Barry Zito tried to throw cold water cold water on pretty much the whole last week, coming out of the gate and allowing two three run homers –to a team that had been struggling to even get a hit– before most Giants fans had even sat down. He allowed 9 earned runs and got 10 outs…. enough said.
The Giants head into the All Star break 10 games over .500, with the second-best record in the NL. They have posted an outstanding team ERA, they have thrown a world-best 13 shutouts, they have two 10-2 pitchers, and a 22-year old who is leading the team in batting average, home runs, RBI, and OPS. Sandoval has 15 home runs, 55 RBI and run out a .333/.385/.579 .964 OPS line. Wow. That’s a hell of a first half, all things considered.
All things being….
Barry Zito is a complete washout. Randy Johnson, 8 wins notwithstanding, isn’t one of the top forty starting pitchers in the NL. Edgar Renteria (.260/.317/.326 .643 OPS) as advertised, isn’t worth $18 dollars, let alone $18 million dollars. The jury is still out on Travis Ishikawa (.269/.324/.430 .754 OPS), who may be able to hit just enough to be the next JT Snow. I know, I know, that’s a horrible thought, but still, he’s not the problem right now, and that’s saying something.
Randy Winn, Fred Lewis and pretty much any outfielder other than Aaron Rowand would be the problem. With a combined total of 10 home runs, our entire offensive weakness can be attributed to the lack of power being demonstrated by that group.
Joe Sheehan got me thinking:
…. What if a team offered the Blue Jays not its very best prospects (for Roy Halladay), but offered it the kind of payroll relief that would pay off for years to come? What if a team took Vernon Wells off of its hands?
When the Blue Jays signed Vernon Wells after the 2006 season, it was very clearly a case of buying high. The center fielder was coming off his age-27 season, his fifth as a full-time player, and just his second of those with an OBP above .340. Wells’ core skills showed him to be a good-not-great player, whose value was buoyed by excellent defense in center field, but lacking the on-base skills to be a true middle-of-the-order anchor, and with speed that was more perceived than actual (he was at 53/15 SB/CS to that point in his career). The contract was doomed the moment it was signed, massively backloaded to make it affordable to the team, but ensuring that Wells would eventually be an albatross. Here’s what’s left on it after this year:
2010: $12.5 million + $8.5 million share of signing bonus
2011: $23 million
2012: $21 million
2013: $21 million
2014: $21 millionThat’s five years and $107 million, or about $11 million less than what’s left on Johan Santana’s contract. It’s just a bit less than what Sabathia will make in those years. It’s more than what’s left on the laughingstock contracts signed by Alfonso Soriano and Barry Zito.
Even as bad as Wells has been over the last year and a half, he would immediately be the best hitter in our outfield. We’re talking blockbuster here –BLOCKBUSTER– but we’re also talking about a team that has the best pitching in baseball, right now, and more importantly, we’re talking about a team that has never, NEVER won a championship. It’s a deal that would instantly alter the dynamics in the National League.
If the Giants were able to swing a deal like that, a deal that landed the All Star starter for the AL, a deal that would preclude giving up any of our true blue-chip prospects, they would transform themselves into a championship contender instantly.
Will Bowker hit enough to keep the Giants in contention? Will the Giants get enough pitching from the 3rd, 4th and 5th starters? Can Cain and Lincecum repeat their success? Can this team make the playoffs? All of these questions fall to the wayside after a deal like this. The only question that needs to be asked is whether Bill Neukom will take on another albatross contract. And, not for nothing, we seem to pretty much lead the league in albatross contracts.
42 Backtalkers
Full circle, we’re back to Wells.
I liked him a great deal when he was relatively cheap, supposedly on the block by Toronto after a slow start, and, more importantly, before he got hurt. In the vein of $ to the franchise for a play-off berth and what a championship would be, I’d consider this deal to “go for it,” but it’s a big risk right now. His defense looks pretty bad these days, doesn’t it? Then again, it’s really too bad this franchise has been so stupid about position players that nobody moved to sign last year: any one of/a combination of a VERY CHEAP Orlando Hudson, Bobby Abreu, or Adam Dunn. ‘Cause anyone following baseball K-N-E-W they were decent players…and look, they’ve played well in 2009, what a shocker.
One of many problems with a payroll relief deal for Wells is that doing the same in reverse with Zito–already unlikely as no team in its right mind would want him–would then become impossible. I’m just wondering who else is out there that more likely to help us vs. 2009 Vernon Wells?
