MLB Trade Deadline - 1

By Kalen Patrick

Big moves have taken place in the last 12-24 hours as we near the Trade Deadline, this is probably a minor leaguers least favorite time of year, and they are on constant watch to see if they will be headed somewhere new. It's always interesting watching the guys being traded hug it out with teammates and then essentially leave right then and there.

PHILLIES GET PENCE, THE RICH GET RICHER

I will go over the moves I really like first. It seems like the NL East just got a whole lot richer with the additions of Hunter Pence to the Phillies and Michael Bourn to the Braves. I have to admit that I love the moves by both teams, and I think the Phillies are now definitely the team to beat in the NL. You combine that pitching staff, along with a lineup including Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Hunter Pence, and solid hitters in Rollins, Ibanez etc etc. pretty scary.


The Bourn addition to the Braves all but ensures them of locking up that Wild Card spot in my opinion. It will really make things interesting once the playoffs kick off. I'm already excited for a possible repeat of a Braves-Giants series. The NLplayoff contenders are stacked with pitching. Gonna be an exciting race down the stretch.

INDIANS NEED JIMINEZ TO COME UP BIG

As for Ubaldo Jiminez going to the Indians, this one is interesting, I feel this could be a boom or bust move. Honestly, when you go out and commit to trading for the biggest pitching trade chip, it says that you're all in. Anything less than Playoffs for the Tribe and this trade doesn't look so great. Plus I always tend to be very skeptical when you get a SP from the NL going to the AL. It's a whole different beast, and the Indians need Jimenez to step it up. Essentially, the Indians are hoping that they get the Ubaldo from the first half of the 2010, or at least something in that ballpark. However, the Rockies did receive some real nice prospects in the deal, and it seems like they are playing it smart and thinking long term.


A trade which left me scratching my head was Orlando Cabrera to my San Francisco Giants. Honestly, I feel the Giants should have been focusing on getting a catcher like Ramon Hernandez instead of Cabrera. The Giants already have 2 guys who are capable of playing at the same level as the 36 year old Cabrera. Mike Fontenot and you could try and argue either Brandon Crawford or even Miguel Tejada could do just as good a job.

This post is just recapping whats happened so far, gonna make another post later today or tomorrow covering all the last minute deals, and possibly looking over at all the key waiver wire pickups are out there.

San Francisco Giants Updates

By Kalen Patrick

Things are pretty good for the Giants right about now. 16 games above .500, 3 games ahead in the division, pitching is as good as ever (well Zito stinks as usual) oh and the Giants just added Carlos Beltran. Beltran will immediately become the leader in HR's and RBI's and is 3rd in Average (behind Pablo Sandoval and Jeff Keppinger). Here is the Giants offensive philosophy: timely hitting, score just enough to win, not flashy, just get the job done.

The Giants are a Major League leading 28-13 in 1 run games. The Giants know how to win these games, they are used to it. Now runs should become a little easier to come by with the addition of Beltran. Lets forget about what the Giants gave up to get him, Wheeler may become a legit starter, or we may never hear from him again (Alderson ring a bell?). The Giants now have a pretty solid middle of the order in their lineup. The leadoff position mostly manned by Andres Torres is still shaky, but he really is due by now to get somewhat hot. After that you have, 2 guys hitting around .300 with Keppinger and Sandoval. Now you add in a guy like Beltran, who hits for average and power, well suddenly the Giants lineup isn't so much of a walk in the park.

CARLOS BELTRAN IS A BAT THE GIANTS NEEDED

Furthermore, adding Beltran essentially pushes every one else down a spot in the lineup and thus taking pressure off of, well, everyone. I think we can expect to see the best of Beltran and here's why. He is in a contract year, he is now going to be putting his talents on display in a pennant race and hopefully in the playoffs, not only this but rather than playing for a mediocre at best Mets team, he is now on a World Series Contending team. Plus beside for not having any HR's in AT&T, he has excellent numbers there and is gonna be a double machine.

