San Francisco Giants

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Such a low runs allowed is possible in 2009. Lincecum has been, and looks like he's going to be, unstoppable. Cain appears to be consolidating his gains in development and dropping his ERA, most probably, for the second straight season. Any lower, and he's an ace to pair up with Lincecum. Sanch...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Basically, we just made a $6.2M bet on coin flip odds, though obviously the odds are hopefully improved if we have good scouts. Of course, that's debatable at the moment (laughable if it weren't that we added John Barr to the mix - he found Russell Martin for Dodgers, which I now realize is abou...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) In addition, the Giants shut out the 'Dres behind Lincecum and Wilson's pitching. The Giants' 10 shutouts this season tied them with the Dodgers and Mets for the National League lead entering Saturday. The last San Francisco team to record more blankings was the 2002 club, which had 13.

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) John Sickel's, a prospect maven on the web (I think he used to work for Bill James and then worked for ESPN, so he has some cred), regularly publishes his thoughts on a team's top prospects early in the year and he just recently reviewed that list and gave his thoughts on how the players did thi...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Cubs By Lineup Position The Cubs had two Good, two Bad, four Average. Cubs By Playing Position The Cubs had three Good, three Average, two Bad. For the Giants in 2008(as of 08/18/08): For the Giants in 2009 using current personnel and 2008 stats (OPS to be ranked):

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) And that makes sense at many levels. Giants fans are used to great offensive teams led by stars like Mays and McCovey, Bobby Bonds, Jack "The Ripper" Clark, Will the Thrill, Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams, Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent. We have been blessed with great offensive stars throughout mo...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Baseball Intellect recently published his analysis of Buster Posey as a prospect. And that lineup could happen as soon as 2010 if Villalona can advance like Justin Upton did and if Posey can advance fast, like both Will Clark and Tim Lincecum, two fellow Golden Spike players, did.

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) OK, this is the latest from Andy Baggarly and apparently it came from Baseball America, which, by the way, he is an excellent correspondent for. According to the report, he signs for $6.2M, the largest up-front bonus in draft history, as it is not a major league deal (nor was he a two sport play...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Keeping the Giants in SFBuilding that beautiful park by the Bay despite decades of inertia in the SF political sceneMaking it possible to keep the Giants in SF for the indefinite future, with no future potential move hanging over the franchise for many years to come8 straight years of win...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) That's why we could leave Brian Wilson in as closer. Up to last season, the Giants were not sure whether they wanted him to start or relieve, though they kept him in relief because of his TJS history (I presume). If we didn't have Cain, then Lincecum, and now Sanchez, the Giants management prob...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) No, Thank You! New Trio Ishikawa: .267/.319/.595/.904, with 12 HR in 176 AB (15 AB/HR) based on AAA Rohlinger: .248/.297/.399/.696, with 4 HR in 164 AB (41 AB/HR) based on AA Sandoval: .287/.309/.447/.756, with 6 HR in 177 AB (30 AB/HR) based on AA

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) And what's up with Brad Ausmus? He's a nothing catcher offensively whose name I seem to hear every time we face the Astros, and never in a good "another DP" way. I'm sure there is a Lincecum Death Squad of Giants fans already headed for Houston to take out Ausmus when the time is right. Make it so.

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) According to the crack reporting of Andy Baggarly, apparently the Giants are looking to boost the offense by making some changes. The most significant change would be replacing John Bowker, who has been very cold for a long while offensively, with Travis Ishikawa, who has been hot since t...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) If they can really improve their performance next season, then if they signed for $500K now, they would be doing it as a professional and probably a season closer to the majors (which pays nearly $400K per season), than they would saying back in college, and risking having little leverage...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) They also spoke to him about his trip to Yankee Stadium for the Futures Game, and he was savvy enough to know it was special because Babe Ruth set foot on that field and that they are tearing it down after this season. I think it's good when players acknowledge the rich history of MLB baseball an...

Thus what Correia has done so far in limited starts is startingly good, that's why he is now in the mix for the #5 starting position for the 2008 season, as Sabean had noted in one of his post-season talks, along with Sanchez, ...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Has Sabean been perfect? Not even close. But has he been good? I believe so. The Giants plan since the World Series has been basically buy the best available free agent that our payroll can afford for the positions of need in order to compete today with Barry Bonds in the lineup. This obviously d...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) So why don't bring the screws on Beane as much as he has with Sabean? At least Sabean has a stellar pitching staff that's going to be great for years, Beane has nothing right now than magic beans he got for his cows at the market. Hopefully they turn out, but the Giants are in way better shape than...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Either way, $4-6M for Posey is probably around what he will get, that's what Matt Weiter got last season as the top college catcher worthy enough of Top 5 pick selection, that is about what the top picks got last season, and about what Tim Beckham got for being the #1 pick this year and where Po...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Also, according to this report, Gillaspie has agreed to sign with the Giants for $975,000 bonus and other incentives. A newspaper local to Gillaspie reported that he was seen getting onto a plane headed for Arizona on Monday morning, presumably to the Giant's minor league complex, which...

