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

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The San Francisco Giants are looking into maybe acquiring Jose Guillen. I have heard from Giants fans that don’t want to see this happen. I say it’s a no lose situation for the Giants. He can platoon with Pat Burrell in the outfield. Then Bruce Bochy can go with the hot bat and have one of them available in a pinch hit situation where you need some pop.  

Yes, we have all heard about Guillen in the clubhouse and being a cancer. He’s not going to be around this team long enough to even get to that point of being unhappy. He’s going to be happy to leave a losing Royals team to a Giants team that’s fighting to win the NL West.  

Yes, Guillen is in a big slump right now( 3-for-41 in last 11 games), but that doesn’t mean he won’t get out of it. Just the thought of having a guy on your bench that can bring some late inning pop to an AB when needed. That’s a huge thing for any team to have. I’m not here saying this guy is the difference maker for the Giants. I’m just saying he can help Bochy mix and match lineups and add some pop to our roster.  

Is Guillen wanted in San Francisco?  

Side Notes   

Dontrelle Willis had his outing last night cut short because of a torn fingernail. The Giants still see Willis as a late season addition to the bullpen.

~King of Cali

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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!

~King of Cali

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This is the road trip that Bruce Bochy is showing he’s in control of this Giants party bus. The San Francisco Giants are currently 3-1 on this trip. Taking 2-out-of-3 from the Pittsburgh Pirates and game one against the Cincinnati Reds.    

Bochy has made some statements on this trip, and basically telling these guys if you’re not hitting then you’re not playing. The very first bold statement was dropping Pablo Sandoval in the lineup to the 8th spot. He’s also started Pat Burrell in left field and sat the slumping Aaron Rowand. The young phenom Buster Posey got his first start behind the plate this year and Bengie Molina had a nice view from the bench. Bochy is making it clear on this road trip that he’s going to go with who’s swinging the bat, and not by who’s bankroll may be a little larger.  

Molina is really slumping bad right now (4-for-52 slump), but I wouldn’t say the Giants are phasing him out at this point. There is so many up’s and downs during a season. Guys are going to get hot and cold at various times. Bochy’s job is to try to get everyone enough AB’s to keep them fresh. With that said though. I would still go with the hottest hitters at all times. The Giants have a lot of guys that can move around the diamond, so it’s very easy to mix and match lineups to go with the hot bats.

 I was asked on SF Giants Rumors Facebook. If I had control of the lineup what would it be? Position and order? Well Jeff Z. from Facebook. You asked and you shall receive my Giants lineup.

This would be my starting lineup for tonight.

CF Andres Torres

2B Freddy Sanchez

3B Pablo Sandoval

1B Aubrey Huff

SS Juan Uribe

C  Buster Posey

LF Pat Burrell

RF Nate Schierholtz

P  Matt Cain

I look forward to seeing comments with your starting lineup!

~King of Cali

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We all knew coming into this season that our pitching was our strong point, and our hitting was going to struggle again. Here are some stats to show you where the San Francisco Giants are currently at compared to other 30 Major League Baseball teams.  

Batting Stats 

AVG: .256 (ranked 17th)

 Runs: 182 (ranked 24th)

Hits: 389 (ranked 23rd)

Home Runs: 34 (ranked 24th)

Stolen Bases: 18 (ranked 27th)

OBP: .322 (ranked 21st)

SLG: .392 (ranked 21st)

Total Bases: 594 (ranked 23rd)

Pitching Stats

ERA: 3.45 (ranked 4th)

Runs Allowed: 161 (ranked 28th)

Saves: 14 (ranked 6th)

Strikeouts: 360 (ranked 4th)

OpBA: .224 (ranked 1st)

OBP: .311 (ranked 5th)

SLG: .335 (ranked 1st)

Run Support: 4.02 (ranked 24th)

Do any of these numbers surprise you? From the offensive side of things. The Giants have had some key players injured, and haven’t been able to trot out the everyday lineup they envisioned when they completed their roster in the offseason. Freddy Sanchez finally makes his return to the Giants, but Mark DeRosa has been out (wrist). Now Edgar Renteria is back on the shelf. He was placed on the 15-Day DL with a strained right hamstring. If the Giants can get all these guys in the lineup at one time. I have no doubt that they can’t scratch out a few more runs, and get more wins. No, they will not be “Murders Row” (1927 Yankees), but with this kind of pitching staff they don’t need to be. The Giants are currently 23-22 this season. It’s still not time to panic Giants fans. They still have 117 games left to play. Let’s just hope Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy are keeping any eye on these stats as well. Lets hope they can fix the problem areas before it’s to late for this season.