Yeah. No. Yeah, okay, why the fuck not. Lets make a deal.
It would fill up the seats for the remaining 35 or so home games plus playoffs. I’m tired of fucking around waiting til next year when next year never comes.
Besides by the time all the smart seam domes who are almost pedophic in their worship of ballplayers barely past puberty, forecasts and predictions come to pass, the earth will no longer qualify as a planet and will be replaced by some dump-fucky galactic rock named Bochyoid.
Its only money and in 5 years the Chinese yen will have made the dollar worthless anyway..so deal away there Monty Hall. I want curtain no. 3, the box and Carol Merrill.
Best part of the Zito shelling – it spared us all the sight of yer johnson flappin in the wind at the Willie Mays statue …
Well, I guarantee there would have been a gigantic moon shadow
And remember, the main part of the deal is landing Haladay, the best pitcher in the AL. It turns our pitching from the best in baseball to a truly championship level juggernaut. And Wells would be an upgrade over every hitter on the team save Sandoval.
Other than the money, it’s a complete no-brainer.
And since the dollar is going to be more worthless than Monopoly money, when the back ends of these contracts are truly strangling, who the fuck gives a shit. DEAL AWAY.
But since when do Microsoft mouthpieces who are body doubles for Orville Redenbacher have the desire to go up against John Henry, Little Steinbrenner and the MacCourts?
Now if Eddie Debartolo owned the Giants, we’d be talkin some truth to power.
The problem is, the Giants are run by a committee and so are like a government bureaucracy, or more aptly, the board of directors of Bushwood Country Club. Innovative thinking and big old hairy bodacious ideas are not welcome. That’s why little dictators like Jeff Loiria, John Henry, Frank MacCourt, and Hank Steinbrenner can get away with risking monumental failures, and win pennants and championships while the Giants make their nice little daily profits and are run by guys with sleeve-elastics and green eyeshades. The Dictators are only answerable to themselves and the thickness of their skin in the face of a media blast if they flunk. The Giants organization is more concerned with reports, spread sheets, press releases, personnel reviews and media imaging and control.
We all saw what happened to Magowan when his big old hairy Bonds contract and subsequent attempt at a bait and switch with Zito went awry. No. I don’t see any global size nuts attached to anybody who wears a bow tie. Not. Going to happen.
You get an “A” for Effort, Boldness and Imagination. Unfortunately those traits are not a staple of the San Francisco Baseball Associates, LLP.
How about every day Zito pitches they have a “free batteries day”?
How about free 88mm mortar day?
This idea for the Giants is brain dead dumb. Making a trade like this would insure that the Giants do not have the dollars to extend Cain for 2012 and beyond. In addition it would make it very hard for the Giants to affort the arbitration raises for Sancehz 2010 thru 2012, Lincecum and Wilson 2010 thru 2013, or Sandoval and Romo 2012 thru 2014. If the Giants were actually dumb enough to do this trade they would have $40M/YR tied up in the inepetude of Zito and Wells thru 2014. With the Giants $90M/YR budget this would leave just $50M/YR for the rest of the team.
So you wouldn’t trade a championship for some difficult financial decisions in the future? That’s brain dead dumb to me.
This Giants team might, just might be one player away from a title. The addition of another inning eating, top five starter, and a single modestly effective hitter sounds like the kind of dice you should be throwing when YOU HAVE NEVER BROUGHT A TITLE TO YOUR FANS!!!!!
Planning for the future is great, but you could make this move and simply eat money. This team has been doing that for decades, but now, when we have the pitching to contend for a title, it’s brain dead to do so? Give me a fucking break.
I’m not saying it’s THE deal, but don’t go telling me money is the reason not to try and win a championship. Again, the Giants, in San Francisco, have never delivered that title.
john, its ok to bitch, but why the fuck do you want the team to make a trade in a position that it is flush in
why does the of have so few hr’s?
cuz sabean and bochy insisted on playing winn and roward as much as possible.
winn should be gone….nate needs to be the everyday rf…his power will come with at bats
freddy is either still nursing his foot injury or he is done in sf…either way, bowker should be playing the majority of innings in left….and this team doesnt need a 5th of
which brings me back to…WINN MUST GO
and then bochy…who wasnt paying attention at what was causing the winning ways (benjie out of the 4 spot and nate playing) and then sabean can join him (im done with the jedi master…his mind tricks have no more hold on me)
Unc Joe,
Good point about Bengi. Molina needs to bat 6th or 7th when playing. I truly believe the Gigantes play a better style w/o him.Hopefully Posey will be ready in 2010 for the bigs.
