Buster Posey is the Giants

By Kalen Patrick

Today the San Francisco Giants gave Buster Posey a HUGE extension, 9 years for $167 Million with a team option for a 10th season. While many will question the amount and the length of the contract I think it is a great move by the Giants. Locking up one of the best young players in Baseball is never a bad move for any team. Despite the big numbers I think the Giants actually got a very good "deal" here, the most comparable player and contract would be Joe Mauer from the Minnesota Twins who got an 8 year $186 million deal. Not only do I think Buster Posey is a better player than Joe Mauer but I think he will remain much more healthy and reliable.

BUSTER POSEY WILL BE WEARING BLACK AND ORANGE FOR A LONG TIME

Lets take a look at Buster Posey's career so far, Rookie of the Year in 2010 and won the World Series, having a great 2011 season until the injury from the home plate collision. 2012 Buster Posey won the National League MVP, won the NL batting title, won the World Series. In terms of individual achievements Posey has won just about everything besides for Gold glove and St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina just about has that reward locked up every year for his superb ability behind the plate.

Buster Posey clearly is the future of the Giants along with Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner. These will be the 3 keys guys the Giants will have going forward. I really wish I could put Pablo Sandoval on that list but he has yet to prove he can play a full season consistently and of course his weight issues are always a concern. Posey is a franchise player that any team would be lucky to build around and the Giants did right by him and the team by making sure he won't go any where.

San Francisco Giants Starting Pitching Preview

By Kalen Patrick

The biggest strength of the Giants through the 2 recent World Series Championships has been the pitching, will this trend continue as the Giants look to defend the title this season? Ultimately I think the Giants will get another very strong season from the pitching staff.

THE CORE OF THE GIANTS STARTERS (RYAN VOGELSONG, MATT CAIN AND MADISON BUMGARNER)

Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner are pitchers #1 and 2 at the top of the rotation. Matt Cain is the ace of the staff and Mr. Consistent (consistently very good), while Bumgarner provides similar stability for the Giants. Bumgarner did have some control issues leading up to the playoffs last season, but judging by his amazing performance against the Tigers in the World Series, these were fixable problems for him. He is a confident, heavy throwing pitcher, who is developing and refining his pitches. He will have another very good season. The 3rd pitcher of the rotation in my opinion is Ryan Vogelsong. Wow what a story he has been. The Giants will look for another strong year from Vogelsong, and I see no reason as to why this wouldn't happen.

WHICH TIM LINCECUM WILL SHOW UP IN 2013?

The 2 big question marks on the remaining projected starters are Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. Zito overall had a pretty solid 2012 regular season, some surprisingly good starts, the expected rough patches that left your face in your palm and then the average Zito type games (5-6 innings with 2-5 runs allowed). Something happened to Zito in last years playoffs and he had the biggest game of his career against the Cardinals winning in St. Louis. While Zito will never really earn the money he has made, I expect another solid outing this season. Probably finish 13-13 with an ERA around 4 or maybe a little higher. As good as he was in the playoffs and World Series, this is Barry Zito after all and over the course of a season he will have quite a few terrible outings I'm sure.

Tim Lincecum, well he may just be the biggest question mark in the Majors. 2 time Cy Young winner, who last year had the worst ERA for a starting pitcher (who met the innings pitched to qualify). The 2 biggest issues with Timmy were his fastball and his confidence. His fastball has lost 4-5 MPH since his Cy Young years (95/96 to 91/92). Timmy was able to use his higher velocity fastball to set up hitters with his deadly off-speed pitches. With his decreasing velocity, this clearly effected Lincecum's confidence as he battled control issues all year and he couldn't strike people out nearly as efficiently as before. Not only this, but he was very hittable which led to his inflated ERA. While I do expect a bounce back year from Timmy, he will not regain Cy Young form, maybe become a 3.4-3.8 ERA type pitcher, middle of the pack. I am making a prediction right now that this will be Timmy's LAST SEASON as a Giant, you heard it here first!

Check back for further posts about all your favorite San Francisco based Sports Teams

Over and Out

SF Giants - Offseason

By Kalen Patrick

The San Francisco Giants won their 2nd championship in 3 years, this may have been the most unlikely championship in recent years in any sport. Think about everything that happened, Tim Lincecum (the Giants ace) had a terrible year, Brian Wilson (All-Star closer) done for the season, Melky Cabrera was hitting out of his mind and got busted for PED's and suspended for most of the 2nd half of the season. All of that and I haven't even mentioned that the Giants were down 0-2 in the NLDS Series to the Reds, down 1-3 against the Cardinals in the NLCS. That is hardly the recipe for a Championship, but then again a lot of things went very right for the Giants too.

