It’s been reported that the Houston Astros have claimed Matt Downs from the San Francisco Giants. The Giants DFA Downs to make room for Cody Ross, who they claimed on waivers from the Florida Marlins.
Brandon Belt has been promoted to the Fresno Grizzlies. Belt started the season in San Jose and then went to Richmond. His combined stats are .363 AVG with 19 HR’s and 102 RBI’s. Let’s hope he can keep the hot bat going in Fresno.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brandon Belt, Brian Sabean, Cody Ross, Florida Marlins, Fresno Grizzlies, Giants, Giants Baseball, Giants Trade Rumors, Houston Astros, King of Cali, Matt Downs, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Rumors
Since Pat (The Bat) Burrell has joined the San Francisco Giants. He’s done nothing but show he’s a professional hitter. Burrell was the first of six player added to the team since the season began. Below are his stats, and I would love to hear your thoughts on if the Giants should or shouldn’t bring him back next year?
Pat Burrell Stats as a Giant
G 63
AB 190
R 28
H 53
HR 12
RBI 33
AVG .279
Past 20 Games
G 20
AB 69
R 10
H 20
RBI 17
HR 6
AVG .289
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brian Sabean, Giants Baseball, Giants Trade Rumors, King of Cali, Pat Burrell, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants, SF Giants Rumors
The San Francisco Giants have DFA (Designated For Assignment) Matt Downs to make room for Cody Ross. Ross may get a lot of his AB’s by playing center against left-handed pitching.
On Friday a rumor started swirling that the Giants were interested in Brad Hawpe. I really don’t see anything happening with that rumors since the Giants have since acquired Ross. The Giants are already rolling 6 outfielders deep, so a wild guess is they won’t add a 7th.
Update
Dontrelle Willis has been promoted to the Fresno Grizzlies (Giants AAA team). He will be pitching out of the bullpen. It’s likely he will be called up when the rosters expand to 40 players on September 1st.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brad Hawpe, Brian Sabean, Cody Ross, Dontrelle Willis, Fresno Grizzlies, Giants, Giants Trade Rumors, King of Cali, Matt Downs, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants, SF Giants Rumors
It’s been reported by FoxSports.com that the San Francisco Giants have claimed outfielder Cody Ross off waivers from the Florida Marlins. It’s not clear if the Giants have real interest in Ross, or if they are just trying to block the San Diego Padres or other teams. Since the claim is made that means the Giants might be on the hook for a little more than $1 million, which is the remainder of his contract for the year. I like the fact that Brian Sabean is trying to block teams. It’s showing that he’s still trying to do his job, and not just sitting back and hoping this team wins.
Cody Ross Stats
G 117
AVG .260
HR 10
RBI 55
R 57
SB 9
Ross is arbitration eligible at the end of the season.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brian Sabean, Cody Ross, Florida Marlins, Giants, Giants Baseball, Giants Trade Rumors, King of Cali, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Rumors
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says multiple teams are interested in an elite amateur pitcher, Mexican 16-year-old right-hander Luis Heredia. The San Francisco Giants are among the teams that are interested, but the Pirates are a strong favorite to land him.
The Giants twitter account says the Giants have recalled Emmanuel Burriss from Triple-A and Todd Wellemeyer has been designated for assignment.
ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets there is a perception among some GM’s that the Giants are trying to prevent third basemen from reaching the Cardinals or (more). He’s basically saying the Giants are putting claims on guys on waivers so they can’t be claimed by other teams like the Cardinals, Braves, Padres etc. Now that’s what I call helping yourself without making a trade.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brian Sabean, Emmanuel Burriss, Giants Trade Rumors, King of Cali, Luis Heredia, NL West, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants, SF Giants Rumors, Todd Wellemeyer
The Newest Giants player is Jose Guillen. All it took was a high-five, some cash and a PTBNL (Player To Be Named Later).
The trading deadline came and no offensive help was brought in to help the San Francisco Giants. Giants GM Brian Sabean however has made a couple moves this week. Nothing major that’s going to force teams in the NL West to call it a year, but he did make the Giants a stronger team!
Mike Fontenot brings the Giants depth at second base and is going to be the utility guy. He’s batting .282 (AVG) with 20 RBI’s this season.
Guillen on the other hand brings some attitude and some pop that the Giants can definitely use. I really don’t think he’s going to bring any drama to the clubhouse. Guillen will likely be the Giants starting right fielder. Bruce Bochy can platoon Guillen as well if he’s not pulling his weight. It’s nice to have more options on a daily basis for the skipper.
Why I Like The Trade
1. Guillen will not be with the team long enough to be a cancer to the clubhouse. He’s happy to leave a losing team, and join a team that’s trying to win the division. Veteran players will keep him in line.
2. Bochy can go with the hot bat, and have options off the bench. 3. If Guillen isn’t starting a game, he’s always a threat coming off the bench.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, Giants, Giants Baseball Trade Rumors, Jose Guillen, King of Cali, Mike Fontenot, NL West, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants, SF Giants Rumors
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says the San Francisco Giants have acquired infielder Mike Fontenot from the Cubs. He’s going to be used as a utility infielder and is needed since Edgar Renteria is back on the disabled list. The Cubs will receive Evan Crawford in exchange.
Fontenot’s going to be arbitration eligible for three more years before he can become a free agent.