Opinion: Giants Sign Gillaspie - The San Francisco Giants Blog

Giants sign top pick Bumgarner - TSN.ca

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Cain's main problem his whole professional career has been the walk. His walk rate has always been high and his strikeout rate, while good, wasn't always good enough to counter the high walk rate. However, he has been able to put together 7 2-game sequences from August 2007 to today, roughly...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) I was reading Grant's post on McCovey Chronicles about the Giants trade deadline plans, and I wrote so much that I thought I would post it here too. Grant wonders about Winn and Molina in particularly, Aurilia too, and about how Winn is blocking Schierholtz while doing worse than Schierhol...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) I've complained before about what I see as Baseball Prospecutus' bias against the Giants - I like their work but that's how I see it. They seem like they are run by A's fans because they like to take pot shots at the Giants whenever they can - and ironically they fully supported the A.J. Pierzynsk...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Sabean said as much about Bumgarner on the day the Giants drafted him. Sabean thought that it might take Bumgarner (and Alderson) only a couple of years to make the majors. For that to come true, they would either be called up next season in September or actually make the club in spring trainin...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) The media decided to attack Sabean this week. Tim Kawakami complained that the Giants should have not signed all the guys they did in the off-season before the 2007 season, that that was the beginning of their downfall. Meanwhile Damon Bruce last night complained about how nice it is that Au...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Despite Damon Bruce's declaration yesterday on KNBR that the Giants are finally having a youth movement, just because of the Durham trade, the Giants clearly started their youth movement in earnest with the trade of Matt Morris to the Pirates, which cleared salary and opened up a rotati...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Anytime you can get a prospect like Rickie Weeks without giving up an equivalent level of talent (big assumption on my part, but I don't see the Giants parting with Bumgarner or Alderson for Weeks, or even Sanchez), you have to roll the dice and see what happens. Hopefully the Giants and Sabe...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Second, this is a continuation of the Giant's commitment to the farm system. People have incorrectly labeled the Giants as uncaring or disdainful of the farm system. Nothing could be further from the truth, just look at how the farm system's products defines the major league roster. This is...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) The Giants need plus position prospects added. They have now added Villalona and Rodriguez, and hopefully Posey soon. That is exactly what the Giants need and they are doing it. The Giants future leaders in the lineup appears to be set, with Rowand perhaps still contributing in the early 201...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Of the ten teams that led their league in bullpen OPS, eight made the post season, three reached the World Series and two won it all.Of the ten teams that finished second in their league in bullpen OPS, six made the post season, four made the World Series, and two won it all.Of the ten teams that f...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Zito does not need to do anything but pitch like he did for the A's just prior to joining the Giants. That will include games like Saturday when he is dominating the other team. It will include games where he is as clueless as he has been for most of the start of this season and the start of last seas...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) As commonsense as this is, it has been shown in a study that good team defense in the regular season is related to playoff success. Baseball Prospectus, it its book, "Baseball Between the Numbers", Chapter 9.3, "Why Billy Beane's S**t Doesn't Work In The Playoffs," studied the issue of succ...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) The international signing season started and while a number of teams have busted out their piggy banks and made some big signings - A's making the biggest with $4.25M for highly touted pitcher Michael Inoa - the Giants did not make the big signing but at least did get someone, Luis Angel Mate...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Which brings me to the Giants' fans new favorite punching bag, Barry Zito. People at AT&T Mays Field have taken to booing Zito after poor performances. Which unfortunately have been frequent lately. Which brings me to my post today. Big Picture: True Giants Fans Don't Boo Zito