John
can we be serious…when has a 2 month rental brought this team to the ws
btw, no matter what they spend on another bat, peter the pink and sabean made sure that it would be impossible to hold onto both cain and timmy, with that awful contract given to zito
“sabean made sure that it would be impossible to hold onto both cain and timmy, with that awful contract given to zito”
This is just not true. All we have to do is find the money for Cain. By the time Lincecum needs a new contract, Zito’s will be coming off the books. The Giants are a big market team, with owners that have money. Unlike most other teams, we can afford a mistake like Zito and still have the payroll flexibility to take additional risks.
As for John’s idea…hey, it’s not my money, so I’m all for it. I have no problem spending other people’s money.
(This is all under the assumption we increase the payroll in the future to afford Wells contract).
As for the Bowker lovers out there, apparently you missed him on the Giants last year? I don’t have a problem giving the kid a chance, he was performing much, much better in AAA this year after all, but he’s hardly a “need to play” player. I have no problem continuing to run Winn out there. He has been a very good player for the Giants, and he may be done, but if he’s not and he gets his bat going some he’s a nice player to have.
If opposing pitchers continue to pitch to the scouting reports on the Giants lefties (Shierholtz, Bowker, Ishikawa, Lewis) there will be no run support. Like most young hitters, they cannot hit the inside hard breaking ball. Even Kevin Correa dominated with that pitch against those guys.
Other than Sandoval, there is little hitting in this lineup. Catcher, Shortstop, Second Base have no mobility in the field, and Rowand has the attention span of a gnat in Center field.
The rest of it is a crap shoot and traditionally the wild-card is settled in the last couple of weeks and won by one of the 4 or so remaining 2nd or third place teams that happens to get hot in those last couple of weeks.
There are 11 teams within 10 games of .500, not counting the Dodgers who are 24 over. There are only 6.5 games seperating the Giants and Phillies 10 games over .500 from the Reds and the Mets who are 3 games under. As of now, only Arizona, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Washington appear to be out of it, though Arizona is showing some signs of life and could create issues for both the Rockies and Giants.
The bottom line is you will have 11-13 teams beating the crap out of each other for 3 spots (assuming the Dodgers don’t collapse completely) over the next 70+ games.
Having said that, that is why it is so much more important to have sweeps and winning streaks. If you don’t believe me, the Giants have played 10 games over since May and are actually further behind the Dodgers now then they were then. Now extrapolate “win 6, lose 4″ or “2 out of 3″ instead of “series sweep” or “6 game winning streak” and thats where the difference in the standings come in. With a plonk like Zito in the rotation and lack of consistent hitting, it is never going to happen.
If you want to do it this year, you will have to have those sweeps and streaks. There is not enough pitching right now to carry the complete and pathetic offense that Sabean has saddled the Giants with. And I’m talking about big money free agent starters Molina, Rowand, Winn, Renteria…..none of whom can carry this team. Something the length and amount of their contracts imply. Sabean has struck out so many times on position player free-agents it is hilarious.
I simply do not trust, nor does Giants ownership I would guess, trust Sabean in the teneous last year of his contract to make a blockbuster kind of deal that would have a long term impact on this franchise.
coreia dominated because zito shoved the team into a hole…and they pressed
and how are the kids gonna learn to hit the inside fb if they arent given the opportunity to do so
Unc Joe,
Spot on on all statements.
Shierholz and Bowker need to play.
I’m not so sure Wells would make the adjustment to NL pitching in time to help the Gigantes in 09. It takes at least one go round to know the pitchers.
If the Giants want to really go for it (i.e. unload top guys) and get Halladay and one of the outfielders, I would want to grab maybe Rios. Not Wells though. Too many injuries in the past, and it’s caught up with his fielding. Not enough bat to make up for it. He’s a good platoon option, but I don’t see the purpose of paying that much money for a platoon guy. Plus, as bad as he is now, he’s going to be worse as he gets older.
Well I think the purpose of paying that much money is so you’re essentially buying Halladay from the Jays instead of trading a huge package of talent for him. So the question isn’t “is Wells worth the money?”, it’s “is the money we pay Wells worth the talent we wouldn’t have to trade for Halladay?”