Why I love the trade even more is that, unless you are the Red Sox, Yankees or Phillies who almost have limitless money to spend, the window for winning a World Series is always going to be relatively small. The Giants have all the pitching you need to win a World Series and then some. Honestly, I would expect the Giants to try and acquire a catcher too. Whiteside and Stewart just isn't going to get it done. The whole trade has been summed up perfectly by Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News:

"It's the kind of move -- if it's done at the right moment, for the right player -- that fans should embrace, if chasing greatness is the goal here. And it should be. It's a bit of an epochal shift for the Giants: They're no middle-muddle franchise anymore, just happy to win the N.L. West. They're in control of the West, and they're trying to become a mega-team, a multi-title team; and they're willing to risk large piles of chips to try to do it. I think the Beltran Bet is a strong move -- one of the strongest and boldest the Giants have made in a while. To win big, you have to risk big, too"

FIRST THINGS FIRST, THE GIANTS WILL LOOK TO REPEAT AS NL WEST CHAMPS

There are just under 60 games left and the Giants have basically just added a guy who will be the best offensive player to a team that desperately needed it. I like the Giants chances, especially if Jonathan Sanchez can get back on track and take Zito's spot in the starting rotation. Fun times ahead folks. 

Updates Coming

Been MIA for a while, been really really busy with work. Gonna write some stuff on the various trades in Baseball, and a WHOLE LOT of Football talk coming soon. Be prepared!

The Mystery that is Barry Zito

By Kalen Patrick

Barry Zito may be the most overpaid player in Baseball, no, Professional Sports, he may always be remembered for this and on numerous MLB Network and ESPN shows for Baseball/Sports worst contracts, he may be a lot of these negative things, but one thing he definitely is, is pitching excellently. Coming off the 60-Day DL Zito was expected to just fill innings while Jonathan Sanchez gets healthy and back in the groove of things, but now, Zito is making a serious legit case to keep him in the starting 5 rotation.

In his last 3 starts Zito has put up the very impressive stat line of: 21 IP, 3 ER's, 11 K's to only 4 BB.

Looking at that in his 3 starts he has averaged going 7 Innings and giving up 1 Earned Run in each appearance. Of course we have seen this before from Zito, even in a Giants uniform, but there seems to be something very different this time around. Before he was trying to thro w 5 different pitches and just trying to do too much to justify his contract. Zito now has stuck to his 3 pitches which he has got down, his Fastball, Changeup and of course that lethal Curve Ball. Zito's curve may be one of the best in the Majors when he's got command of it.

BARRY ZITO SEEMS MORE CONFIDENT AND DETERMINED THAN EVER BEFORE

Not only this but the biggest change I have seen is that he just seems focused and confident. He isn't doing too much and can focus on what he does right and now has the confidence on the mound. Of course there will be games that Zito will get beat up on, but if he can give the Giants a bunch more games like he has done so far since coming off the DL, that would be huge.

The Giants are stuck with Zito, so if Zito can contribute that makes either Jonathan Sanchez or Ryan Vogelsong expendable, especially with a guy like Zach Wheeler in the minors who will be up in another year or two. Sanchez could be the trade bait in order for the Giants to get themselves another bat. A good Zito gives the Giants so much pitching and flexibility. And that is always a good thing.

Trade Idea - Giants Edition

By Kalen
Just been mulling over some ideas for what the Giants could do in terms of what trades they could look to make.

Trade Idea #1 - San Francisco Giants trade SP Barry Zito to the Chicago Cubs for OF Alfonso Soriano, Giants also pay 7 million of Barry Zito's contract in 2012 and 2013.

HOW WOULD SORIANO LOOK PLAYING LEFT FIELD IN AT&T PARK FOR THE GIANTS?

The Reasoning - The Cubs wanna cut payroll as they are not a contending team. They save 7 million over the next 2 years, plus their pitching is extremely weak and could use another SP like Zito. The Giants don't need Zito as they have 5 capable starters, they are a contender and could use a bat like Soriano's. You put Soriano on the Giants team right now and he is instantly right there with Sandoval as the best hitter. Then lets take a look at the Giants 2012 lineup:
Torres CF
Sanchez 2B
Sandoval 3B
Posey C
Huff/Belt 1B
Soriano LF
Schierholtz/Ross RF
Crawford/Burriss SS
Pitchers Spot

Not exactly a muderer's row, but nothing to laugh at either. The Giants with their pitching staff in their prime, need to capitalize and be in win now mode. The Giants should also have the money to spend especially when guys like Rowand, Tejada and DeRosa come off the books. They are top 3 in attendance, with playoff and World Series success have made huge sums of money. I'm not saying Soriano is the difference between winning and losing, but it helps to solve a major weakness, and would essentially come at a price of approximately 3 years 21 million (Same as Juan Uribe got from the Dodgers).