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Unnoticed by many, the Giants have been re-building since 2005 when they started the changes by adding Noah Lowry and Brad Hennessey. It started rolling good when Matt Cain was added, and the dam burst open when Tim Lincecum was added. I've been writing about this sea change for a while now in...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) And this don't have to be permanent, he can rest and recharge for a while with his family doing this before he finds another job in the MLB. Meanwhile, he can help straighten out his old buddy, perhaps impart some of that knowledge to the Giants coaching staff, and get out of the pressure cooke...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) So I think that $4-5M is about what a top pick could expect to get in the draft without Boras as your agent, and if I were Posey’s agent I think that arguing for $5-6M would be where I would start and be happy with $3-4M and a major league contract when the deal is done. And Sabean said in a post-draf...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) The Giants judged that Sanchez would not learn as much starting in the minors as he would relieving in the majors. And his stats as a reliever the past two seasons support that decision. Jonathan Sanchez clearly can get major league hitters out regularly. If he wasn't ready for major league hi...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) There is a new analyst of pitching mechanics on The Hardball Times, in the wake of Carlos Gomez getting a job with a major league team, and he publishes on the website Baseball-Intellect.com. However, he did not cover Posey yet, so I was disappointed.

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Teams Lining Up for Hot ProspectCuban Baseball Player DefectsCuban Baseball Player Goes Public After DefectingCuban Viciedo in Miami (Baseball America)Dayan Viciado, the Rough Diamond of Cuban Baseball (article when he was younger)

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Other notes:Baseball America had him ranked as the 44th best prospect this season, so the Giants by that ranking really had a great selection. He was ranked just behind Issac Galloway and Allan Dykstra, two players mock drafts had the Giants selecting.SaberScouting had him ranked 52nd. Th...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) With the 37th overall pick, received for the Phillies signing Pedro Feliz, the Giants selected lefty-hitting 3B Conor Gillaspie (obviously a righty thrower then) of Wichita State University. He will be 21 years old on July 18th. Here is the comment in the MLB.com Draft Tracker:

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Well, I won't say that I know better than the Giants and Posey is good enough to be in play for the #1 pick, much like Lincecum was, but I'm disappointed right now. Baseball America: Had Florida picking him 6th, "Posey's emerging bat and defensive superiority trump his asking price."

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Here is a nice report of it at Saber-Scouting; they also mocked draft into the supplemental and projected the Giants taking David Cooper, 1B from U.C. Berkeley. However, Law's latest (this morning) mock draft have the Giants selecting Buster Posey. Giants Thoughts

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) As been feared by Giants fans when Lowry was shut down in mid-April, the Giants have announced that Lowry might not return this season: when asked about Lowry pitching in 2008, Bochy said, "That's questionable. We don't know if he'll be back on the mound for us this year." Then the head traine...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) I saw some interesting news about the Giants strategy and thinking about their #5 draft pick. Seems like they can be happy in a number of different ways. Baseball America reported here the following: Giants Eye Isaac? Summary: Happy Picking, Giants!

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Much like John Bowker's nice start earlier this season, or Alex Hinshaw's recent nice start (he's of Afgani descent, I heard on the radio recently), Brian Horwitz (according to KNBR morning show, first Jewish ballplayer since Steve Stone, now that's a name that I didn't think I would hea...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Giants Starters' PQS for 2008 Season (as of May 31st, 2008) Matt Cain - (62% DOM, 15% DIS; 8:2/13): 3, 0, 4, 0, 5, 2, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5, 5 Jonathan Sanchez - (36% DOM, 27% DIS; 4:3/11): 0, 5, 2, 3, 5, 3, 0, 0, 5, 3, 5 Barry Zito - ( 27% DOM, 36% DIS; 3:4/11): 1, 1, 3, 3, 0, 0 (Skip), 4, 3, 2, 4, 4

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Grissom noted in an interview that he, Edgardo Alfonzo, and Ray Durham had a heck of a time figuring out how to hit in AT&T. Said that it took them about half a season to figure that one out. And they were all long-time successful professional hitters when they joined the Giants.

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Oddly enough, after Aaron Rowand took a pitch off his hand, a Giants outfielder was placed on the DL today but it wasn't him: Dan Ortmeier was placed on the 15 day DL but will probably be out for up to 4 weeks. Me thinks he's beginning to be the position player equivalent of Kirk Ainsworth: he mis...

By obsessivegiantscompulsive(noreply@blogger.com) Rowand Good Acquisition Aaron Rowand, as I had argued during the off-season, has been a very good addition to the lineup, hitting .331/.398/.538/.936 thus far this season. That is very similar to what he did in 2004 and 2007, plus 2006 until his injury, leaving 2005 as the anomalous season:

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) One fact struck me the other day, what I wrote above: the Giants had lost every single start of Barry Zito, until, obviously, yesterday. That means that the Giants have been 19-20 when he doesn't pitch. Yes, the Giants have been about .500 without Zito.