The Giants approach this offseason has been to hang on to the guys who got the team this years championship, re-signing Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro were key for the Giants as both are expected to bat 1 and 2 in the Giants order and key reliever Jeremy Affeldt. The Giants proved all year long that they can use (and win) with a Closer by committee and make it work. Hence, the Giants not reaching to sign Brian Wilson to big money.

GIANTS WANT AND EXPECT BETTER ON-FIELD PRODUCTION FROM HUNTER PENCE

Quite honestly I really can't fault the Giants or critique their approach too much. The Giants are not the Dodgers or Yankees where they can have endless money, so we have to keep that in mind. I think the Giants are banking on improvement's from many of their own players, as opposed to going out and signing a bunch of over priced players. Guys like Hunter Pence really stand out to me as one of those guys, while Hunter was definitely a key locker room presence, I feel he is due to play a much bigger role in terms of his production on the field this season. The Giants got a Hunter Pence who in 59 games hit .219 Average, .287 OBP and didn't hit for much power either. Expect a big turn around season for Pence and the Giants are certainly hoping for it.

Another key guy the Giants are banking on is World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval. The biggest question mark surrounding Pablo is his weight, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy has publicly announced the importance of this even after the World Series Victory. A healthy and fit Pablo Sandoval can be one of the most lethal hitters in baseball and a key cog for the Giants in continued success going forward. Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford are two other guys the Giants definitely want to see improve at the plate. I don't expect either to become world class hitters but I know the Giants are thinking they can take the next step and contribute to more success.

I really think the Giants are making the best decision in "keeping quiet" in free agency, keep the team together and develop and progress to be even more formidable. When was the last time the Yankees won the World Series? What happened to the Dodgers when they took on $250+ million in contracts when they traded with the Boston Red Sox? Money and big contracts don't mean wins and championships. With the recent success of the Giants, I think we all know we are in good hands and can expect to be competitive.

Over and Out.

San Francisco Giants Race to the Playoffs

By Kalen Patrick

We are entering the final stretch run leading up to the 2012 Playoffs and just as expected there is a close race between the rival San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. As of today, the Giants hold a major advantage, as they own a 5 game lead over the Dodgers with each team having 20 games left to play. I'm a big Giants fan and the last thing I would ever want to do is jinx my team but I find it very hard to imagine a scenario where the Giants don't win the division. Lets take a look at some of the reasons why.

If the Giants play .500 ball and go 10-10,the Dodgers would have to go 16-4 over their final 21 games in order to just draw even. Now don't get me wrong, crazier things have happened (just ask the New York Mets), but the Dodgers (even with all of their additions) have showed me almost nothing to prove they can play at the level they will need to. Adrian Gonzalez really hasn't been the force in the lineup that the Dodgers had expected, Matt Kemp is battling injuries, Eithier, Victorino and Ellis have not been difference makers. The Dodgers Ace Clayton Kershaw is an absolute beast, but after him, they have to send out pitchers who have been overachieving all season (Capuano and Harang) along with Josh Beckett and Joe Blanton. Just looking at the roster, I don't see a team that can go 16-4 when you factor in the teams the Dodgers will be facing.

THE GIANTS - DODGERS RIVALRY IS ALIVE AND WELL IN 2012

The Dodgers remaining schedule is significantly more difficult than the Giants. The Dodgers have a 4 game series vs the St. Louis Cardinals, then go on the road to take on the Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds, who own the NL's best and 2nd best records respectively. The rest of the Dodgers games are within the NL West. In comparison, the rest of the Giants schedule is against NL West opponents.

The Giants are going to need some major improvements from certain players if they want to not only wrap up the NL West but make some noise in the playoffs too. The Starting Pitching must improve significantly, Vogelsong has been getting shelled lately, Zito is someone you can't count on for a strong performance, Lincecum has rebounded to have a very steady 2nd half of the season. Most importantly both Bumgarner and Cain have to be better, even in tonight's game for example, Bumgarner's line was 4.1 Innings with 5 ER allowed. Not good enough. Secretly the Giants offense has been carrying the load due to the struggling pitching staff.