Other players who would cost a lot more in terms of trade chips could be: Hunter Pence, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes. While all these guys would help, I just don't imagine the Giants making this drastic a trade.

Kalen from the Sports Cave.

Can the Giants Survive?

By Kalen
Just when things start to look like they will be getting better with the imminent return of Pablo Sandoval, the Giants most consistent hitter Freddy Sanchez goes down with a dislocated shoulder and the prognosis does not look good. The Giants are now missing their 2 most reliable hitters at very key positions, Posey at Catcher and Sanchez at 2B. It is very hard to find much depth at these positions as opposed to finding a new OF or 1B which is what makes these injuries even worse. Do I think the Giants can still make the playoffs? Yes, I think they CAN make the playoffs, and when you get in to the playoffs, anything can happen. Especially when you have pitching like the Giants do (ranking 4th in the Majors in ERA and that with Lincecum struggling his last few times out).

The Giants however do have a lot of work to do, Sandoval is coming back tomorrow and I project the starting lineup to look like:
Andres Torres CF
Emmanuel Burriss 2B
Pablo Sandoval 3B
Aubrey Huff 1B
Cody Ross LF
Nate Schierholtz RF
Brandon Crawford SS
Eli Whiteside C
Pitcher

Now that lineup is not gonna put much fear into any Pitcher, I do think it is scrappy enough to pull out some wins, the Giants will have solid guys off the bench with Rowand, Burrell, Fontenot, Gillaspie, Belt. I expect a nice rotation of players as Bochy looks to fine tune the lineup and see what works best. I do however think the Giants should make 2 moves to help solidify this hitting.

BRINGING BENGIE BACK WOULD BE A SMART MOVE

First of all, I cannot believe the Giants haven't already been aggressive in getting Bengie Molina to come back. Molina knows the pitching staff very well, especially Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Wilson, he has proven to be an every day catcher, and he can hit some, much better than Whiteside. Molina just 2 years ago ended a season with 20HR's 80RBI and a .265 AVG. Now what's the harm in giving Bengie some money this year and improve the hitting as a critical position and have excellent experience behind the plate being the every day starter. Bengie is not playing right now and I'm sure is in no where near playing condition. But if the Giants get him going now, by the All-Star break he should be good to go full time. I think standing pat so far has been a mistake, and the Giants should not settle for Whiteside and Stewart. When you can improve the productivity from your catchers spot without giving up any prospects then you do it.



The Second move the Giants will need to make is a trade, in or around the All-Star break. I don't expect or think the Giants will make a big splash in the trade market, but I do think they will do something. When you have pitching like the Giants with most in the prime of their careers, you have to take every chance you get to make the playoffs and see what happens. The Giants will have to look at teams that have poor records (Astros, A's etc.) or teams looking to dump contracts and money (Mets) and see what's on offer. Hunter Pence of the Houston Astros would be a very nice addition, but it would most likely require some high valued prospects, he is however playing extremely well and only making $6.9 million and is up for Arbitration the next 2 years. It's extremely difficult to project who will be traded. I do expect the Giants to make a solid addition, most likely at a corner OF spot or else 2B.

Would trading for a guy like Hunter Pence be a wise move for the Giants, given the probable asking price?

With Bengie Molina and another addition would definitely improve the lineup and could be enough to get this team in to the playoffs again. A projected lineup with Molina would look like:

Torres CF
Burriss 2B
Sandoval 3B
Huff 1B
Ross LF
Schierholtz RF
Molina C
Crawford/Tejada SS
Pitcher

I would love to hear your guys' opinion on who the Giants should look to possibly make a trade for, and let me know what you think of bringing back Bengie. Again, when you have a pitching staff like the Giants who are in the prime of their career, you have to make sure you make every season count. Can't just look to next year, the window to compete for a World Series can be very short. I hope the Giants are in win now mode without making a dumb panic trade. I guess in Sabean I trust (something I couldn't have said a year ago).

