Tim Lincecum, Spring Training

John Shea says via twitter that Tim Lincecum gave 25 grand to Bryan Stow fund. Now that’s really cool to see him step up and donate. Let’s see if a any other Giants follow Lincecum’s lead.  

Reactions To Bonds Verdict  

“The court case today showed he didn’t do anything wrong.” – Matt Cain  

“I don’t follow that stuff. When I played with Barry, he was a great guy. I had fun playing with him. He was one of the best left-handed hitters in the game and maybe the best.” – Livan Hernandez  

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t really been thinking about it. We know what’s been going on but the focus has been on the field. Hopefully baseball and Barry can move forward and put this behind us.” – Bruce Bochy    

Side Notes

Starting tomorrow the Giants will play 16 games on the road, over a 19 game stretch. Let’s hope they don’t miss home cooking or they can see themselves really looking up at the Colorado Rockies in the NL West race.

Cody Ross could be ready to go on April 22, when the Atlanta Braves come to town. The question will be who’s roster spot will he take?

Mark DeRosa was scratched from yesterday’s game right before game time. He has a sore left wrist, which is the wrist he had surgery on.

~King of Cali

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Newly signed shortstop Miguel Tejada is going to help a friend in need. Orioles relief pitcher Alfredo Simon is a suspect in a New Years Eve shooting death of a 25 year old man in the coastal town of Luperon. Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun tells us that Tejada expects to pick up the tab for Simon’s high-powered Dominican Republic attorneys.
 
Tejada and Simon were teammates in Baltimore before Tejada was traded to the Padres.
 
CNN adds more to the story. Simon has since came out and said that the shooting was an accident.
 
“In truth that young man was my friend, like a brother,” he said of Michael Esteban Castillo. “It wasn’t a thing like we began arguing and I started shooting. It was some accident; it happened by accident,” Simon said, speaking at the police station where he turned himself in. “That’s why I came here — to open my soul,” he said.
 
Check out both articles by Dan Connolly and CNN to get more insights on this story.

~King of Cali

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The San Francisco Giants and the rest of the baseball world are getting ready for January. January 5-15 is when players will be able to file for salary arbitration. January 18 is when teams/players exchange salary arbitration figures. Which means the player will submit a salary they think they should be paid, and the team also submits a salary they believe the player should be paid.
 
February 1-21 is when the arbitration hearings take place. The arbitrator will choose the salary submitted by the player or team to determine the players 2011 salary. Last year the Giants were headed to an arbitration hearing with Tim Lincecum, and worked out a 2 year ($23 million) deal just minutes before meeting with the arbitrator.
 
At the start of the offseason the Giants had 8 players that were arbitration eligible. One has been resigned and one has been non-tendered.
 
OF – Cody Ross
OF – Andres Torres
SP – Jonathan Sanchez
IF – Mike Fontenot (resigned 1 year)
RP – Javier Lopez
RP – Santiago Casilla
RP – Ramon Ramirez
RP – Chris Ray (non tendered)
 
The Giants have also non-tendered Eugenio Velez, and he has since signed with the Dodgers.

~King of Cali

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Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper are close to signing a 6 year extension with the Giants. Not many fans knew that Kruk & Kuip were also free agents after the 2010 season. At the end of the 6 year deal, Kuiper will be 66 and Krukow will be 64. Jon Miller and Dave Flemming’s contracts did not expire after last season.
 
Schulman says Jon Miller and the Giants haven’t talked about amending his contract for the extra games he would do on the radio now that he’s no longer part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Schulman presumes they’ll talk before Opening Day.
 
~King of Cali

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The average shortstop salary for this years free agents is $6.41 million. Miguel Tejada received a one-year $6.5 million contract from the Giants. Which means GM Brian Sabean was on his game with this contract.
 
Now the first base position is a different story. The average free agent signing thus far at first base has signed for $6.53 million. The Giants re-signed Aubrey Huff (best first base free agent in my book) for a two year $22 million contract. Huff will make $10 million in 2011 and 2012 (2013 $10 million club option or $2 million buyout).
 
Huff will make a little over $3 million more than the other first base free agents who signed this year. The Giants were willing to give Huff the nice raise for what he did for them last year, and don forget Huff can also play multiple positions. Huff’s a big part of their offense, and some have even said they believe Huff should have tried to get more money. Two years and $10 million a year is a pretty good signing to me. Sabean seems to be back on his game after the Aaron Rownad and Barry Zito contracts.
 
~King of Cali

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Tim Lincecum (Seattle native) is having a busy offseason. He made an appearance at the Seattle Seahawks game on Sunday, raising the 12th man flag. Lincecum will also be on the cover of the year-end issue of Sports Illustrated. The SI magazine goes on sale (today) Wednesday.  

That’s not all Timmy has been doing… The Freak just purchased a 2,400-square-foot condo ($1.575 million) on the 28th floor of the luxury Escala tower at Fourth Avenue and Virginia Street.  

Lincecum has won two Cy Young Awards and a World Series in his first three seasons. What will Timmy do next?  

~King of Cali  

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The San Francisco Giants have made an offer to Edgar Renteria. It’s a one year deal for $1 million in a backup role. If Renteria wants to be back in a Giants uniform it will have to be in the same price range that Pat Burrell accepted to return to the Giants.
 
~King of Cali

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The San Francisco Giants announced that their 2011 payroll will be $120 million. That’s because of player raises and Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff‘s new contracts.
 
Bruce Bochy has one more year on his contract (2011) so should the Giants reward the first World Series manager in San Francisco history with a contract extension? Possible extension in the works.
 
The Giants beat writer Chris Haft speculates (In his blog) that the Giants can possibly be eyeing outfielder Scott Podsednik. Sabean would like to add a left-handed bat and it doesn’t have to be a power hitter. He’s a career .279 hitter with 301 stolen bases in 10 seasons.
 
Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News shares with us some insights of the Winter Meetings in Florida.
 
Aaron Rowand still has two years left on his contract. It’s no secret that the Giants may be looking to trade him for a left-handed bat. If he does stay with the Giants he will be asked to also play some left/right field as well.
 
The Giants are still looking for a backup shortstop and Edgar Renteria still remains in the loop.
 
“He’s going to see what’s out there, and I don’t blame him. But we definitely have interest.” – Bochy on Renteria

Mark DeRosa will be taking over at the super utility role. He can play all the infield positions (not catcher/pitcher) and left field. He’s coming off wrist surgery.

Darren Ford will likely start the season in Fresno. Bochy says Ford needs to get more consistent with the bat.

Pablo Sandoval has lost a little over 10 pounds. Brian Sabean has said if Sandoval doesn’t meet weight requirements then he will start the season in the minors.

“He’s got a little ways to go. I don’t want to put a number on it, but he’s still probably got 15 or so somewhere in there.” – Bochy on Sandoval

Freddy Sanchez has had shoulder surgery on his left shoulder and is expected to be ready by opening day. He won’t be ready by Spring Training, but should be able to get some exhibition games in before the season starts.

~King of Cali

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