Well, in the article, Sheehan explains that it’s NOT worth the money, that Haladay can’t make up for the $20 million a year. However, that’s a statistical analysis. The question that it brought to mind for me was whether a title would be worth $100 million.
Think about it….
A rotation of Caun, Lincecum and Haladay wouldn’t guarantee a championship, but it’s be the best threesome in baseball. In a seven game series, I’d take that threesome over any team in the game. That kind of pitching, guys who can go deep into the game, and allow but one baserunner per inning, turn a team scoring 4.5 runs per game into a juggernaut.
Stat guys have had a hard time figuring out what decides post-season success, but one thing they have found is power pitching (guys that get a lot of strikeouts) correlates with a higher winning percentage in the playoffs. So your thoughts are well founded.
As for whether or not it’s worth the money, that’s the owners decision, to me it certainly is. Are the prospects saved (and Wells added production) worth the $100 million, though? Probably not, which makes it more worthwhile to trade prospects for Halladay and not involve Wells, and then use that money for other purposes later.
Prospects are overrated.
New prospects show up every year.
New prospects are born by the thousands every year.
You can always find another prospect if you know your ass from third base.
As good as Sandoval has become, up until the last week of the spring training, he was not a cinch to make the 25 man roster. So much for “prospects”.
Prospects fail all the time. Actually most prospects fail. Everybody remembers Alex Rodriguez and Griffey, and Andruw Jones, but not Dee Brown, Shane Brown, Tony Torcato, or the playing careers of future MLB managers Clint Hurdle, Bob Geren, and Terry Francona. Hell, just go get a box of “hot prospect” baseball cards from the early 2000s.
Following prospects and playing fantasy baseball on the internet is the new cybersex for nerds.
If you have a legitimate shot, the bucks, and the plan, and you don’t go for it, you should just stop wasting oxygen.
Well, to be fair to “prospects”, the evaluation of what they’re worth to a franchise needs to go deeper than just “what percentage of them succeed”. You need to take into account how little they’re paid when they’re succeeding. Johan Santana is a nice player to have, and the Mets are definitely better because of him, but while they’re paying Johan $137.5 million over 6 years, we’re paying Lincecum under $1 million currently. Over the 6 club controlled years Lincecum should make roughly ~$30-$40 million. Let’s just assume for the examples sake they’re equal pitchers…the Giants get so much value out of Lincecum (prospect that succeeded) it’s absurd to think about. That’s essentially $100 million for free from Lincecum.
Obviously Lincecum is the best case scenario for any prospect, and most prospects don’t succeed, but for the ones that do, you get huge amounts of value from them. If we decide we’d rather trade prospects than take Wells and his contract, that’s the type of analysis we’d have to do. How much “free” value do we think the prospects will give us, given their success rates and performance if they do succeed?
I can’t fault your logic B. Its a matter of preference perhaps. But I’m of the preference to take an established A or B player over 2 projected or even 3 projected B to A players. For every Santana Lincecum and Cain, there are 4 or 5 Mark Priors, Brien Taylors, Todd Von Poppels, Chris Ainsworth Daron Drieforts and so on.
Obviously you have to have prospects. But just as obviously you have to have guys to teach and nurture those prospects. Even though they’re professional ballplayers, many of them, particularly the Latin American and Caribbean contigents are barely out of high school, and shaving.
I have seen too many broken dreams. Prospects (kids) are unfortunately treated like so much chattel. With pitchers its a little easier to get a read on in the minors. A pitcher almost invariably gets double digit chances in terms of ABs during a game to show his stuff, whereas a starting offensive player only gets 4 or 5, and a role guy even fewer opportunites than that. And if those prospects are not being properly schooled, taught, and managed, they never get an opportunity to reach their potential.
Its just a big fucking numbers game. If Smith doesn’t cut it, then there’s always Jones. And if the organization gets bored with Jones, they go to Johnson or Garcia, or Lopez or whomever Lady Luck smiles upon. Its not the exact science that too many think it is. Luck, opportunity, and health.
The big contract kids are almost assured of a future spot on the 40 man, regardless of how they turn out. The kids like Jonathan Sanchez who are middle to low rounds rarely are given more than a couple of chances to prove themselves in the minors and that is only if they have a “rabbi” or have a big night when the brass are around, or in the case of a pitcher, have a tremendous jump in velocity due to physical maturation and growth.
You have to remember that almost 1500 kids get drafted every year. That doesn’t include Latin American and Caribbean free agent signings. And thats every year. Every year another 1500 enter the system and 1500 leave it.
