San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner was on with the Murph and Mac Show this morning. He was talking about life in North Carolina and life in the City. Bumgarner is only 20 years old and is fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation. He had his locker next to Randy Johnson last year (when he got called up), and met Muhammad Ali in camp this year. Murph tells him that’s not bad for a 20 year old. He will turn 21 August 1st.
Sorry ladies but Bumgarner got married this offseason.
When asked about the velocity being down from last year. Bumgarner said he doesn’t think the fans have anything to worry about. Said it could be because he threw a lot last year. He still felt good, but was throwing way to much(even between starts). Bumgarner is feeling good now, and thinks his arm strength will be coming along soon. He believes everything will be fine this year. Below is Bumgarner’s spring stats.
Pablo Sandoval has dropped 10 pounds since the start of Spring Training.
Right-hander Joe Martinez downplayed his inflamed right elbow. He hopes to get back on a mound within a day or two.
Travis Ishikawa (sprained toe) plans to play in a minor league game early next week. He’ll probably lead off every inning.
Ryan Garko knew he wouldn’t play first base for the Giants this season, but it surprised him to see Aubrey Huff there Thursday. Garko said the Giants told him they were going to sign Nick Johnson. Johnson decided to sign with the New York Yankees.
King of Cali thoughts: I did this video as a test, and figured I would put it up on the site. Just my thoughts about Pablo Sandoval and Barry Zito. Sandoval did make $401,750 last year, and Zito made $18,500,000. Nice to see what they should have made and what they actually did make. Things that make you go hmmmmm…
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Bobby Evans told him that he and Pablo Sandoval’s agent are negotiating only a one-year deal for the Panda. The Giants are not ready to buy out any of Sandoval’s future arbitration years.
The Giants use precedent as a guideline for negotiating and setting salaries with their younger players, but there is no recent precedent for the Giants position player hitting .330 with 25 homers and 90 RBI’s in his first full season.
Tim Lincecum (last spring) and the Giants agreed to a $650,000 deal, but he had a few more months of service time than Sandoval. Schulman thinks Sandoval might get less than that for 2010.
King of Cali thoughts: Giants fans have nothing to worry about. Sandoval is in the same boat as Lincecum. Which means he’s not going anywhere for a while. He’s still under the Giants control, and I’m sure the Giants will definitely try to lock him up long term as he gets closer to becoming a free agent.
I did some due diligence of my own today. I wanted to check his (Sandoval) value for his last season’s performance. Sandoval was worth $23.3 million, better than I even expected. I’m sure the Giants are happy to get that kind of production from someone that made less than a million.
Okay since I did the research on Sandoval to see how much his numbers actually should have paid him. I figured I would have to do the same for Barry Zito. Everyone know’s he’s overpaid for the production he’s giving the Giants at this point of his contract. Well with that said. He should have made $10 million last year by going 10-13 wit ha 4.03 ERA. All of his numbers factor in to this, but those are the main stats I wanted to add in this post.
Murph and Mac of KNBR the Giants Flagship Station. Did a phone interview this morning with Pablo Sandoval. He says feels great so far this spring.
Pablo says he’s going to stay a free swinger, but he will take some pitches this year. He’s still going to be aggressive, but when guys are on base and he’s trying to drive in runs. He will look for better pitches to hit.
Sandoval says he will be wearing new prescription glasses this year. He will be using them for defense and at the plate. They are sporty glasses (Oakley’s), so no goggles. He says he can see the ball better now with these glasses.
Brian Murphy asked Sandoval if he’s okay with whatever weight he’s at or if he wants to change his body. Sandoval said he does want to change his body, so he can prolong his career.
When asked about the new (team) socks. Sandoval said he’s going keep his pant legs down, and not sport the high pants to show the socks.
He thinks this year is going to be different. He believes they have a stronger team. They have the good pitching staff and now they have the offense. The Panda says everyone has to be-careful of the Giants this year.
Chris Haft of MLB.com gives us some mixed injury news. He reports that Freddy Sanchez said that his surgically repaired left shoulder was healing ahead of schedule. Sanchez will begin taking ground balls this week. He’s still unsure whether he’d be ready to play by Opening Day (April 5th in Houston).
Haft reports that Travis Ishikawa tore two ligaments in his left foot in a mishap at home three weeks ago and will not participate in workouts until early March. He slipped while descending a stairway. The injury is described as an extreme case of “turf toe.”
