Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates have demoted pitching prospect Tim Alderson from Class AA Altoona to Class A Bradenton. In AA Altoona, Alderson was 7-5 with a 5.62 ERA.   The San Francisco Giants sent Alderson to the Pirates for Freddy Sanchez. At the time of the trade a lot of fans were skeptic. Alderson was one of the top prospects in the Giants organization behind Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner.   I thought it was a great move by Giants GM Brian Sabean. He got an All Star second baseman who’s proven for a prospect that has potential. Alderson is still only 21 years old, so he has plenty of time to show in the long run the trade may have been worth it for both clubs.  

 ~King of Cali  

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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.

~King of Cali

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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?

~King of Cali  

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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.

~King of Cali

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I’m curious as to what most Giants fans think now about Freddy Sanchez? Since the day we made the trade for him. I thought it was a great trade, but a lot of fans were skeptical. We traded Tim Alderson who was one of the top prospects in the Giants organization. He was behind Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner on the list. He was still one of our bright shining stars in the organization.  

Trading Alderson made sense to me. The Giants have the great pitching, so we were able to part ways with a prospect to get a bat that the Giants so desperately needed. He was a good chip to have to pull off a trade that can land an All Star 2nd Baseman. In 2006 Sanchez was the NL Batting Champion, and who wouldn’t want to add a bat like that to their offense?  

There was a lot of Giants fans out there. That were bagging on Brian Sabean for making the trade for a hurt Sanchez. I knew a healthy Sanchez would be a great addition to the Giants lineup. I really think Sanchez is the best number 2 hitter in the game. He’s a very good situational hitter. With a runner on 1st. He can go to the right side to get the runner to 3rd base. Plus he hit s for average.

In 19 games this year for the Giants. He’s 25-for-69 and that’s a .362 AVG. I’m sure a lot of fans that were bagging on him prior to his return are loving the fact that he’s a Giant now. For those of you that like to judge players by their contract. I would say the Sanchez contract is a steal. He’s locked up for this year and next year for $12 million total. That would have to go down as one of Sabean’s better signings.

~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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Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle said when the San Francisco Giants checked into their San Diego hotel, there was a room key with Freddy Sanchez’s name just in case.  

Now this has been an ongoing issue. I keep hearing people say Sanchez should step up and should already have joined the team. That he lacks toughness. People have to understand that if you’re coming off an injury. You really want to be sure you’re 100%. You don’t want to rush back and risk injury again. A doctor can tell you when you should be back on the field, but that’s not set in stone. No one really knows how your body is. Only the player coming off the injury really knows when they feel 100%.  

Sanchez is expected to join the team tomorrow in Arizona, as the Giants face the Diamondbacks. No, he’s not going to dramatically change the everyday lineup. He will however make an impact in it. He’s a career .299 (avg) hitter. He’s also a 3 time All Star, and has won the National League Batting Title in 2006. He’s no Babe Ruth, but he’s going to get his hits and will be on base for Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff and Bengie Molina.

Side Notes

 The Jermaine Dye rumor will never die till he’s signed by a team. It’s not likely the Giants will sign him. They know he had a horrible 2nd half of the season last year. He’s also demanding a hefty asking price and clearly a liability in the outfield. I don’t see the Giants feeling desperate enough to pull the trigger on that deal. They will be waiting for a player to step up, or for everyone to be healthy and on the field at the same time.

Mark DeRosa was quoted as saying “I hope and pray I get back into the lineup within a week, be productive and do what I was brought here to do, which is go to the playoffs and win a World Series.”

The Giants are 0-7 against the San Diego Padres this year. Let’s just chalk up the remaining 11 games with the Padres as losses, and let’s rest all of our players on those days. Who’s with me?

~King of Cali

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Welcome to the new home of the San Diego Padres Rumors! (yeah right)  

 The San Francisco Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow joined the Murph & Mac show this morning on KNBR. Krukow thinks the Padres caught the Giants at the right time. With injuries the Giants have three of their best right handed hitters out of the lineup. That’s Edgar Renteria, Freddy  Sanchez and Mark DeRosa. Which puts the Giants at a disadvantage when facing good left handers.  

DeRosa has taken a cortisone shot to see if he can play through the pain. If he can’t then he’s probably going to have to go on the DL. Krukow says the Giants need DeRosa, but they need him to be at 80-90% to be a good addition to the lineup.

 Krukow believes Giants fans are going to like what they see when Freddy Sanchez comes back healthy to the Giants. Sanchez is likely to join the Giants in Arizona on Wednesday. I’m also with Krukow on that one. Sanchez is a great bat to add to any lineup, and with how bad the Giants are struggling offensively. He’s definitely going to be a spark!

Side Notes

The Giants are 18-9 when they are not playing the Padres. (0-6 when facing them)

Freddy Sanchez went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, 2 walks and a RBI in his 5 AB’s last night for the San Jose Giants. Sanchez is currently hitting .667 (AVG) with 4 RBI’s in his rehab assignment. He’s 6-for-9 so far and 5 of his 6 hits have been doubles.

The Houston Astros come are in town tonight. They are coming in pretty hot after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals, so don’t count on it being a walk in the park for the Giants this weekend. I will be happy with two out of three. I am greedy though, so let’s just go for the sweep!

~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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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says Freddy Sanchez could return to the Giants lineup within two weeks.

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