Is the 2011 Giants Season Over?

Short answer? No, but for fun, lets give a longer more in-depth answer.

First of all I want to touch on Home Plate collisions in Baseball. Watching Sports Science on ESPN, the hit a catcher takes on a Home Plate collision comes at a force a QB takes on a blind side hit. In football, QB's wear pads that can absorb up to 40% of the hit, in Baseball? Nothing even close to that. This is something MLB should have corrected a LONG time ago.

Mychael Urban of CSN Bay Area tweeted "@MUrbanCSN: Oh my god. Enuf sniveling about the hit! It was clean! Change the rules? What, make them wear a tutu? Stop it. It's big-league ball. W/ risks" Really? There isn't a better way to do it then to say, "OK baserunner, collide with him as hard as you can to hopefully jar the ball loose". Come on now, this thought process is dumb and dangerous. Sometimes it takes a superstar player getting hurt to get a rule changed (Tom Brady come to mind?) Well now is Baseballs chance to do something about Home Plate collisions. I'm open to suggestions, I hope Bud Selig is too.

                Are Home Plate collisions really a necessary part of the game?

Now to the Giants, my team. Based on my tweets and facebook comments immediately after Posey's injury, you'd have thoughts the world crashed down on the Giants and that they may as well forfeit the season. I've had time to think it over and calm down. This season is far from over. Lets take a look at the reasons why the Giants should still be in the race for the NL West.

1. The Giants own a 2 game lead in the NL West after 49 games, and they got this lead with a team with the following hitting rankings; Runs 29th, Average 21st, OBP 24th and Slugging 23rd. Point is, the hitting can't get much worse then it has already been this year. While Posey's presence in the lineup will definitely be missed, guys like Aubrey Huff, Miguel Tejada and Cody Ross are due to get hot.
2. The Giants are getting their best hitter back very soon. Pablo Sandoval has missed the last week of April, will miss all of this month, and should be back around the 2nd week of June. The switch hitter, who was batting over .310 who even after all this time missed is tied on the team for most Home Runs. The Giants also called up prized young hitter Brandon Belt from the Minors again. Belt struggled his first time up, but having gotten more seasoning at San Jose, he is expected to have more of an impact this time around. Hitting under .200 his last time up, I'd expect him to hit between .260-.270 this time up with decent power numbers.
3. The Trade Deadline. There are 2 ways the Giants can trade for more offense, the first would be to send some prospects off to acquire a bat. Now the Giants shouldn't have a kneejerk reaction and make a panic trade. If Sabean plans to ship off top prospects, he simply cannot get a one year rental, make a smart trade and proceed from there. The second would be to trade one of the Starting Pitchers. Maybe the biggest surprise this season has been how well Ryen Vogelsong has done. Today against the Florida Marlins was another perfect example of how good a job he has done, pitching 8 innings with only 1 earned run allowed. Should he continue to be this impressive, the Giants now have some nice flexibility in their pitchers. I would then look to feel out what teams are willing to offer for the services of either Vogelsong or Jonathan Sanchez. Starting Pitchers always have huge value in the trading market and should be able to net a solid young hitter for a guy like Jonathan Sanchez.
4. Players Waived/Released CAN make a difference. The Giants may not even need to make a trade in order to add some help to the hitting. Last year they traded for Jose Guillen, but got Pat Burrell and Cody Ross for nothing. How did this work out? Burrell and Ross were much more productive and are still with the team. Is Guillen even in the Majors this year?  
5. Finally, the Giants play in the NL West, and there is just simply no team that will run away with this division. The Padres are bad, the Dodgers are a .500 team, the Diamondbacks have been playing well lately, but I don't think they can sustain this level, and are maybe an 80-85 win team. The Rockies are the biggest competition for the Giants, but they just lost their most consistent starting pitcher in Jorge De La Rosa for the season and it seems like Troy Tulowitzki is proving that he is human after all. With the pitching staff that the Giants have, even a below average type offense can be enough to win this division. 

  Cody Ross has been a solid hitter and fan favorite since being acquired off waivers

I think the one major thing the Giants have to remember is to not panic, you don't have to rush Pablo Sandoval back, you don't have to make a panic trade or do anything crazy. Sit back, remain calm and analyse the situation the team is in. This season is far from over.