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.

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.

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.