Fontenot is currently hitting .284 (AVG) with 20 RBI’s and 1 HR.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Brian Sabean, Edgar Renteria, Evan Crawford, Giants, Giants Baseball Rumors, King of Cali, Mike Fontenot, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Rumors, SF Giants Trade Rumors
I keep hearing from a lot of San Francisco Giants fans saying the Giants are fine. They don’t need to add a bat, or bringing in Jose Guillen is a bad idea. I recently read an article by Bob Nightengale (USA Today Sports Weekly Aug. 4-10 edition), and he listed the winners and losers at the trading deadline.
The Giants were no where to be found on the list. They weren’t winners or losers, so I guess that’s a good thing right? They brought in Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez right before the trading deadline. It was no secret that the Giants needed some bullpen help which they went out and got. They however still didn’t add a bat that they have been saying they needed.
They scored 7 runs in the 4 game series in Atlanta. That’s less than 2 runs a game. Which tells me the offense can still use a little help. Even the New York Yankees who are already an All Star team added two bats (Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns).
Let me tell you 3 teams that made the winners list. That’s the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers. This is what Bob Nightengale had to say about the Padres.
“The Padres rewarded their players and fans by giving them every possible chance of winning the National West. They acquired outfielder Ryan Ludwick and shortstop Miguel Tejada, took on $3 million and didn’t give up any prized prospects. Great work by rookie GM Jed Hoyer”.
Now this is exactly what I have been saying about making some moves without sacrificing the farm system. It doesn’t only take a huge splash to get us over the hump. Just get us some pop or some good players that can give other guys a rest and be a threat to come off the bench!
UPDATE
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle said (via twitter) Jose Guillen to the Giants not completely dead, but it’s not on the front burner either.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Arizaona Diamondbacks, Austin Kearns, Brian Sabean, Giants Baseball Rumors, Javier Lopez, Jose Guillen, King of Cali, Lance Berkman, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miguel Tejada, New York Yankees, Ramon Ramirez, Ryan Ludwick, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Rumors, SF Giants Trade Rumors
If you haven’t been paying attention the San Francisco Giants have been the hottest team in baseball since July 3rd. They are on a 22-6 hot streak right now. The offense has been running on all cylinders. The Giants are currently 1 game back of the Padres in the NL West, and have a 3 game lead in the Wild Card over the Cardinals.
The Giants have won 4 in a row, and 8 out of their last 10 games.Their record against the NL West teams since the All Star break is 10-1. The first half they were 9-21. Talk about a big improvement! If you can’t beat teams in your division, you can’t win it!
Possible Rookie Of The Year?
Stay hotttttt Buster Posey!! He had a 3-for-4 night and has hit safely in 24 of 26 games. Posey has played in 48 games, and has a .370 AVG, 8 HR, 33 RBI’s and scored 28 runs.
Possible MVP?
Aubrey Huff leads the Giants in AVG (.310), HR (20) and RBI’s (65). Where would they be without their $3 million dollar man? I’m sure Brian Sabean or whoever the Giants GM is will try to bring Huff back next year.
This post has been written prior to August 4th games.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Aubrey Huff, Brian Sabean, Buster Posey, Giants Baseball, Giants Trade Rumors, King of Cali, MVP, Rookie of the Year, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants, SF Giants Rumors
The trading deadline has passed and the San Francisco Giants position players remain the same. I do have some mixed feelings about this years trading deadline. Giants GM Brian Sabean did get two relievers in Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez. Yes, he did get some much needed help to our bullpen. No, he didn’t get a bat with some power that everyone was expecting.
The Giants have been linked to multiple bats prior to the trading deadline. Name thrown out there like Corey Hart, Prince Fielder, Adam Dunn, Jose Bautista and the list goes on…
My gut feeling was if the Giants couldn’t pull off any big deals that they would at least fallback on Jose Guillen. He would be a rental player, but wouldn’t really cost the Giants much. Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star told me (via email) the Giants could still get him. He can’t imagine Guillen getting claimed off waivers.
I really couldn’t believe that Sabean didn’t pull the trigger on any deals. He’s been saying the Giants need a power bat since last year and still hasn’t made it happen yet. The Padres and Dodger were able to upgrade their teams. Only time will tell how this trading deadline turns out for all teams. I guess let’s just be happy that the Giants are playing some really good ball right now!
I’m relieved that Sabean didn’t hit the panic button and make a dumb trade (right before the deadline) like giving up Madison Bumgarner for a rental player like Dunn. I do believe Sabean could have made a few moves without mortgaging the farm system, or giving away starting pitching. I just don’t like hearing that they couldn’t have done anything without giving up Jonathan Sanchez or Bumgarner. Other teams made trades and I didn’t see everyone giving up those kind of players.
The Two Arms Added To Our Bullpen
Javier Lopez – 2 W, 2.47 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 21 K, 0 SV
Ramon Ramirez – 0 W, 4.46 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 31 K, 2 SV
The Giants may be in the mix for free agent slugger Carlos Delgado. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com reports a couple of teams are showing interest. The Giants are among the teams that could be seeking additional offensive help.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Adam Dunn, Brian Sabean, Carlos Delgado, Corey Hart, Giants, Giants Baseball Trade Rumors, Javier Lopez, Jonathan Sanchez, Jose Bautista, Jose Guillen, King of Cali, Madison Bumgarner, Prince Fielder, Ramon Ramirez, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Rumors, SF Giants Trade Rumors