BUSTER POSEY IS MAKING A STRONG CASE FOR NL MVP

On offense, surprisingly its been Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence who have been struggling. Sandoval's season average has plummeted to .276, while Pence is hitting a measly .260. Pence, as of late, has at least shown some power but Sandoval has been a disaster since coming back from injury in Mid-August. He has only 2 extra base hits, no HR's (last HR on July 8th) Batting around .230, Slugging .275, On Base % around .295 in that time. These are garbage numbers for your supposed number 3 hitter. Can't consistently win when your 3 and 5 hitters are not performing up to expectations.

On a positive note, Posey has been playing at an MVP caliber, Pagan and Scutaro are making Brian Sabean look really good, Joaquin Arias and Brandon Crawford get timely hits and last but not least Belt has been very good, in his last 10 games he has 2 HR and 12 RBI, all season has been seeing the ball well with his ability to draw walks leading to a .361 OBP.

If I had to bet, I would put my money on the Giants making the Post Season, I could see them winning the 1st round of the playoffs, but I just can't see the Giants winning the NLCS on top of that. Giants would most likely have to beat the Reds and then the Nationals to get to the World Series and unfortunately I don't see that happening, but then again, once you get in to the playoffs, ANYTHING can happen. That's it.

Over and Out.

Analysis of the Giants Post-Melky

By Kalen Patrick

ANGEL PAGAN - GIANTS CF

I want to piggy back on my last Post which was titled 'We CAN Win Without Melky'. Since the Melky Cabrera suspension the Giants have gone 5-2, including tonight's sweep of the Rival Dodgers. Obviously the biggest concern was going to be if the Giants could keep scoring without Melky's bat, but in the 7 games without him, the Giants have scored 37 runs, an average of 5.3 runs/game.

And where is this offense coming from? Well as I mentioned in my last post you gotta look to the guys who were brought here via trade that didn't come with much notoriety, Marco Scutaro and Angel Pagan. Both have been hitting extremely well of late, Scutaro in 25 games with the Giants has 2 HR 18 RBI and a .337 BA. (If you extrapolated those numbers to equal an entire season, you're talking about 17 HR and 110 RBI, not too shabby.) Pagan has been great lately, especially in the first inning getting hits and helping to give the Giants early leads. He has hit .393 since the loss of Melky, if your leadoff guy is hitting like this then you are in great shape.

The rocks of the lineup have been great as usual, Posey and Sandoval have been knocking in runs like nobodies business. They are doing what they are expected to do which is great. The biggest surprise in my opinion has been Joaquin Arias who has done a great job of stepping up in the absence of Melky. I really can't expect him to keep hitting at this pace but it is great that he has helped carry the load and that's what the Giants needed bad.

JOAQUIN ARIAS - GIANTS 2B/SS/3B

Still the biggest disappointment has been Hunter Pence, his RBI numbers have been solid but besides that he isn't hitting and more importantly isn't hitting for power like the Giants wanted. His Slugging is a pathetic .313 which is lower than Ryan Theriot's who never hits for any kind of power.

The Giants did just Sweep the Dodgers IN LA facing the top end of their rotation and it certainly did seem like the Giants were in total control in this series. The Giants will need much more from Hunter Pence, because there is no way you can count on guys like Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan and Joaquin Arias to keep hitting like they have. I really do like the Giants chances especially with an improved Tim  Lincecum hitting the mound (4-3 3.11 ERA since the AS Break.)

Over and Out.

The Giants CAN Win Without Melky

By Kalen Patrick

Over the last few days there has been a lot of pessimism and "the season is over!" talk among Giants fans. Heck I was probably one of them when I first heard the news about the Melky Suspension. Now that it has sunk in and we are moving on from it, I still look at this Giants team and I still see a team that can Win and make the playoffs. Before I get in to the lineup, lets talk about the pitching.

The pitching is absolutely playoff caliber, even with the struggles of Tim Lincecum and the usual struggles for Barry Zito.Cain, Bumgarner and Vogelsong have been so good that it limits the damage the other 2 starters are doing. I know I have been saying this all season but if Timmy can pitch the rest of the season at a 3.5-4 ERA for the rest of his starts I will take that. Zito is Zito and if we get a Win when he takes the mound that is a huge positive. Lets not forget the bullpen cause those guys have been doing their jobs for the most part. Led by Romo, Affeldt, Casilla, Mijares and Lopez, it is very solid. Again definitely playoff caliber. Now lets get done to brass tax and talk about the lineup without the MelkMan.