And I can tell you and everybody in organized baseball can tell you that every year, guys slip through the cracks inside and outside of the organizations. Its just not the exact science that many would have you believe. Its not always the best players that make it and stay. All you have to do is look at Kevin Frandsen, Barry Zito and Rich Aurillia to understand that concept. And thats just at the MLB level where the pressure to sell seats drives a lot of the roster moves. Where there is no pressure to market the team by the parent mlb organization (parent club provides the players, the minor league team owner provides everything else) they stock the roster with whatever suits their needs or more precisely, thier wants. Just like the business world or government or any other entity…the best guys don’t always have the premiere jobs.
Just look at the Washington Nationals if you want to know what Major League Baseball’s version of the DMV looks like. Sabeans ignorance of valuing talent in any event, disqualifies him in my opinion from making any blockbuster trade. I really don’t think Neukom is the type of personality to roll the dice with a guy that has been throwing nothing but snake eyes for the prior 4 years.
oh…sorry for the double post
my keyboard has adhd
I’m kinda diggin Zito, actually. It’s very handy to have a fall guy, a scapegoat you can blame for every problem the team has, and it’s only right that person should be well paid for suffering the torrents of abuse. Every team has to lose some, so I’m content to let Zito take all the team’s losses for the rest of the season. With three shutouts, a toss-up, and a throwaway blowout each time through the rotation, we’d be in good shape. The starters could all take Zito’s day off and rest up while Bochy plays the scrubs, then come back fresh for the other four. Maybe Zito could wear the Crazy Crab suit when he pitches, fans could run around on the field – the possibilities are endless. Maybe we could use some of Hank Greenwald’s ideas – hurdles on the basepaths, sand traps and water hazards, start hitters at 3-2 counts, all that good stuff. Loser’s Day! What a promotional bonanza!
The Razor was blasting Zito on his radio show this pm. The thing is, I have NOTHING bad to say about Zito personally, and I think it’s unfair to blast a player just because he lacks ability. Zito is always in shape, appears to work hard, and so far as I remember doesn’t make excuses (unlike Benitez). He just happens to have a below-average major league fastball, mediocre control, and lacks a quality 3rd pitch — and there is no amount of “character” or “gamerness” that will change this.
Sure, Zito’s “I’ve got Zen-like karma because I am at one with the universe” talk is boring and borderline pretentious, but that’s at most a misdomenor in the world of pro athletes. The people who deserve our derision are those who made the unfathomable decision to spend $126 million on Zito.
Zito for Wells and Rolen.
Zito for Kim Jong-il and we’ll throw in a couple of ICBMs even.
I can imagine Wells being rejuvenated by a trade, and having a chance to get into the playoffs for the first time in his career. I do not think the Giants can generate enough offense to win in the postseason with this lineup, so something has to be done if they want a title. I doubt the Giants could take on Wells contract while they have so much to pay Zito and no one is taking that contract. How about taking Alex Rios instead and throwing Randy Winn back at them? Rios’ contract is a smaller albatross and Winn’s contract is expiring at the end of the year. Even if Rios played really well, it might not be enough offense, but the same can be said for Wells. If it enabled them to get Halladay, it would be worth it.
I think you’re underrating Rios. His contract is actually a good value. He’s a good defensive player, and good enough on offense (he’s been somewhat unlucky this year) to be worth more than the ~$12M a year he’s being paid over the rest of his contract. Jays aren’t parting with Rios without getting something worthwhile in return.
Not to mention that he wants the hell out of Toronto as the fans there feel about him as fans here feel about Zito. Nobody said the residents of Eastern Canada had any smarts. It what happens when you’re situated half-way between Detroit and Buffalo.
Zito has been moved up to the No. 2 slot starting the second game against the Pirates on Saturday.
Didn’t believe me when I wrote this in June?
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Just because he doesn’t sit in a recliner, doesn’t mean his $20 million superstar contract doesn’t let him get to call his own shots. That’s just the way Boras clients contracts work. Its that simple.
We don’t hear about the “special treatment” that Zito gets like we did with Bonds because Zito talks and walks and looks like the guys covering him. So, because he is a “nice guy”, they aren’t looking to put any edge on this situation. I get it. Really.
