paid for Huff. He’s out of the AL East, so he doesn’t have to face Beckett, Sabathia, Burnett and Matsuzaka. We all know the AL East teams are always trying to revamp their pitching, so I think being in the NL West will only help Huff at the plate.
Chris Haft of MLB.com thinks the Giants offseason efforts to upgrade the ball club may now be done with the Aubrey Huff signing. He does note that some players must rebound from sub-par seasons. Edgar Renteria hit a career-low .250, Huff also recorded his lowest batting average (.241) and hit 15 homers, less than half of what he hit the previous season. Aaron Rowand hit .261, his lowest average since he hit .258 in 2002.
Haft also notes that the Giants lineup can be changed frequently. He did post this lineup as a possible one.
1. Aaron Rowand CF
2. Mark DeRosa LF
3. Freddy Sanchez 2B
4. Pablo Sandoval 3B
5. Aubrey Huff 1B
6. Edgar Renteria SS
7. Nate Schierholtz RF
8. Buster Posey C
King of Cali thoughts: The Giants had a lot of guys get on base last season, but couldn’t drive them in. It seemed like they would get someone on, and then would either strike out or hit a double play ball. With that said I think the Giants do have an improved offense heading into this year. No they didn’t sign anyone worth writing home about, but they did add some bats that aren’t guaranteed outs. Which is all you can ask for when trying to start a rally. Let’s hope we can have a more consistent offense.
Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com says Jack Cust wouldn’t be a good fit for the Giants. Putting Mark DeRosa, Aaron Rowand and Cust in the outfield wouldn’t be a good idea. Cust strikes out to much to make this a good fit for the Giants as well.
Urban says Adam LaRoche must know something about the market that the rest of us don’t, because he rejected the Giants $17 million two year contract. Urban believes Miguel Tejada has two good years left in him, and the Giants should throw a restructured version of LaRoche’s deal at him. One year at $8 million, with a vesting option for 2011 at another $8 million. If he flops this year, he’s gone. If he kills and hits certain statistical heights, he stays and gets paid great money.
King of Cali thoughts: Now here is someone that’s on the same page as me. That sounds like a good move to offer Tejada that kind of contract. He would sure add some offense to our lineup. If the Giants can sign LaRoche or Tejada our offense will sure look a little better. No one to write home about, but guys that can drive in some runs. Let’s hope Sabean doesn’t sign Cust, cause I would rather take our chances with Nate Schierholtz.
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News was kind enough to do a Q&A for us Giants fans. Tim also has a blog that he updates called Talking Points with Tim Kawakami. You can also follow Tim via twitter.
King: We all know Sabean is usually pretty active when it comes to the offseason. He said this year they were going to take it slow. We all didn’t think it would be this slow. What are your thoughts on the Giants taking the slow approach this offseason to make some moves?
Tim K: You know, the way this off-season has set up, I don’t know that Giants fans should’ve wanted Sabean to move too swiftly. Unless you’re throwing around huge money for Holliday or Bay–and we know the Giants aren’t doing that–then there wasn’t a lot of the Big Deal kind of player available this time around.
So the pick-up of Mark DeRosa this week was certainly not franchise-altering, but better than, say, last December’s Edgar Renteria signing, right? Or Zito, Dave Roberts and Klesko two Decembers ago.
Now, this is not going to stir up the Giants populace, nor should it. They have GOT to add 50 to100 runs or else they risk wasting another year of Lincecum-Cain.
I just don’t see how this administration–which, the last time they had large money to blow, spent it on Aaron Rowand–can do it, given this set of circumstances, unless they were suddenly willing to trade Cain, which I don’t think will happen.
The Giants just aren’t going to go over 100M in payroll. You can be upset about that, fairly. But if that’s the ceiling, with Zito and Rowand choking up the space and Lincecum’s deal to come… well, they’re sort of stuck trying to scour the bargain bin. That’s DeRosa. Maybe Jermaine Dye, etc.
King: I’m sure you’re not going to sugarcoat this answer. What do you think of Bill Neukom so far? Do you think he will open up the wallet and let Sabean get some good players?
Tim K: I’ve been fine with Neukom so far–he’s definitely analytical, which means he’s a lot less apt to go hog-wild on impulse for somebody like Zito. I think that’s a plus. Again, fans want the Zito-like deal (well, not ZITO, but many did love the Zito signing at the time,if I remember correctly), the magic fix.
Neukom’s not a magic-fix guy. Is he being stingy? Well, that’s for the bankers and ticket-buyers to decide. If the Giants remain a top-15 payroll team, which I think they will, and if they’re still loaded down by Zito, Rowand, Renteria… I’m not sure how much Neukom is going to let the money flow for anything new.
He’s counting on Posey and the next wave, if it comes, and maybe a new GM and manager in 2011 or 2012. Does that sound drastic? I think that’s where this is headed. Sabean and Bochy only got two-year deals, remember.
King: If you were the Giants GM. What would moves would you be trying to make this offseason?