The main guys replacing Melky are gonna be Gregor Blanco and Justin Christian. I have more faith in Blanco considering his amazing defense, and he isn't terrible at the plate either. Christian is still a big question mark in the majors. One of the most underrated trades of the season so far has been the trade the Giants pulled off to get Marco Scutaro. In the 20 games he has played with the Giants his line reads .330 BA .360 OBP 2 HR's and 18 RBI. Now that is production right there. Another great trade that gets forgotten is the one for Angel Pagan too, he has been very solid leading off for the Giants with a .283 BA .333 OBP and considering he usually leads off he solid production with 46 RBI and comes with some power hitting 7 HR's. The way I see the Giants lineup going forward you will have Pagan leading off with Scutaro batting 2nd.

POSEY, BELT AND SANDOVAL - ALL 3 WILL BE KEY FOR THE GIANTS

Then you have the big boys of the lineup. I imagine Bochy will go regularly with Sandoval hitting 3rd, then Posey and then Pence. Both Panda and Posey just gotta keep doing what they are doing and that will be fine with me, I absolutely expect Hunter Pence to get hot soon. He had the big HR to essentially win the game against the Rockies a week ago, but realistically he needs to be better, he needs to be much better with regards to his Power and Average. Hitting only 1 HR in 16 games, batting .211 and his OBP at .250 is unacceptable. I think he can and will improve upon this by leaps and bounds, and the Giants need it in the worst way.

Brandon Belt is a guy who has come on lately, he has an impressive OBP of .361 which isn't bad considering his mid-season struggles. Belt should get better as the season rolls on, Arias, Crawford are OK options at the end of the order. Ultimately the point I'm trying to make is that knowing the Giants pitching being as good as it is and with the lineup having some nice options the Giants CAN win without Melky.

Over and Out.

The Melk has Gone Sour

By Kalen Patrick

Wednesday, August 15th, I wake up and start thinking of the afternoon game for my Giants vs the powerhouse Washington Nationals (that's still weird to say). I was feeling confident after yesterday's win, we finally had THE lineup we have been waiting for. Then, in a flash, a tweet by Ken Rosenthal changed everything " Just announced by MLB: SFGiants' Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games without pay after testing positive for testosterone." 

As a die-hard fan, I went through the usual list of emotions, First: Denial "Hey maybe the report is wrong! It has to be wrong!" Second: Sadness "We are screwed!! No playoffs!!" Third: Anger "F**k Melky! He is a cheating piece of S**t!" Finally: Accepting Reality, we no longer have Melky for the rest of the regular season, we can start looking at names as to who can replace him. I like Gregor Blanco but he shouldn't be an every day player. Other names float around, and an interesting one is Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs, but the Giants wouldn't go near him unless the Cubs eat a significant portion of his contract. 

WHO KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE NOW HOLDS FOR MELKY CABRERA

Ultimately the whole situation just sucks. Plain and simple. After yesterday's game confidence was sky high, we beat the Nationals, we have our lineup and things were looking great. Now we have no Melky, Timmy got beat up by the Nationals today, and confidence is near an all time low. 

Going forward this season either one of two things will happen, the Giants will let this drag them down and they will get to the finish line gingerly, maybe ending up 3rd in the NL West with a record slightly over .500. Or else the team can rally around this, play the whole "Nobody Believes in Us" card and make a great run to the playoffs and beyond. Obviously I am hoping for the latter but right now the former is firmly stuck on my mind. I just hope Bruce Bochy and the Giants can think as positive as possible about the whole situation.

Until Next Time....

The NL MVP No One is Talking About

By Kalen Patrick

Outside of San Francisco, Buster Posey has got to be one of the most underrated players not only in the National League but in the Majors. It seems like ESPN thinks it's a three-horse race between the Brewers Ryan Braun, Pirates Andrew McCutchen and the Reds Joey Votto. What the point of my post is to make a definite case for Mr. Posey to belong in that discussion. Remember what MVP stands for: Most Valuable Player. This is not necessarily an award for best player but for the most VALUABLE.