If I’m one of these msm hacks with a requirement for “access” under Baer’s sway, and know that the $126 million chicken-choking choad is going to be around until the second coming of Jesus Christ Superstar, and having just gone through 15 years of not-good-times with Sir Barry of Bonds, I can kind of understand why none of these guys wants to go after Zito on the record.
So when you see the deference with which Zito’s humiliating, embarrassing, infuriating and inevitable meltdowns are handled, don’t blame Bochy. This is on the Giants ownership and management group for capitulating to Boras as he yet again bends Giants fans over with his multi-year, multi-million strap-on breech loader…all in the misplaced hope that Milquetoast Barry would fill the empty seats left by the ouster of Bonds.
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Cain is slotted to go Sunday, Sanchez to open Monday against Atlanta, and Sandowski to face Derek Lowe on Tuesday, which would normally would fall to Zito in a non-Bizzaro World.
Just for the record. Here’s the line on Zito’s opponent, Charles Morton, who the Pirates got back along with two other mystery players; Gorkys Hernandez and Jeff Locke, in the Nate McLouth deal.
4.29 ERA
1-2 Won Loss
5 Starts, 21.0 Innings
14 strike outs 7 walks
1.48 WHIP
A guy who has an average fastball he throws almost 70% of the time
Meanwhile, Sadowski faces up against Atlanta and Derek Lowe.
Nope. No cherry-picking going on here.
I just calls ‘em as I sees em
I think that the rotation got shuffled because Cain took a come-backer on the elbow of his throwing arm, not because Zito has excersized some arcane clause in his contract. They probably just want to give him a couple more days for his elbow to get right.
I might tend to agree with you to a certain extent, except that Cain got pushed back exactly one day…to his normal 3 slot. If Bochy wanted to go with a lefty, than that should have gone to Sanchez. As it is, Zito jumped everybody in the rotation except for Lincecum.
And if you don’t think playing favorites and bullshit play a part in lineup construction and that Sabean and Bochy aren’t full of shit when they tell you they like the chemistry that the young guys are bringing, look at the starting lineup tonight. A starting line-up that would go on to score exactly one fucking run in 14 innings off of burger flipper Paul Maholm of the 4.36 era and 1.41 ERA and a cast of anonymous AAAA pen doods, with turds like Randy Winn, Rich Aurillia, Andres Torres, Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria and Bengie Molina. The only fucking guys in the lineup under 30 were Lincecum and Sandoval for krissakes!
So much for the “youth” movement that Orville Redenbacher was mealy-mouthing about on the radio yesterday.
The thing is this: You should expect management and ownership to bullshit and lie and equivocate and tell all kinds of fairy fucking tales. That’s the capitalist free-market system of which San Francisco Baseball Associates, LLP is a charter member. Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware, due diligence and all the rest of the small print fuckpuddle bullshit that the consumer is supposed to buy into. That’s the culture. Coolio. We all dig it. Its America. Got it.
What I don’t get is the willingness of so many Giants fans who seem to believe that the management of this team is committed to anything other than marketing an illusion of competitiveness with a dimwit like the asteroid head making lineups.
Its been been years of failure to live up to their promise of a championship if they got their new stadium. It has been 18 seasons since this ownership group took over from Bob Lurie. And every year its almost word for word the same shit out of their pie-holes.
“We will do anything we feel is necessary to improve this team, but we don’t want to mortgage our future without balancing the scales of ad sic fuckem lorem.” And so forth.
What I don’t get is the robotic mindset of fans who are satisfied with yet another year of half-measures that get articulated thusly:
“I believe all of Larry Baer’s mindless press releases regurgitated in the media that talks about chemistry, so lets not change anything and oh my gawd Buster Posey is going to win 248 MVPs just next year alone and Madison Baumgarner is already 73 times better than Roy Halliday and we don’t have to pay anything”.
Hope they enjoy yet another finish in 3rd place in the NL West, this year while forking over 100 bucks per game to get fucked again by an organization of cronies and good ol boys that continues to play both ends against the middle.
Its one thing to say you’re going to do it, and something else entirely to have the balls to do it. The problem with the Giants, is that they are trying to win today; sort of, and build for tomorrow; sort of, with a full-commitment to neither. And that’s why you get ridiculous and bizarre and inexplicable lineups like the one tonight. And they do this every year. And the sycophants continue to apologize and/or stick fingers in their ears, cover their eyes and put their hands over their mouthes
+mia,
Took almost a week off MLB and the Gigantes. Amazing what you can accomplish and do w/o the vices of baseball.