Tim K: I’d buy a time machine and go back and prevent myself from ever signing Zito or Rowand. Barring that… I sure would start trying to short-sell Rowand and maybe throw in Brian Wilson if that’s what it took.
I know Wilson’s a fan favorite, TV show, all that. But unless you’re Mariano, closers don’t usually have long shelf-life. Plus Wilson is a closer coming up on arbitration who has a history of high ERAs and WHIPs. If I was the GM–and thank God I’m not–and I knew I couldn’t get a Bay or a Holliday (or trade for Adrian Gonzalez–ain’t happening), then I’d try to be forward-thinking and plan to clean my salary roll into 2011.
That means dumping Rowand, who really isn’t any good and will get increasingly less good, and if it takes sacrificing Wilson or Jonathan Sanchez to do it… Again, sounds drastic. Giants fans won’t like it. But how else is this team going to get the money to really go after the top-level hitters?
King: There is reports that the Giants have offered Mark DeRosa a two year, $12 million contract. Do you see this as a good move for the Giants if he accepts?
Tim K: Obviously, you sent this to me before the DeRosa deal came down. Not a terrible deal, but again, certainly DeRosa, at 34, coming off of wrist problems, is not going to be scaring NL pitchers or adding 50 runs to the Giants offense. He’s OK. He can play third, first, left, right… But is he a huge improvement over Randy Winn? Not really. I was not a Winn fan, but… If this offense is going to get better, the upgrade has to be more than DeRosa for Winn (or for Lewis, or Ishikawa, or whoever).
So you have Freddy Sanchez for the whole season, if his knee lets him be there for the whole season. I thought Uribe was just as good or better than Sanchez last year, and the Giants line-up stunk. Where’s the upgrade? Lose Bengie, and have nobody at center. Where’s the upgrade?
They need a thumper. I just don’t think a thumper’s out there for them. Same old, same old. But at least DeRosa’s only 34. A bit younger than Sabean’s normal free-agent signee.
King: I just wanted to say thanks again to Tim Kawakami for taking the time out of his busy life to do this Q&A for us.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com said via Twitter – “Remember that if SF (San Francisco Giants) signs Jason Bay to to 4 years at $64 million type deal, They’d owe him, Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand $46 million annually for the next 3 years. Before even paying Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain.
Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says the Giants, who were rumored to be interested in dealing either Aaron Rowand or Barry Zito, aren’t willing to do a “bad contracts” swap for Bradley.
Ben Maller of Foxsports.com says he’s hearing Milwaukee would take Zito, if the Giants pay most of his salary. Rick Peterson is Zito’s former pitching coach in the Cy Young Oakland days.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 by admin in What If?
What If that we know Part 2 Cain for Fielder By Darrin Reyes
Matt Cain for Prince Fielder Comparing contracts. Matt Cain is signed until next year for 4.25 Mil with a club option for 2011 for 6.25 mil. Prince Fielder is signed until 2010 and will be making 10.5 Mil for the Brewers. The Giants should be willing to take the additional payroll for a player that is well worth the amount. Agreeing to pay the extra amount should be fine with all the extra money coming off the Giants payroll in 2010.
Giants need a big bat desperately but is it worth the cost of losing one of their big arms? Prince Fielder is ahead of every Giant in all category except for Pablo Sandoval’s batting average and total hits.
How the Numbers compare
In 2009 Fielder had 46 Hrs, 141 RBIs, 103 Runs, 110 BBs and 138 SOs.
Bengie Molina 20 HRs +Pablo Sandoval 25 HR would match up to Fielder’s 46 HR
Bengie Molina 52 Runs + Juan Uribe 52 Runs would be behind Fielder’s 103 Runs
Randy Winn 47 BB + Edgar Renteria 39 BB + Juan Uribe 25 BB barely passes Fielder’s 110 BB
Prince had 138 SOs in 2009 and only Aaron Rowand had over 100 SOs last year.
The input of Fielder would give an instant surge to the Giants line up. The home runs increase would be great but I believe that the bigger stats that he would bring to the Giants are the RBIs and the walks. The Giants players are a bunch of table setting players and they really don’t have anyone that can close the deal. Last year the Giants got shut down over 2 dozens times with no runs when they had bases loaded with no outs. Most Giants fan still have nightmares about this true story. Prince Fielder had 51 RBIs more than Pablo Sandoval last year. Looking back, that many additional runs could have given the Giants more than 10 more wins. If the Giants had that many more wins they would’ve made the playoffs and led the National League in wins.
Matt Cain had his best year in 2009 with 14 wins and a 2.89 ERA. His numbers do validate his worth for the trade to be a possibility for the Brewers. He would be among the leaders on Brewers if on there staff. If the Giants sign Brad Penny it could increase the possibility of putting Matt Cain on the trading block. The Giants do have a few good young arms to add to their rotation in case of a trade.
Projected Line up with Fielder (with current Giants roster) Velez LF Sanchez 2B Sandoval 3B Fielder 1B Schierholtz RF Molina C (if resigned) Rowand CF Renteria SS
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News said in his blog.