I think immediately where Posey has an advantage of the other candidates is the fact that he plays Catcher. It is incredibly difficult to find a Catcher who can put up the overall great numbers of Buster Posey. In the entire league you only have about 5 catchers who could be considered very good hitters, but when it comes to Outfielders and 1B, those positions are absolutely and always stocked with hitting talent. So now I will delve into the individual arguments between MVP candidates.

Posey vs Votto

1. Posey plays a much more valuable position
2. Posey has more RBI
3. Posey has more HR
4. Posey WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is 4.3 to Votto's 3.8
5. Reds are still winning consistently without Votto, the Giants would be dead without Posey

Posey vs Braun

1. Posey plays a more valuable position
2. Posey WAR is 1.3 above Brauns
3. Braun plays on a team 10 games below .500, without Braun they are maybe 13-14 games below .500? The Brewers are not in contention with or without Braun. The Giants are leading the division with Posey and would not be in contention without Posey, therefore, in my eyes, Posey is a more valuable player.
4. Posey has a higher Batting Average

SF GIANTS CATCHER BUSTER POSEY

When it comes to Posey vs McCutchen, the argument is a lot harder to make, to me Andrew McCutchen is the NL MVP so far in the 2012 season. There are still about 55 games left for most teams, so there is still a lot of time for things to change and the point of my argument is that nationwide Buster Posey's name should be coming up a lot more in the NL MVP discussions. There are arguments to be made for Votto over Posey, or Braun over Posey, but hey, call me biased but I think Posey is number 2 right after McCutchen.

Over and Out.

San Francisco's Best Kept Secret

By Kalen Patrick

Ryan Vogelsong has been setting the Baseball World on fire since re-joining the San Francisco Giants in 2011. Vogelsong once a high draft choice of the San Francisco Giants had a forgettable MLB career. He was in the Majors between 2000-2006 spending most of his time in Pittsburgh. He then played overseas for 5 years before his triumphant return to MLB with the San Francisco Giants.

In his 1 and 1/2 seasons with the Giants he has an ERA a shade over 2.5, a WHIP under 1.2 and an impressive 21 W's to 11 L's. The Giants prior to Vogelsong's arrival had a very good rotation, heck we won the World Series the year before and that was mostly due to the Starting Pitching. However, that does not take away the importance of Vogelsong's arrival to this team.

SF GIANTS SP - RYAN VOGELSONG

He has no doubt been the most consistent and reliable pitcher on the 2012 SF Giants. Lets look at the numbers: He has not gone less than 6 innings this year, the most Earned Runs he has given up in a game has been 4 and that was way back on April 26th against the Reds in Cincinnati. Vogelsong is Mr. Consistent, you know you will get between 6-8 innings and he will only likely give up a 1 or 2 and put the team in a position to win every single time.

I think the most fascinating part of the Vogelsong story, is the fact that while he has been the best pitcher for the Giants this year and maybe for the last year and a half, he is not even well known outside of San Francisco. He lives in the Shadows of Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner. Maybe that is a good thing though, he doesn't have the pressure of those guys, he does his job, and does it very well. Sure he doesn't have the flashy numbers but you know what you're gonna get and that is something I know Bruce Bochy and all the Giants players and fans love.

San Francisco Giants Update

By Kalen Patrick

The Giants are back at it, and for the most part it is all good news, however, there were some early scares surrounding the team. Early on both Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong reported back pain, that seems to have been more about knocking the rust off as opposed to anything serious. Brian Wilson right now is still a concern and the status on his elbow still seems up in the air. It does appear that he will be more than ready to go when the season starts.

Looking at the hitting side of things, the big concerns were how Buster Posey was gonna look and what kind of shape Pablo Sandoval was would come in at. Again, both appear to be in tip top shape and ready to go. I do agree with Bruce Bochy's approach about Buster Posey avoiding plate collisions if at all possible, probably not worth the risk especially when you consider the serious lack of depth behind Posey at Catcher.

GIANTS WILL BE RELYING HEAVILY ON PABLO AND POSEY FOR OFFENSE

In other notes it appears that Bochy has a good idea of his outfield. Bochy wants Melky Cabrera to play LF, Angel Pagan in Center and for now Nate Schierholtz in RF. This now leaves Question Marks about Brandon Belt and Aubrey Huff, and who will play 1st base. If I know Bochy he will go with the guy who is hot at the time. As the season rolls on and if Huff isn't doing well, I would expect Belt to get a lot of the AB's and Huff to be more of a pinch hitter.