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com is handicapping the draft again this season - it was he who turned me on to Lincecum, though he thought the Giants would pass him up and select Bard instead, if I remember right - and his two latest scenarios have the Giants either picking Tim Beckham or Buster Posey.

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) Spilled milk and all. Now that he's officially leaving, I guess he felt like he could be more critical of his tenure here. Frankly, I like the job the farm system has done overall, the pitching staff has been totally revamped and recharged and we have two who look like Aces in Cain and Lincecum,...

By noreply@blogger.com (obsessivegiantscompulsive) First off, I just want to say thank you to Peter Magowan from the bottom of my heart for not only helping to keep the Giants in San Francisco (just because the commissioner blocked it doesn't mean that they were permanently blocked if nobody would step forward with enough money to buy the tea...

Giants Starters' PQS for 2008 Season (as of April 30, 2008) Jonathan Sanchez - (33% DOM, 17% DIS; 2:1/6): 0, 5, 2, 3, 5, 3 Giants season overall - 43% DOM, 30% DIS out of 30 games pitched (13:9/30) Giants Month of April - 43% DOM, 30% DIS out of 30 games pitched (13:9/30)

Sames can go for the 2008 Giants, though clearly not as World Series champs, but probably better than the epic losers many have proclaimed them to be. Here's how I see this season. People looking at the Giants season so far are comparing apples with oranges. Giants Thoughts Go Giants!

His homer in his first game put him in a select group of eight San Francisco Giants who had homered in their first game, including Giants greats Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Bobby Bonds, Will Clark, Matt Williams, and John "the Count" Montefusco. With his homer yesterday, he is all alon...

One thing that I hadn't beaten the drum much on this off-season, and for that I apologize, was the Giants signing Tim Lincecum to a long term contract that buys out his pre-free agent years, like they did with Noah Lowry and Matt Cain. And I don't think that is going to happen, which is probably...

Let's see, we know for the most part who the 5 starters are, and if Kline is traded that opens up a spot, and with a 12 man staff, that's 7 relievers: Wilson, Walker, Hennessey, Chulk, Valdez, Threets, Taschner. Plus, though I would prefer they just start, either up here or down at Fresno, the l...

But given the clear statement by the Giants that Hennessey is not starting, then I don't see why Walker and not also Hennessey. They are only really necessary if the Giants are really serious about competing in 2008, not so much if it is a rebuilding year. Perhaps the Giants think they can get m...

The MLB rumor site quoted Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sport reporting that the "Giants have informed several teams that they are shopping over a dozen of their major league and minor league players." Ken Rosenthal said some of the players include Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia, Randy Winn, and Steve Kl...

In"Cain"sistent - The San Francisco Giants Blog

Giants Struggle Through Home Opener - The San Francisco Giants Blog

The prospect on today's Giants Radar (GiDar) is 22 year old starting pitcher Henry Sosa. Henry Sosa is one of the Giants top prospects for 2008: he was ranked second in the Giants farm system by both Deric McKamey of Minor League Baseball Analyst and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus r...

I thought I would check out what Bill James projects for the Giants pitching staff. Using his numbers for Cain, Lowry, Correia, Zito, Wilson, Walker, Hennessey, Chulk, Kline, Sanchez, and Misch (I used CHONE for Lincecum since there was no projection for him), who are expected to compris...

And watch and enjoy the pitching staff. With another year of experience for them, they should only get better in 2008, unless some injury bugaboo hits them, Cain and Lincecum especially. Oh, and hope that we sign Lincecum to a contract that covers him for the rest of his pre-free agent years. I...

The Giants have been pretty productive in recent years, as most of their pitching staff is either supplied internally or traded for using farm products. Hopefully this will continue the nice streak the Giants have been on since drafting Lowry and Hennessey in the first round of the 2001 dr...

Giants' pick fans 14 at Class A - MLB.com

Minor League Report - The San Francisco Giants Blog

More: SanFranciscoSentinel.com | Minor League Ball | MLB Baseball Sports Betting

The Giants received RHP reliever Steve MacFarland from the Pirates to complete the Matt Morris trade. He's 21 years old, and was the Pirates 9th round pick in the 2006 draft. He was 3-2 with a 4.80 ERA, 1.59 WHIP for Class A Hickory this season, his first full professional season. Other News

We have the makings of a great rotation, with Lincecum, Cain, Lowry, and Zito, plus Misch and Correia apparently ready to move up and Sanchez perhaps a spring training away from being rotation ready as well. The bullpen, while not great, has a number of good parts in it, with Wilson appearin...