Ishikawa will be re-examined on Feb. 26 an he hopes to avoid an operation.
King of Cali thoughts: Well this isn’t the worse news possible, so lets be happy that Sanchez is on the right track. We need to get his bat in the lineup sooner rather than later. He will be a big key to sparking rally’s in-front of Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa. This isn’t really a sexy lineup, but I’m starting to really feel it. Baseball is in the air Giants fans!
The Ishikawa news is sad for him to start off hurt, but I’m just glad it’s not a key player that were banking on. Now with this injury and possibly surgery. I wonder if this will give the Giants more reason to get Buster Posey some playing time at first base. Things that make you go hmmmmm.
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?
Mark DeRosa did a phone interview today with Murph & Mac on KNBR. DeRosa was on his way to the airport to fly out to San Francisco, so he can be here for Fan Fest. DeRosa was close to signing with the Giants before he signed with the Chicago Cubs three years ago. He said the Cubs made him an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
DeRosa feels like the Giants are on a verge of something great. Tim Lincecum has won two Cy Young’s, Matt Cain is one of the better pitchers in the league, and Barry Zito had a strong second half of the season. He thinks if the Giants can offensively give this pitching staff some early runs. The sky is the limit.
DeRosa said Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff and him sound good as 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup. He thinks the 5 hole in the lineup is a RBI spot to drive in runs. He said he really doesn’t care where he hits. He will let Bruce Bochy figure out the lineup and where he will play defensively.
DeRosa closes out the interview by saying he’s never liked the Dodgers, so now that he’s a Giants. He can hate them (was said while laughing). Are you excited to have DeRosa on board?
Chris Haft of MLB.com says Pablo Sandoval is keeping his weight in check. Sandoval still looked a trifle thick Tuesday night, but he didn’t seem grossly overweight, which has to please the Giants with Spring Training fast approaching.
Sandoval has gained one pound since November, which he spent exercising feverishly under the direction of the Giants athletic training staff. Sandoval returned to the U.S. last week and reported immediately to the Giants training headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, to join the club’s conditioning camp.
Sandoval appreciated the effects of his conditioning. “Everything’s going to be quicker,” he said. “The bat’s going to be quicker, the speed.”
UPDATE – Jones Contract Voided
Haft reports that the Giants have confirmed that Major League Baseball has voided the contract of Dominican third-base prospect Duanel Jones, who signed in December for a reported $1.3 million bonus.
Giants vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans said that Jones failed a physical examination, prompting the club to ask for the deal to be scrapped. Jones injured an oblique muscle last year.
King of Cali thoughts: I’m glad Pablo was able to shoot down the rumor about him gaining 12 pounds. If this guy doesn’t keep his weight in check. He will then eventually have to move to first base, and possibly even a DH in the American League after that. Pablo has a lot of fun playing the game (on and off the field), and I’m sure he will continue to work on getting himself in the best shape possible.
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says (via Twitter) Aubrey Huff will bat cleanup for the Giants, GM Brian Sabean says.
Baggarly wasn’t done tweeting either. He also had a few followup tweets. He said in his next tweet. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy says he envisions Sandoval-Huff-DeRosa hitting 3-4-5.
The next tweet says No corresponding 40-man move yet to make space for Aubrey Huff. GM Brian Sabean said someone will be designated. Frandsen? Merkin? Lewis?
In his final tweet. Baggarly says Pablo Sandoval has gained weight in Venezuela, “but not enough to worry about,” Giants GM Brian Sabean said.
King of Cali thoughts: This lineup with Sandoval, Huff and DeRosa hitting 3-4-5 does make sense. Your best hitter should be your 3rd hitter. Then the cleanup guy is someone that should be able to clear the bases with one swing.
There has been a lot of mixed reactions regarding the Huff signing. Who else could the Giants have got for so cheap that does have the potential to put up a lot of homers? This signing was only one year for $3 million and we didn’t have to trade Jonathan Sanchez for a bat. Please comment with your thoughts.
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.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner was on with the Murph and Mac Show this morning. He was talking about life in North Carolina and life in the City. Bumgarner is only 20 years old and is fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation. He had his locker next to Randy Johnson last year (when he got called up), and met Muhammad Ali in camp this year. Murph tells him that’s not bad for a 20 year old. He will turn 21 August 1st.
Murph and Mac of KNBR the Giants Flagship Station. Did a phone interview this morning with 
Chris Haft of MLB.com gives us some mixed injury news. He reports that 