WHATS NEXT: A more in depth preview of the season will be coming shortly and a full report on what to expect from the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. Also keep an eye out for posts on all the other goings on in the world of Sports.

San Francisco Giants - Pathetic

By Kalen Patrick

The San Francisco Giants won their first title in San Francisco not even 1 year ago after 52 years of suffering. You know who suffered too for those 50+ years? The fans. This team ended the suffering when Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz and I have never seen a fan base so happy. Now fast forward to last night (August 30th 2011), the team has been struggling for a month and the fans were booing the team off the field.

A part of me is wondering if the fans are justified in booing the team that still are the defending world champs. However, when a team is struggling mightily against the likes of the Houston Astros and Cubs, that just spells bad news. The Giants often struggle to score more than 2 runs, and while the Giants lineup is far from lethal, they do have some capable hitters.

When you look at Jeff Keppinger, Carlos Beltran, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Belt and Aubrey Huff, all of these guys can hit. And what is funny is they actually are hitting pretty well, Keppinger and Sandoval are hovering at or over .300, Beltran has been hitting over .300 with the Giants, and Belt and Huff both have pop and Belt has been hitting extremely well of late. The problem with the Giants is hitting with RISP (Runners In Scoring Position).

JEFF KEPPINGER HAS BEEN AN EXCELLENT ADDITION, EXPECT HIM TO STICK AROUND

As easy as it is to put all the blame on the hitting, the pitching has been pretty inconsistent too, even with the additions of Beltran and Keppinger, they don't even replace the loss of Posey and Freddy Sanchez. The strength of this team is the pitching and always will be. The losses of Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo certainly don't help, and Vogelsong has come right back down to Earth. To be honest, sometimes it just isn't a teams year, similarly to last year everything going right for the Giants, everything has gone wrong this year.

The future is still very bright for the Giants, young pitching staff, capable hitters, next year the 1st 4 hitters in the lineup should be Keppinger, Sanchez, Sandoval, Posey and possibly they bring back Beltran or sign another bat and with having an improved Brandon Belt. 2010 was the year of the Giants, it may be as simple to say that 2011 is not.

GOOD MEMORIES, SF GIANTS 2010 WORLD CHAMPS

SF Giants Slumping - Fact or Fiction?

By Kalen Patrick

The San Francisco Giants have been in their biggest slump of the year and look to continue that tonight (Top of the 5th down 5-0 to the Pirates currently). So when or where did this slump come from? It's easy to point to adding Beltran and Cabrera and look at the Giants record since they joined and blame them. I however would strongly disagree with that theory. The Giants slump started right after their great series in Philly taking 2 of 3 games. Since then the Giants have gone 2-8 and things don't look to be getting better. So what has happened?

GIANTS PITCHERS GOTTA START PITCHING UP TO THEIR HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Well, its the pitching. The Giants even with the additions of Beltran, Keppinger and Cabrera, are still built to be a scrappy team that wins games 4-2 and 3-1 and the always fun 1-0 games. Since the Giants left Philly, the pitching staff has given up 4,7,9,5,6,3,9,2 and 5 so far tonight. Of course the Giants pitchers like any team will have off days, but to have that many high scoring games in such a short space of time is very rare for this pitching staff. Let's not put all the blame on the pitching though, these hitters get paid to hit, and they haven't been producing runs at all.

In the 10 game slump the Giants have scored a total of 21 runs (Average 2.1 runs/game) which is pathetic. Also the Giants have been shut out twice, 8 of the 21 runs came in 1 game. You take that game out and they have 13 runs in 9 games and that equals less than 1.5 runs/game. Even more pathetic. I don't care how good your pitching staff is. Can't win if you don't score.

CARLOS BELTRAN MUST START BEING EXTREMELY PRODUCTIVE

Only when the Giants pitching staff get it together again (and I'm very confident they will) then will they start winning consistently. Also they really need a much bigger contribution from Beltran. Overall Keppinger has been a much better addition and even Cabrera when you factor in what the Giants had to give up for each player.

Only time will tell, luckily the D-Backs are also in a bit of a slump too. But the Giants have to turn it around soon or else they won't be seeing the playoffs this year.

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.

MLB Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

Its been too long to call them my Weekly Power Rankings, but here I go again with the top 5 and bottom 5 teams in Baseball. Honestly, at the top not much has changed in terms of who the better teams are. We have them figured out for the most part. The bottom there will be some surprises. Lets get it going.