Did watch for as long as I could stand on Friday. Why Aurilia gets any ab’s is beyond me. Continuing to bat Molina is the 4th slot is insane….Rowand, Winn, Renteria(our version of the Pac Bell Bombers)..and the beat goes on. Pathetic. Worst line-up you could put out there. No need to throw Uribe under the bus as he is the only one besides Sandoval hitting the ball hard.
Agree to some point about favoring Zito. His bruised ego needed the Bucs and the organization caved. Why he still is in the rotation is the real question. Why Sanchez is not pitching today is criminal.
Youth movement my ass.
When you positively, absolutely, need a loss…bring in Howry. He has no value on this team if he cannot pitch in late inning pressure…and he continues to prove that….Jones bomb still hasn’t landed.
If Zito gets pounded tonight…and isn’t pulled from the rotation…then you can tell it good-bye.
I have better things to do than watch Zito.
From Bruce Jenkins’ 3-dot lounge this morning:
“If you saw Bengie Molina’s moving interview with Comcast’s Amy Gutierrez, you got inside a man with immense pride, a strong sense of family and an enormous heart – a man who should remain a Giant. It won’t be easy convincing Molina, a potential free agent, to play here just one more year, but that would be an ideal setup. They can’t afford to lose his bat.”
Which is scarier: That Bruce Jenkins thinks we can’t afford to lose Benjie Molina and his .267 On-Base Percentage, or that he is praising an interview by Amy G?
Jim,
Amy G…now there’s a quality baseball person. I’m hanging on every word she says.
I don’t think she is there for the likes of us, but rather the casual fan who tunes in for puff pieces. I find that whole genre of sideline broadcasting to be rather annoying in general as it is aimed at folks who tend to not know their asshole from a manhole.
Sideline reporting is an annoying time-filler. It gives the viewers constantly in motion eyeballs a chance to rest without having to leave the action of the game.
Watch a game. You will hardly see a single camera angle held for more than a few seconds…except when they’re doing talking heads.
Its all a plot I say!!!!
In her defense, thats what her job is. To do dugout, clubhouse, and human interest puff pieces. Unlike the shrill women at Fox, ESPN and the majority of idiot women-know nothings who are consumed primarily with their hair and eyeliner, who feel they have to crank up their voice boxes 300 decibels to mask their shallowness, Amy G understands ballplayers…albeit from a woman’s standpoint. And she is definitely pro player, more than she is about promoting herself. And thats more than I can say for the useless, duplicative, manipulative two-faced Barry Bonds hating sack of shit Bruce Jenkins and the rest of the ball-sacks running around Comcast, KNBR and the Chronicle.
I will take Amy G any day of the week. She is always respectful of the players “space” and is doing a really good job of building some trust there which means more insight for fans. Unlike Kruk and Kuip who had built in credibility when they joined MSM, she has had to work her way up from the bottom of the ladder and imho I think she is doing a nice job and gets better as the seasons roll along. She is real as opposed to polyester.
And if anybody remembers Cammy Blackstone doing her overly self-aware in the stands interviews, puff pieces, and lamer monologues, Amy G is 180 degrees from that.
Having said that, I can do without all the talking heads. Most games I don’t even have the sound on, unless its Kuiper doing the play by play. The score, count and situation is across the top of the screen. Frankly this compulsive demand to not allow a single solitary second to pass without some dimwitted repetitive observation, story, opinion, product plug, or some such distraction contributes greatly to my annoyance when things turn to shit on the field of play.
At least if you don’t care for Amy G and her puff pieces, unlike Mike Krukow or Dave Flemming, or Mychael Urban, or Bip Roberts or FP Santangelo or JT Snow, you won’t have to listen to her blatantly lie about the bonehead decisions of Bochy, the shortcomings of Rich Aurillia, and the false promises of a rejuventated Barry Zito.
A signifigant piece of info for any team considering giving up what the Jays want for Halladay:
Players who signed multiyear contracts before Oct. 2006 can demand a trade if they are traded in the middle of their deals. If the club does not comply with the trade demand, the player can then opt to become an unrestricted free agent on March 15.
Halladay signed a three-year, $40 million contract extension with the Blue Jays in March 2006.
http://tinyurl.com/lca5k5
[...] are not going to be able to hold them off with the addition of one hitter. Which brings me back to Joe Sheehan’s suggestion, and maybe we’d have a chance: …. What if a team offered the Blue Jays not its very best [...]