~King of Cali

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Who knew all it would take is a shakeup in the starting lineup to get the San Francisco Giants back in the win column? I know a lot of writers/bloggers/media people tend to always hit the panic button a little early. I must admit I was really getting close to saying get Buster Posey up here immediately! It’s really a catch 22 if you think about it. If our offense is struggling and we have a hot hitter like Posey in Fresno. Yes, we should bring him up to help the team offensively. Now the flip side to that is do you think it’s really fair to Posey?  

If Posey had to come up to be the offensive savior for the Giants. Don’t you think that would put a lot of added pressure on the rookie who’s already feeling the pressure of having to be Bengie Molina’s successor? I’m all for waiting to bring Posey up until he’s going to be assured a lot of playing time. There really is no point of bringing him up to spot start here and there. He’s better off down in Triple-A Fresno working on his catching. I mean after all, that was the reason he was starting the season in Fresno right?  

Lineup Shakeup

 I really liked the lineup that Bruce Bochy decided to go with in last nights game. If Andres Torres is in the lineup. He should always be at the top of the lineup. Let him find a way on base and burn rubber on the base paths. He just plays with a tremendous amount of energy that I think other guys in the lineup really feed off of. The lineup just seemed so balanced from top to bottom last night. Molina finally got to hit lower in the lineup as well as Aaron Rowand. That gives the Giants more ability to drive in runs throughout the lineup. It obviously worked last night, so let’s see if they can keep this Giants train rolling tonight!

~King of Cali

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Last night didn’t start that way I had hoped it would. Barry Zito just didn’t look like he did in his previous 6 starts. Zito went 5 innings allowing 6 hits, 3 runs and 7 walks. The San Diego Padres had runners all over the place. I’m just shocked that the score was only 3-2 Padres. It’s nice to know there is another team out there that has trouble hitting with runers on base.  

Aubrey Huff had a 2-4 night driving in a run and scoring a run. He did however show his frustration in the 7th inning after fouling out. He snapped his bat in half over his leg. Bringing back a memory of when Bo Jackson would break a bat over his knee (Bo Knows Baseball).    

Shotgun Cain (Matt Cain) takes the hill tonight to try to even the series. Cain is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA. He’s looking to end this winless streak against the Padres so far this season. The Padres are 4-0 against the Giants thus far in 2010.

Side Notes

Mark DeRosa received some bad news on Tuesday. DeRosa said his wrist is completely ruptured again. He’s currently pondering playing with bum wrist and having surgery during the offseason, or having it now. He’s going to have a few days off before having to make that decision.

Freddy Sanchez looked good in his first rehab game with the San Jose Giants. He went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI’s at Visalia. I’m really excited to see Sanchez join the San Francisco Giants soon. Giants fans still don’t know what a healthy Sanchez can do for this lineup.

Bruce Bochy said “It is encouraging, it looks like he’s on his way. Hopefully we’ll have him up here pretty soon.”

Todd Wellemeyer may get his next start pushed back a day. He’s listed to star Friday night against the Houston Astros, but the Giants are considering moving Tim Lincecum up a day. Lincecum would still have his usual 4 days rest. Wellemeyer isn’t holding down the fifth spot in the rotation. He’s currently 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA, but would pitch Saturday so the remaining starters can still get their 4 days rest between starts.

If Wellemeyer doesn’t get things turned around fast. We may see the Wellemeyer project end soon. Which means we can possibly be getting closer to seeing Madison Bumgarner sooner rather than later.

~King of Cali  

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I have been asked what’s my thoughts on Sergio Romo. I really do like Romo and think he’s a great arm in our bullpen. Yes, he’s given up two big homers early in this season. The first to the Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez and then Tuesday night to the Marlins slugger Dan Uggla. I guess I have a bias opinion towards Romo because my girlfriends dad was born and raised in Brawley California (same as Romo).

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The Giants had a great home-stand against some very “Built Ford Tough” (hope Ford send me a check for that plug) teams. It was a 6-3 record against the ST. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies. The Giants had a chance to sweep each team, but dropped the finale in each series.

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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says John Bowker is in jeopardy of losing his roster spot. The Giants must clear space for Aaron Rowand to come off the disabled list Sunday, and with their middle infield banged up, it’s no sure thing that Matt Downs will be sent back to Triple-A Fresno.

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