Top 5
1 - Boston Red Sox (64-39) - The Red Sox boast the most productive run scoring offense in the Majors (and its not even close). Gonzalez is hitting like a mad man, Ellsbury and Pedroia have been amazing, and the pitching is more than good enough to get them deep in the playoffs.

CARLOS BELTRAN, A WELCOME ADDITION TO SF

2 - San Francisco Giants (61-44) - Tough choice between the Phillies and Giants for #2. However, the Giants just won 2 out of 3 IN Philly, and they just added Carlos Beltran. To me, right now, that puts the Giants above the Phillies. Not to mention the pitching especially the bullpen has been unhittable. Possible repeat of last year in the works.



3 - Philadelphia Phillies (65-39) - They have the best winning percentage in Baseball (.625) are looking to add another bat to the lineup, and have the best starting pitching in Baseball. I can definitely imagine a Phillies/Giants NLCS rematch.

4 - New York Yankees (61-41) - All around good team, they can hit, they have the best closer in the game, and the pitching is doing enough to keep them close to the Red Sox. Will Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes ultimately be the downfall of the Yankees? Will they acquire a SP before the trade deadline?

5 - Texas Rangers (60-46) - The Rangers are maybe the most dangerous team to face, good (not great) starting pitching, they sure can hit and they look to be very close to getting closer Heath Bell which would help solidify the 9th inning. This team if they get hot can be almost unbeatable.

Bottom 5
26 - Chicago Cubs (42-63) - It was between the Cubs and Padres for this spot, when you look at the difference in payroll. The decision was incredibly easy.

27 - Kansas City Royals (44-61) - The usual bottom feeder teams are out in full force (besides the Pirates)

28 -  Baltimore Orioles (41-60) - That strong start seems like an eternity ago.

29 - Seattle Mariners (44-60) - They lost 16 (or 17?) in a row. 3 weeks ago they were in the thick of the AL West race, now they are done. What a shame.

30 - Houston Astros (35-70) - What a joke. Not worth anyones time or money.

Post Script
Wanna make a note of how well the Pittsburgh Pirates have done this year, as of this second they are only 1 game out of 1st place in the NL Central. Who would have ever guessed that we could say that in late July/early August. Well done for them and hope they can keep it up. Nice to see their awesome stadium actually have people in it.

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. 

Off Topic: blink-182

By Kalen Patrick

For those that don't know me, I am a HUGE blink-182 fan and that would probably be the understatement of the century. Ever since I can remember I have been listening to them. Growing up in Ireland I always felt like blink were my way of connecting with the US. I imagined them being huge in the US (which they were) and imagined that countless kids like myself would listen to them night and day. Of course I was devastated when they broke up (or hiatus as they called it) happened. It was approximately 4-5 years that blink were apart. Various side projects like +44, Angels and Airwaves and the Transplants were good, but never came close to blink. It's weird, I can't remember where or when I heard they were back together but safe to say that day is up there among my favorite days.

Artwork for blink-182's new single 'Up All Night'

I have seen blink-182 live twice and will be seeing them for a 3rd time in October of this year. The first time I saw them was at the Point Depot in Dublin, Ireland. Funny, that was there last show together before they broke up, then I saw them play with Taking Back Sunday and Weezer at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. That show in Mountain View was a part of the best day of my life. I believe the date was September 13th, 2009. That Sunday, the Giants beat the Dodgers, the 49ers beat the Cardinals, then later was at the blink show. Best day, hands down, not even close.

My blink-182 tattoo, Artist: Justin - Let it Bleed, Polk St. San Francisco

EDIT: Tattoo now healed and looking awesome

blink-182 tattoo for your viewing pleasures

Now to the present, yesterday blink launched their first new song in approximately 8 years. From Take Off Your Pants and Jacket to the self titled album, blink matured like no other. The gap between those albums was only 2 years, this time around we are talking 8 years. These guys are in their mid 30's, things change, and so do people. The song 'Up All Night' is a great one, of course I am biased in my opinion, BUT when I don't like a song, I will say it. Example, there are quite a few Angels and Airwaves songs I don't like. But I love 'Up  All Night'. When I hear it, I get a mixture of Box Car Racer, Self Titled blink era and some angels and airwaves computer effects thrown in. Great song and I cannot express how excited I am for the album. It's gonna rock.

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.

