Comments on: …. Keep it continuous

By: Blair Conrad

Blair Conrad — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:50:41 +0000

I don’t know if anyone really pays attention to hitting splits versus left and right handed pitching but all this talk about Renteria and how much he sucks or doesn’t suck (I’m with the former) got me thinking.

Last 3 years(source ESPN)
vs. Left .349 .424 .528 .952
vs. Right .279 .330 .393 .723

Last year(same source)
vs. Left .366 .443 .561 1.004
vs. Right .239 .274 .324 .598

I hope we see a horrible mess of lefties next year because a .598 OPS vs right handed pitching is going to be hard to watch; and that’s if he can “maintain” his current level.

By: El

El — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:13:22 +0000

Panda was the only reason to watch this team’s ABs last year. Young, talented, and full of passion. Just plain fun.

Of course he isn’t enough, but denying his contribution and place is just hating the horse Sabean rode in on.

By: Fishchum

Fishchum — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:51:41 +0000

Mia – you’re just like all the other armchair GM’s out there who do nothing but bitch and moan. So what’s your solution? Let’s hear it. What did you expect, one year of re-building and the Giants would be WS contenders? The fact is, Renteria isn’t blocking anyone in the minors (hence the 2 year deal) and Randy Johnson would be a nice addition at the back end of the rotation for one year giving Alderson and Bumgarner some more experience in the minors.

Maybe Ishikawa isn’t the answer at 1B. But I’d like to give him a shot and see what he can do until Villalona is ready. Same goes for Sandoval. These guys are young and cheap – isn’t that what “fans” like yourself have been berating Sabean for? Not giving the “kids” a chance?

By: giantsrainman

giantsrainman — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:35:19 +0000

Nice, totally ignore the facts and just argue on raw emotion. You are becoming oh so boring.

By: +mia

+mia — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:20:47 +0000

1. Sandoval is a lump. He may be good. He may be bad. The point is he is another overweight fat ass that Sabean seems to fall in love with periodically with a “maybe he can, maybe he can’t” projected career. He has added two mid-30 middle relievers. Ishikawa? Fuck me. Nobody knows if he can play either. I have my doubts. Once-twice around the league and we’re looking at Lance Niekro redux…pass.

Some are missing Johns bigger, more salient point. There is no change in direction from the past. It is more of the same. IF you do not change input, your output remains the same given the same or similar environment. It is that simple. You can quote all the fucking stats, projections, opinions in the entire world. You can continue your mental masturbating and season-ticket-purchasing justification until Bruce Bochy fits into normal-sized hat. Nothing is going to get better with these clowns this season unless there is a sea change in management. Period

By: Aaron B.

Aaron B. — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:38:52 +0000

Why the cherry-pick John? You left out one of the good paragraphs in Sickel’s assessment.

“Sandoval hit .330/.383/.425 for Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League in 2005. The Giants moved him to third base, where he showed a strong arm but needed a lot of polish charging balls and such. Scouts were impressed with the bat, and I liked his low strikeout rate (33 Ks in 294 at-bats), liking the bat enough that I gave him an aggressive B- in the 2006 book.”

That’s 2 good years out of 4 actually. And really, only the top prospects don’t struggle in the minors at some point (the Longorias and Uptons of the world).

And for all your crying over the lack of power on the team, here’s a guy who could actually provide that. ZiPS (the most pessimistic projection I’ve found so far) has him projected at .284/.313/.455, which is a slightly league average at the plate once you take park factors into consideration. Aurilia and Castillo, the two main guys who played 3rd last season, hit .283/.332/.413 and .244/.290/.381 respectively. Pablo will probably be around -5 runs in the field playing most of the time at 3rd, but that’s only slightly worse than the about average defense those two older guys performed last season, plus he’ll more than make up the difference with the bat.

Pablo’s not yet an average third baseman, but he’s way above replacement and could likely develop into a good one.

By: giantsrainman

giantsrainman — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:20:07 +0000

Are you serious? Are you really basing you opinions on the value of adding Reteria on runs scored and total bases? You don’t really live you baseball life this far back in the dark ages do you? The only predictive stat you list is OBP and here without any evidence to support your position you just assume Renteria will just match the .322 OBP the 2 spot in the Giants lineup achieved last year. Even the most conservative projection system (ZIPS) sees a .341 OBP for Renteria. The other two that are already out (Marcel and Bill James) see a .345 OBP for Renteria.

But this is not even your biggest mistake. Your biggest mistake is comparing batting order position rather then to the players actually being replaced. Renteria will be the Giants SS in 2009 and therefore his plate apearances are replacing the plate appearances of Vizquel, Ochoa, and Boacock. These 3 Giants SSs last year combined for an almost unimaginably bad .259/.260/.519 OBP/SLG/OPS last year. The projections for Renteria’s OBP I provided above average .344. His projections for SLG are .389/.403/.417 Zips/BillJames/Marcel respectively and therefore average .403. Therefore the Giants are projected to improve by .085/.143/.228 OBP/SLG/OPS at SS. This is a huge improvement. Replacing last year’s 1B with Teixeria is not even projected to provide this much improvement.

By: Uncle Joe Mccarthy

Uncle Joe Mccarthy — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:05:24 +0000

giantsrainman

man…that is some good kool aid you must be drinking

why is winn still on this team? why are we spending so much for rowand and renteria?

man…cant wait till the end of st so i can watch guys like you bitch and moan

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:59:29 +0000

I am wary about signing Texeira, since this blocks Sandoval at what is probably his best position, 1B. He surely won’t make it at 3B — by June I am confident that 90% of Giants fans will agree with me about that. I have no idea whether Sandoval can make it at C, but until we know he can I would hold off making any big $ commitments to an alternate first baseman.

By: giantsrainman

giantsrainman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:23:33 +0000

Further, the Giants would have zero chance to sign Teixeria even if the Renteria and Johnson $20M was still available. If Teixeria is willing to stay on the West Coast (unlikely) he would stay with the Angels. Most likely he will join RedSox to win, be close to home, and almost max his dollars. The Giants could not even compete with the Orioles and Nationals for him since they are most likely to max his dollars by approaching 10 years and they are his clear location preference if only he though they actually had a chance to become winners with him.

The Giants only chance at a difference maker free agent was CC and their indecision on getting involved killed that chance. That said, I do not think they would have been able to compete with $161M from the Yankees anyway.