Comments on: …. Sweep

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:08:12 +0000

I know this won’t happen, but wouldn’t we all feel better if the Giants just released Zito and ate the contract? I know the arguments against this: Zito is still owed over $100 mill; if he rights himself perhaps another team will be willing to take on at least $10-$20 mill of the remaining contract, or maybe we can get a prospect or two in a trade. But these are the same arguments people made last year about why we had to keep playing Durham, Aurilia, Feliz, and Kline, that they might get hot and then we could unload them at the trade deadline. I didn’t buy these arguments then, and I don’t now.

There is NO reason to think that Zito is part of the Giants future. He can’t break 85MPH, his control is spotty, and he can’t strike anybody out. Sending him out there every fifth day is surely demoralizing to his teammates; it is demoralizing for the fans; and it sends the message that management is awarding opportunities on the basis of salaries, not performance. What is the upside here?

By: Toni

Toni — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:15:04 +0000

John, I know you’ve been absent and this may be an unwelcome question (and a bit late…), but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the A’s/Giants series.

Being an A’s fan, I’m curious if anything struck you during that series.

thanks…

And even if you don’t have a chance to reply, I do hope you get to post soon, I miss reading your blog.

By: scott s

scott s — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:34:27 +0000

Where are you John? You still have a loyal following.

I am a Vizquel fan, but, he’s killing the Gigantes. I didn’t think I would see the day where he couldn’t catch up to a fastball. The NL West flat out stinks. In any other division the Gigantes would be buried. Lucky to win 30 at home this year. This year should be designated to playing the youth. Then it wouldn’t be a total wash out.

By: Kent

Kent — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:31:27 +0000

Happy Father’s Day all!

By: bacci40

bacci40 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:51:01 +0000

and then they proceeded to lose the next 2 to the rox

who cares…they aint going anywhere

By: +mia

+mia — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:46:16 +0000

Why stunned? Every year even the worst of teams have little mini winning streaks. 12 wins in their last 20 games is considered a cause for joy? When it comes on the heels of a six game losing streak? Which actually makes them 12-14, 2 games under .500 for the last month or so. And this with Rowand, Winn, Molina, and even the pathetic Durham having the routine hot streak/favorable pitching match-ups/injury wracked opponents, simultaneously. Wrong answer. Fail. That was as good as it was going to get. Unless the the rosters of the entire West are kidnapped and held for ransom until October, the Giants will finish in last. Hell, I predict they will be in the cellar by the All Star Break, even with Sanchez and Lincecum pitching out of their minds. Molina, Rowand and the rest are not going to continue to hit the way they have… Not. Going. To. Happen.

Sorry. Matt Cain has turned into exactly what I said he was going to in 2005 when they rushed him up here with underdeveloped pitching mechs. An underachiever who always seems on the verge of getting it together…..next time.

Lincecum has turned out to be better than anybody could have predicted…so far. the Keep your fingers crossed that Buckethead doesn’t blow his arm out before his 25th birthday, such is the pressure to justify 120.00 tickets and 60.00 pizza. Jonathan Sanchez is every bit as good as I predicted, in spite of his fucking over by Felipe Alou. Every time he takes the pimple with his $395 thousand salary and shoves it, and then is followed up by Barry the Zit playing the scared pre-pubescent playground pussy shitting his pants every 5th day, with his $126 trillion Euro extortion agreement, I laugh my ass off and give a figurative finger to the San Francisco Baseball Company LLP, or whatever they formally fucking refer to themselves these days.

Sorry to piss on the parade, but this franchise under Larry Baer is tantamount to Dick Cheny taking over the white house from W Bush. Same ol, same ol. And having a former Bill Gates mouthpiece as the new gen partner may be nice for the shareholders financially speaking, but if anybody thinks it is anything other than a bean counter shuffle, you need to suck up a little less of the flat beer and flaccid overpriced hotdogs.

I guess if you like amusement parks with a baseball and brie cheese theme, than Pier 39 south is for you. If your interested in championship major league baseball without getting hustled by parking pimps, and the distraction of every politically correct themed “event game” in the ACLU official Fan Handbook, than the current version of the Giants is for you. As for me, this franchise has about as much resemblance to the Mays through Bonds era as Roseanne Barr does to a Playmate Centerfold.

By: DonK

DonK — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:55:44 +0000

As delighted as I am to see the Giants playing better than I thought they would/could, let’s take a step back. This team is nowhere near being competitive, even in a wacky season like this one.

The pitching isn’t bad. Lincecum is a stud, Sanchez has huge potential. Cain might be good — or he could be trade bait for a power hitter. Zito might be better. Beach Boy Wilson isn’t bad at the back end.

But let’s be realistic about the bats. Molina is not going to hit .333, the first base platoon is dreadful, third base is an open sore and Vizquel is living on his glove. There is no bench.

Do not be fooled. Durham should be moved at the deadline. Winn, I believe, has a no-trade — he would be perfect for the Mets, if the New Yorkers can come up with a couple of worthwhile kids.

A good season will be 70-75 wins, deals that send Durham and Dave Roberts elsewhere for kids, a return to decent form for Zito, and continued growth for Lincecum/Cain/Sanchez.

By: Jay T.

Jay T. — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:10:19 +0000

Man… looking at the team’s stats, we could actually have a pretty decent ball club if it wasn’t for a major lack of production from most of the infield…

Take yesterday’s lineup…

1. Fred Lewis, LF – .270 AVG, .356 OBP , not bad.
2. Ray Durham, 2B – .305 AVG, .390 OBP
3. Randy Winn, RF – .305 AVG, .355 OBP
4. Bengie Molina, C – .333 AVG, .360 OBP
5. Aaron Rowand, CF – .325 AVG, .393 OBP

So far that’s pretty damn solid… maybe not enough power, but still enough production to win a lot of games. But then…

6 & 7. 1B/3B – Bowker, Aurilia – .243, .258 AVG & .297, .327 OBP
8. Vizquel, SS – .203 AVG, .293 OBP

The end of the lineup just SUCKS and has rally killer written all over them. We know the pitching staff is pretty good for the most part, so it’s not far fetched to say that if this team could get good 1B and 3B players with some power, and half decent production at short, they would actually be leading this division.

Oh well, the good news is this team may be competitive sooner than we thought possible, and Lincecum is just a stud. And you have to admit, so far Rowand has been a terrific signing…

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:58:15 +0000

i’m sure there’s some stat geek who tracks players progress in contract years compared to every other season, Durham has to have the biggest gap in the majors…Sabean will most likely wiff again on dealing durham for anything of value

By: giantsrainman

giantsrainman — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:29:32 +0000

John,

Are you saying you are starting to think that maybe we should be buyers not sellers at the trade deadline?