MLB Weekly Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

So here we go with another addition of my Weekly Power Rankings, posts have been few and far between with a hectic work schedule. Don't worry, haven't forgotten about the Sports Cave. Lets get to the top 5

Top 5
1 (1 ) Philadelphia Phillies (53-31) - An incredible 22 games above .500 and not even at the All-Star Break. Best record in Baseball and THE team to beat in the NL

2 (3) New York Yankees (50-31) - On a hot streak (8-2 in their last 10 games) and they have by far the best run differential in baseball at +122.

3 (4) Atlanta Braves (49-35) - This team is so consistent, 7 games above .500 at home and on the road. Pitching has been amazing and the hitting will get better, maybe they trade for a bat too

4 (NR) San Francisco Giants (48-36) - Team has been hitting a lot better, In their last 6 games they have had games where they scored 13, 15 and 6. Also Barry Zito has been a pleasant surprise off the DL.

PABLO SANDOVAL AND THE GIANTS MAY BE THE MOST RESILIENT TEAM IN BASEBALL

5 (2) Boston Red Sox (48-34) - Red Sox had a rough time recently but the Astros cured that nicely. Every team goes though slumps, the Red Sox will rebound right now I expect.

Bottom 5
26 (NR) Baltimore Orioles (35-45) - 2-8 in their last 10 games. Remember when they started the season hot? And everyone said they'd come back down to Earth? Everyone was right.

27 (28) Chicago Cubs (34-50) - They got some lucky timely wins against the Giants, this team is still awful and a waste of money.

ITS A SHAME THIS GREAT FIELD IS RUINED BY THE PRODUCT THE CUBS PUT OUT

28 (NR) Minnesota Twins (35-46) - Twins got hot for a while but now back to reality, and its a bleak one

29 (29) Kansas City Royals (33-50) - Said it before and will say it again, check back on this team in 2013

30 (30) Houston Astros (29-55) - They stink.

Who's Hot?
Drum roll please........San Diego Padres! They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and while odds are they will be crash landing back to Earth soon but hey, they should enjoy it while they can.

Who's Not?
Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics, 2 teams who rarely know what it feels like to score runs, both are 3-7 in their last 10 and both still kind of have a shot in the division? God the AL West is awful.

Barry Zito - Outstanding

By Kalen Patrick

First things first, Barry Zito will NEVER EVER live up to the contract, so just throw that thought away. But today's performance (6/28/11 vs Chicago Cubs) was awesome. The guy has all the pressure in the world on him, and every pitch is basically scrutinized. After 2 months on the DL he comes out and pitches 7 innings, giving up 2 ER and only walking 2. Basically did everything he was asked and more. Now if Zito can start putting out consistent quality starts, it will give the Giants a lot of flexibility moving forward this year.

BARRY ZITO VS CHICAGO CUBS AT WRIGLEY FIELD 6/28/11

If Zito can rediscover himself, Vogelsong can keep pitching well, then that makes erratic Jonathan Sanchez expendable. You put Sanchez and a decent prospect out there and you may get some teams willing to part with a good bat. I'm definitely not saying up and do that right now, lets see Zito pitch some more, lets see if Vogelsong can stay consistent. The Giants are a team that is built for the playoffs, as 2010 showed, when you have pitching like they have, you can beat ANY team in a 5/7 game series.

Giants are a season high 12 games above .500 and it begs the question; How good would this team be with Buster Posey? Back to Zito, props for a great game tonight and looking forward to seeing him hopefully continue along this path.

Top 6

By: Michael Mafia 

Team        Wins

Phillies        48

Yankees      44

Red Sox      44

Braves        44

Giants         43

Rays           43

Here are the top 6 teams by winning percentage. The biggest shock on my part are the San Francisco Giants. YES, I am an avid Giants fan...but, that doesn't mean I can't be equally as surprised by their chance at a repeat playoff run after all of the 2011 injuries. 

DL 

Buter Posey

Freddy Sanchez 

Brian Wilson

Cody Ross

Mike Fontenot

Brandon Belt

Barry Zito

Mark De Rossa

Jonathan Sanchez 

Pablo Sandoval

Darren Ford

The team has had its fare deal of injuries the first half of the season, (twice as many as the whole 2010 season) but the Giants are in 1st place in the NL West and have the 5th best winning percentage in all of baseball. 

Pitching and winning in 1 run games is what sets this team apart from the rest and keeps them in competition with all if the injuries.